Petrol tank kneegrip rubbers.

 

 These are unique and very complicated, I have sourced a manufacturer who was willing to make a small batch of 40 pairs using a similar process to the original method and materials. If you need any please get in touch via email as soon as possible. I received the completed articles in June '05, and I have sold most of them already.

All now sold, but I have none left for my bikes, so another small batch will be made-please get in touch to reserve a pair. 

Total cost in UK was £78 per pair including insured postage.

Total cost Europe (airmail insured) was £83 per pair including postage.

Total cost USA, Australia and New Zealand (airmail insured) was £86 per pair including postage.

Any payment MUST be in pounds sterling (GBP), cheques or cash (cash can be sent recorded delivery from your end).

These prices give an idea of the likely future cost, but I make no guarantees to be able to match them in the future.

To my knowledge, these are available NOWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.

Having spoken to the guy when I picked up the first batch, it may be possible to have more made, but the price could be higher, as the material is expensive, and can only be obtained in certain quantities.

Handlebars/Twistgrips 

 I am hoping to recreate some twistgrip components in the not too distant future, and just maybe, some handlebars as well (some of mine are bent, and if you try to straighten them, they distort). These would be made in the original gauge of tube (1" o/d x 14 swg cold drawn seamless), so that all new or old components would be interchangable. These would include the internal bits of the twistgrip, and, if I can find some correct brass tube, the outer tube as well. This won't happen overnight, but if you are interested, please get in touch. The more components can be made in a batch, the cheaper they become. (June 06)

At the moment, this site only covers the bikes produced from 1931-33 (although I now understand some of these models were, in fact built from the remaining stock of spares in the factory, and may have been sold as "new" as late as 1936 or '37).

A useful, and in my experience, very helpful contact for anyone with models either side of this sites activity, or for any matters related to the history of New Hudson motorcycles, would be: eric.lon@btopenworld.com 

Eric has in fact, already written a very interesting book, with an amazing amount of information inside it's covers, entitled "New Hudson, The History of a Motor Cycle Company". Considering the last BSA/New Hudson was made in 1957 (the year I was born), this is some achievement, and a real credit to his enthusiasm for the make.

I believe Eric's book is still available (April 2004) from: hq@vmcc.net

The book is now out of print, but can still be obtained on CD.

I can personally recommend it, and I have no financial or other interest in sales figures.

Eric has access to an original New Hudson ledger, and has kindly supplied me some interesting information:

For 1931, it was decided to produce 4000 motorcycles, 1500 x 500 ohv, 800 x 550 sv, 1500 x 350 ohv, and 500 x 350 sv. Less than 2000 of these had been sold by the end of the year.

The following year 1552 were made, 500 x 500 ohv, 132 x 500 sv, 470 x 550 sv, 250 x 350 ohv and 200 x 350 sv. Only 1135 of these sold, and Victor Mole, the man responsible for the model range, was sacked.

I have now been loaned the ledger, which contains the Agenda (list of items to be discussed) at all the board meetings. I am trying to work my way through it, to make a little more sense of the numbers of bikes made. Unfortunately there is no detail to link frame and engine codes, but the register is beginning to make sense of whether frame/engines started life together.  

There are very few items being made for New Hudsons, the only items I know of are: 

1)Transfers, all except the left hand side of the tool box (if anyone has evidence of this one please get in touch, as a few numbers/letters are missing from mine, and I would like to pass the correct info on for reproduction). Suppliers:Vintage MotorCycle Club, contact as for Eric's book.

The transfer on the toolbox has now been reproduced from the remains on one of my toolboxes, unfortunately it is not a 100% perfect copy, but very close. In August '03 it was priced at £5 from Classic Transfers, P.O. Box 17, Wotton under Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8YX, England.

2)Footrest and twistgrip rubbers, only available in black-not the original grey(!) from: Jim Hunter, 2671 Stratford Road, Hockley Heath, Solihull, B94 5NH, England. Does not do business by 'phone.

3)A few items that friends and I have recently had made (with one or two spare) are: Main stand springs, Valve springs, Wheel nuts, Wheel bearing felt washers (2 sizes), 8" brake shoes (need final machining), steering damper knob, plates, and plate spring, steering head taper nut assembly.

4)I am currently scouring the sources in the UK for pistons, valves and valve guides, with a hope of building up a small stock.                                                                       

5)I am also looking into having a small batch of silencers made, these will be an exact copy of the originals (all silencers are the same size, with the same exhaust pipe diameter), as I have a ratty one cut apart already. Further news in time...

A small batch of 18 were made, but are now sold.                     

6)A friend is looking into the reproduction of the handlebar cable covers, I have lent him a pair for pattern, developments in due course...

These have now been made (October 2001). Sorry, all now sold, may be another small batch at some point. (Feb 04)

7)A mould is being made for fibre glass engine covers, these will only suit the 350cc machines, as the large framed 500/550cc bikes have physically larger panels, and the small framed 500cc bikes have different shaped cut-outs for the Burman gearbox. This should prove a cheap way of reproduction, if you are not too worried about 100% originality. Due to problems with releasing the panel from the mould, the clutch dome will be part of the main panel. If anyone is interested, contact me.

I have taken delivery of a pair for my 350, they are pretty good, very rigid but not too thick, quite a good fit. Only drawback is that the clutch dome is all in one with the main body of the panel on the left-I have found this a real bind! My clutch needed a lot of attention in the first 500 miles! Having to take the exhaust system off so that the cover can be removed each time is a pain. Contact me if you are interested, it would be possible to create a mould for the larger set if anyone was interested...you could always cut the clutch cover off and find a way of making it detachable.

I am attempting to create and regularly update, a register of bikes and owners of these models. Currently it is up to about 55 bikes (which has really surprised me), if you have a bike of this type, and are not on the register, please get in touch. The intention is to publish telephone numbers and email addresses only, to reduce any security risk. However, I would need your full address to send it out, as I'm still working on snail mail for that (not everyone on the register has email access). I try to re-issue once a year, registration numbers are NOT included.                                                   

If you want to get in touch with me for any reason (preferably related to issues regarding New Hudsons), I can be contacted on: vintage_keith@hotmail.com

I hope you have found something of interest within these pages, and if you have found something that helps progress with your rebuild, or a means of getting in touch with other owners, then it's all been worthwhile! Happy motorcycling in 2007.