Lucy, here in Connecticut, USA, the British Iron Assn puts on the annual "Brit Jam". It's s a day long festival of bikes, music & food and a swap meet for parts & bikes. Incredibly, every year the club members fix up a bike, and everyone who buys a 10 dollar entry ticket, gets a chance to win it! Going through my camera pics today and I have a picture of an almost identical Douglas that was displayed at the Brit Jam. I believe it was a 1924 model.
SMOG. Spanish Motorcycle Owners Group! After looking at their website recently, I don't think they are too active. Sadly, Jim Hoellerich passed away earlier in 2022. He had a great life riding enduros back in the 60's & 70's. In recent years, SMOG would gtg at his farm for a fun ride. The 1973 ISTD almost ran through it. Over many years, Jim put together the Vintage Trail Bike Museum in Cheshire MASS. When he passed, his will directed that everything in the museum be auctioned off. I attended the auction, and well over 100 beautifully restored 2smokes, & one Triumph went to the gavel.
That news make me sad, because i love 2stroke and i love dirt bikes, but i live in Europe, and i Wanna be at this auction, and i can't.. I'm really sad...
This bike is a feast for the senses. Congratulations on such a high level build by you and your Dad. If I had a son I would like him to be just like you😂. Someday I hope to acquire a Douglas because that is my name and I like the way they inscribed Douglas all over this machine.
Thank you so much for those extremely kind words. Someone else did most of the restoration work on this bike but it was a showpiece and not a rider. That's were we came in - I fixed a few things with the motor and got it running and made it stop and go. And "Douglas" really is stamped everywhere with pride!
Viewers may not know that 4HP does not refer to the power of the engine. It is taxation horsepower, not brake horse power (BHP). The annual Road Fund Licence was calculated using a formula devised by the Royal Automobile Club. As an aside, I am sitting a couple of miles from the site of the Douglas factory in Kingswood, near Bristol UK. After Douglas stopped producing the final model, the Dragonfly, the factory assembled Vespa scooters under licence.
Thanks Jeff! I've definitely heard that under certain conditions rear cylinder overheating was an issue. Probably where BMW got the idea to flip their motors perpendicular to the direction of travel.
I laughed when you were lighting your pipe. The intro really shows your creativity! I hollered out loud "that's it? - way too short!" at 2:07 when the WHEELHOUSE GARAGE logo appeared on screen. When the video changed from monochrome to color (ala Wizard of Oz) I breathed a sigh of relief. Then, as always, my burning question: "what beer is he pairing"? Never heard of Tadcaster, so I will be sure to try it next time I cross the pond to visit the peaky blinder folks! As usual, a great and much appreciated episode! P.S. Back in 1974 I ran a Hitachi vertical milling machine (one of my favorite millers). First thing in the morning, turn the power on and the oil was visible flowing thru a sight glass. My mental gears started turning, and I thought, my Bonneville should have that! P.P.S. (I was too chicken to drill holes in my gearbox & primary cover, so it never came to fruition) 😕
Haha! Thank you as always for your support!! That's the first time I've ever lit a pipe, I'm sure it isn't pretty for someone who actually smokes them, but I was just thrilled that at least a little smoke came out 😆
Fantastic episode Bill! Very Cool British Pre-War bike! Flat-Tanker! Those early bikes were well engineered, with all sorts of cool technology that escapes most of us who didn't grow up with those bikes, or had anyone in our lives who might have grown up with those bikes. Fantastic Bike! Well done Bill! Oh, and the Carbide puck, with water produces Acetylene gas!
My great great grandfather was one of Williams’s sons. The men in my family used to get one delivered from the factory on their 21st birthdays. Shame to find out the company ultimately came (after mergers and acquisitions) BAE
I'm sure someone has mentioned that BMW started by making these under licence, before making their own engines by turning the design through 90 degrees. Not many people know that Vespa scooters were built in Bristol by Douglas in the 1950s and 60s and called 'Vespa Douglas'.
ive got one of these Douglas horizontaly opposed twin 4 hp .There thats the correct designation .Mine is 1919 i also have a 2and3/4 WD modle from1919.Icogratulate you on the restoration very well done .Most of the WD 4hp machines had the fines broaken from the barrels by the riders I asked my dad why he said to make them run hotter That should be ok for this aufull E 5 fuel dont you think,well ttfn&ty
@@wheelhousegarage Cos when you get on the bike (it's a combination) it says the vehicle "Douglas 4hp" so I looked them up... like most of not all manufacturing in the UK, sadly gone.
