VMCC Founder's Day

We've taken you on several tours of autojumbles in the Netherlands, but there can also be plenty of cyclemotor, autocycle and moped interest at UK events; take the VMCC Founder's Day rally for example...

Peter Smith's stand (Smiths Autocycles) was the first to grab our attention as we went through the entrance gate.  This Sheppee Cykelaid was the first in a line-up of interesting machines.

Next to the Cykelaid was something even rarer: a Rosengart cyclemotor.  Introduced in 1923 the Moteurcycle L Rosengart was made in Paris.  Its 90cc two-stroke engine drives a pair of contra-rotating rollers that grip the edges of the cycle wheel rim.

Another machine from the early 1920s was this 63cc Gnom bicycle engine mounted on a Torpedo cycle.

Now something a bit more familiar: A BSA Winged Wheel in a Raleigh cycle.

Returning to the unusual, but staying in the 1950s, is this Wooler 160 Special moped from Denmark.

As well as the complete machines, Peter had som interesting bits & pieces too.  Here's a Mosquito engine complete with tank.

This fuel tank is for a Micromoteur.

A Mini-Motor, a Mepps Baby Star and the engine from a Cyclotracteur

Another Mosquito engine, again complete with its tank.

And, sitting in a cardboard box, a Ducati Cucciolo.

All that - and we've only looked at one stall so far ... time to move on.  On a stall a little further down, we spotted this Francis Barnett Powerbike.  The lack of a front rim makes it appear a bit of a sad case but, in fact, most of the rest of it is there.

We didn't have to go far to find another Francis Barnett Powerbike, a Model 56 this time.  In front of it is a New Hudson autocycle and they're both on Pete Stratford's Cyclemotor and Autocycle Spares stall.

At present, there seems to be quite a bit of interest in the purpose-built frames for Mosquito cyclemotors.  Pete Stratford had this nice example of the genre.  That looks like most of a GYS - or is it a Cairns? - in the box on the ground.

Moving on again, we find this Itom Astor - which could be yours if you've £2,000 to spare.

Sitting in a plastic crate is a Mini-Motor.  It's complete with the hoop and the mounting brackets.

Tony Cardy always has some interesting items - this Francis Barnett Powerbike is the third we've seen so far today.  Eagle-eyed cycle enthusiasts will have spotted the Bates bicycle in the background from its Diadrant fork.

Tony had a couple of mopeds still in the back of his van - this Berini Pluvier 210 was one...

... and the other was this Norman Nippy.

Moving on again we find a BSA Dandy wheel and, behind it, a brand new engine.  The label says it's for a Triumph Tina but actually it's for the later version, the T10; at £150, it didn't stay there for long.

Here's a Mobylette in good order and complete with V5C.

Another Mini-Motor, this one is the Mark Five version, probably the least common of the various versions.  It's probably been used for something other than driving a cycle in its latter years if the pulley and sprocket are anything to go by.

A little Benelli.  The seat, handlebars and footrests fold up so it will fit in a car boot.

This Ariel Pixie was among some bigger bikes.  The price on the headlamp is £650.

Another stall had a few machines in kit form.  Buy these bits for £195, put them together and they become a Zündapp Combinette.

Here's a substantial chunk of Norman Motobyk

And another kit form machine: a BSA Beagle.  This was priced at £375 and had a V5c.

The "KO" on the casting stands for Krasnõi Oktjabr - Red October.  This is a Russian cyclemotor engine.

Colin Kirsch (BuyVintage) had a stall in the corner of the autojumble area.  This Moto Guzzi Cardellino was among his selection on machines.

The Cucciolo on this bike is one of the engines built in France by M Rochet and the frame is an Eriac.  Eriac specialised in cyclos sportives.  Maigret fans may be interested to know that Eraic had premises in the boulevard Richard-Lenoir.

This little Sun motor cycle dates from 1929.

There were still more cyclemotors scattered around the jumble stall - like this Mosquito 38B

The silencer on this Vincent Firefly looks home-made, but the rest of it is all there (including the tank, cycle and V5c).  The asking price of £1,100 shows the effect of the word "Vincent" on prices.

A BSA Winged Wheel for £250.  Again, the tank and cycle were available and it also had a logbook.

Another Mark 5 Trojan Mini-Motor - this one is complete with its hoop and mounting brackets.

A Cyclemaster wheel, this is the 25cc version

This Wall Auto Wheel had a price tag of £465...

... or £175 for the remains of an engine unit.

James Comet motor cycle.

A NSU Quickly dating from 1966.

We presume that the idea of the unusual exhaust system on this Cyclemaster is to prevent the problem of the rim (and rear brake) getting covered in oil.

This Cyclemaster wheel has been rebuilt into a modern Mountain Bike wheel rim.

A Cymota.  the cowling has rusted though in one spot - but that's a lot better than not having a cowling at all.  Asking price?  £350.

That's it for the jumble.  The event also has a number of exhibition stands set up by both VMCC sections and independent clubs.  The Rudge Enthusiasts had a lerge display and Val Sowerby's Rudge autocycle was among the machines on display.  This actual machine was the subject of Mark Daniels's article The Last Record.

Harvey Spencer was exhibiting some of his restorations.  Among them were two Raleigh mopeds: this RM1...

...and this RM8 Automatic Mark 2.

Finally, the obvious place to go to see cyclemotors at this event is the stand of the VMCC Cyclemotor Section.  They had a busy stand with several machines on display.  Let's take a look at a few of the machines they were exhibiting...

We've seen several Mosquitos already and here's another.  It's on a BSA-built Sunbeam cycle with, apart from the saddle, all the corrct period fittings: BSA brakes, BSA 3-speed hub gear, Sunbeam chainwheel...

This Cucciolo probably pre-dates its 1953 registration.  We can get a bit confused about the various models of Cucciolo, however, we think that the rearward facing exhaust outlet and the smooth-sided (rather than ribbed) crankcase castings, along with several other differences, mean this is is one of the SIATA ones.  The cycle is a Raleigh that's been fitted with a Webb cyclemotor spring fork.  Note also that it's driving through a Sturmey-Archer AB hub; with a two-speed engine unit, that gives a total of six gears ... but no engine braking.

A Vincent Firefly.  This is a later version than the one we saw in the jumble.

Cyclemotors took pride of place on the stand, but there were mopeds too.  Peter Lawson had brought his Post Office Puch along and, in the second row behind the cyclemotors, were these two: a Garelli and an NSU Quickly.

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