Isolation viewing 1

harveyp6 said:

Here's another bike I had. (Pic's not of mine as I don't think I ever took a pic of it. Only difference from the pic is mine had a turbo fitted to it.....)

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ew er, whats a Rickman, not heard of them before. looks like a nice bit of kit.

ghce said:

ew er, whats a Rickman, not heard of them before. looks like a nice bit of kit.

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Rickman used to take standard bikes and make them sportier. Fairings, engine mods, frames, rear sets ect.

quattro said:

Rickman used to take standard bikes and make them sportier. Fairings, engine mods, frames, rear sets ect.

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Much like the Rover OVERFINCH I see regularly

I presume the CR is a Honda designation

ghce said:

I presume the CR is a Honda designation

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No, CR is a Rickman designation for Cafe Racer. Steve McQueen's favourite bike was a Rickman Metisse Desert Racer.

harveyp6 said:

No, CR is a Rickman designation for Cafe Racer. Steve McQueen's favourite bike was a Rickman Metisse Desert Racer.

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I love it when I learn something new everyday.

I didn't know Rickman didn't build their own bikes.

We've been sorting the loft out, as l mentioned, & this has turned up. I recall seeing it on previous explorations but investigated it more closely this time. It was absolutely dry as dust but l've attacked it with the Obenaufs leather oil & balm & it's looking a whole lot better:









It's German, stamped 'Graf, Leipzig, 1930'. I was working on the assumption it was a motorcycle pannier but after a lot of searching on t'internet l came up with this:

A superb condition WW2 German 1942 dated Horse / Motorbike side bag / pannier | eBay vu

Not quite as elaborately buckled up as ours but has the frontal pocket instead. Looks like it comes from the same 'stable' )) but has a different stamp & date.
Attached to our one by a strap which pretty much disintegrated was the leather knife sheath which if you look closely has 'Tom Mix' embossed into it. I happened to know who Tom Mix was, being the first 'Hollywood cowboy', mainly appearing in silent films:

Tom Mix - Wikipedia

I knew of him because Frank Zappa subsequently rented the house he had built in the Hollywood Hills. Mix also buried his horse outside in the garden when it died (still there when Zappa moved in & probably still there now) & he himself died in 1940, apparently in his Rolls Royce Speedster:

How the top western movie star Tom Mix gained fame on a horse, and lost his life in a car - Click Americana

Sounds like he was an interesting fella'. Anyway, an early item of film merchandise, probably fairly contemporary with the pannier & it's also responded well to a good oiling. On the pannier those outer front straps with the clips have the holes numbered one to twelve from the bottom up. There are also a few broken straps for the small 'thread-throughs' including a very long one, which it might be fun to have remade. I had a brief attempt at deciphering the mounting system but haven't come up with a satisfactory outcome as yet.
Definitely the most interesting thing to emerge from the attic so far, at least apart from personal schoolday items that l was also happy to find.

Edit; l just found these two. The first more like our one but again without the extra strapping:

Original WW2 German Cavalry Saddle Bag Dated 1938 Good Condition Complete | eBay

German m-34 Sedel Calvary Leather Pouch Bag RAHM & KAMPMANN WUPPERTAL 1941 | eBay

All different dates & stamps, perhaps suppliers rather than the manufacturers.
No doubt there was a crossover in use with horses & motorcycles.

That looks like a binocular case. They did and do like big bins.
I have this, it has no markings on it anywhere.

Wrong shape for a dedicated case for glasses. I think the ident' is reliable although they could have been used for that purpose of course.

The Rovering Member said:

Wrong shape for a dedicated case for glasses. I think the ident' is reliable although they could have been used for that purpose of course.

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Awww, I had it all pictured in my mind ala dirty dozen and a hundred other WW2 war films, you spoiled the moment lol but then again some of those Nazis were fairly twisted fellows and who knows what shape their minds dreamed up for long distance reconnaissance binocularing.

Well, they were obviously used during WW2 so must have been put to transporting many types of equipment/supplies, not least dispatches. So keep your moment intact.

It's come up extremely well l must say & is in remarkably good condition for ninety years, bar a couple of accessory straps:







I just need a suitable steed of some sort now, probably the mechanical sort.

Maybe something earlier than this though:





My dad bought it some years back now & we sold it on our stall at The Enfield Pageant. The guy gave us full price if we left the military equipment on that my dad had displayed with it. Sods law dictated that when he saw it the bloomin' thing wouldn't start even though it had been running an hour before. He was rather smitten though & wasn't too concerned & with, as he put it, the proceeds of another bike burning a hole in his pocket.

We also sold this one that weekend too:



An Ariel 3 that had been in the family a few years, suffering bent forks twice by me carrying one of my brothers in the basket & not making the turn in the lock-up yard resulting in contact with wooden garage doors. Once was an accident, twice was just carelessness. Dad wasn't best pleased, especially just after he'd repaired it the first time. The guy who bought it (the one with glasses) said he was going to use it to traverse the streets of Sawbridgeworth to impress his neighbours.

Matt from furiousdriving working on his Rover V8 4.6 and P6 engine bay

.....and dont forget isolation reading, found this publication and also a bunch more for those pesky Nasa vehicles, always breaking down or crashing into planets moons and asteroids so a must have item for those necessary repairs.








You can while your time away restoring that mashed up bit of space junk that fell on your house last Tuesday, you will be the envy of all your neighbours when you drive your Mars Rover to the local supermarket in your space suit, you certainly wont catch Covid 19!

Graeme


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You can only play by the rules for so long until you just gotta rebel. Took Ole Reg (in my avatar) to work last night for a run (she's on restricted rego, and while normally kind-of-ok-but-not-quite with the current lockdown it would have been hard to justify). She purred there and back with no issues. Glorious to have the whole highway to myself at 2am.

ghce said:

.....and dont forget isolation reading, found this publication and also a bunch more for those pesky Nasa vehicles, always breaking down or crashing into planets moons and asteroids so a must have item for those necessary repairs.

You can while your time away restoring that mashed up bit of space junk that fell on your house last Tuesday, you will be the envy of all your neighbours when you drive your Mars Rover to the local supermarket in your space suit, you certainly wont catch Covid 19!

Graeme


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MARS ROVERS - Very clever sir, I see what you did there !

cobraboy said:

MARS ROVERS - Very clever sir, I see what you did there !

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I think it looks like what BL would have delivered in their next iteration of Rover cars after all the accountants had a slash at it.

Turn the volume right up......

Petrolicous did a lovely short film on my friend’s garage up in White Plains. The Spadaro’s are the nicest people you wish to meet and this captures their place and family nicely. Worth a watch.