This is a new fuel tank made in mild steel with distressed paint work as requested by the customer to match the existing paint work on the rest of the bike. all of the original fittings and fixtures were removed from the old tank and fitted to the new one. This particular tank is for a 1913-1914 New Hotspur JAP single cylinder side valve model manufactured by Strutter and Abrey of Tottenham.
(from Alex) Hi Terry Please find attached as promised photo's of the petrol tank fitted to my veteran motorcycle you made. It is a perfect fit and looks great. It looks far better in real life than it does in the pictures. Thanks very much.
Have a problem now 12 motorcycles all taxed/tested and running ok, just one non runner, only bought a month ago and not used since 1970 but that should be going before the end of the year. Did you hear again from the Irish? man who had the old V-twin Indian/Harley, or was it someone just talking a load of crap as usual?
Merry Christmas
Alex
(from Terry) Hi Alex sorry for any probs I caused you, I do try to do my best. Amazingly the Irish gentleman was true to his word, he phoned me exactly on the last day of the second month as promised and he said he would meet me at the workshop in one hour as he was on his way back from good old Ireland. Almost exactly one hour later he was there banging on the factory door, his rather odd son was with him. Have you seen one flew over the cuckoos nest, pick the weirdest one out of the film and this fits the picture. Anyway he asks for a real strong cup of coffee as this was my payment for the bikes as promised on the first day we met on my forecourt. it all sounds a bit weird I know, but bare with me. anyway we bundle into the van and go to Milton Keynes as promised. true to his word there was a lovely but clearly dilapidated and neglected old house that his 98 year old father had left him in his will. you can imagine how excited I was that we had got this far. I didn't want to show this to him or his son as they might renage on there promise that what was in the home built wooden slatted workshop at the back of the house was going to be free as long as I got rid of what was in there. He decided to show me around the internals of the house and then we went out into the grounds, all 2.5 acres of it . He kept on moaning that his father had left him a burdon of a house to deal with in the uk as he had properties that he was renting out and looking after in Ireland. I was sure he was stretching things out as we slowly meandered across the overgrown lawn. At Effing last we were in front of the overgrown parralelagramme of a shed, believe me it was leaning to one side. He opened the door that was not even locked, this was surprising as what he said was in there was in my mind worth a fortune but in his mind was a load of rusty crap. The shed was jam packed with stuff, I didn't know where to look first.as we made our way, me leading and his old boy waiting outside on his old mans orders through what he thought crap and I thought King Solomons mines. There it was as he said Indian V twin 1912 engine number E171, the Harley Davidson as he said, was a nickel plated tank brough, underneath all the shit, old seats and belt drives, tucked or jammed underneath a bench was a Henderson inline four. there was a complete bike with crocker written on the tank. A garelli double piston racer from what I read on the ticket tied to the throttle, looked like this had been bought in an auction many moons ago. His old man obviously had money and a passion for collecting bikes but never doing them up. 8 pickups and drop offs later and about 200 quids of petrol., ive got it and am glad to share this message with you. its nice to get something for lending an ear and a bit of time to a passing stranger who you think is full of bull. what I have is premium stuff but at the right price I will be willing to let some of it go except for the Henderson as this was a dream find. I am glad to share this with you as you are the only person who remembered the Irishman. cheers terry
(from Alex) Hi Terry Thanks for the long reply. Yes I would be very interested in something, mostly I want an inline four but they are not cheap and as you said, that is yours. Would it be possible to come and look Christmas week please? I think I have to collect a Model T Ford from Dartford one day that week, but not sure exactly what day. The boat with it in landed on Friday and it has to clear customs first. Will give you a call. This is the first time I have ever heard of anyone actually getting all the promised treasure. My friend who made a new fuel tank for his flat tanker himself was absolutely amazed when he saw what you had done, you cannot believe how pleased I am with it. It looked so fantastic when I first picked it up and I was that overwhelmed with the sight of it that I did not make sure it fitted correctly (all my fault), we'll never mind all sorted perfectly now.
Regards Alex
(From terry) Hi Alex what do you think of the story, mouth watering isn't it?. only a pipe dream as the guy was full of crap. have a good Christmas and new year. cheers terry
(from Alex)
Hi Terry. You rotten b#*+=! You had me all excited, I even showed the email to the wife and looked how to call your way on the way back from Dartford next week. I expect you have had a good laugh at me. Now I will tell everyone now what a shit job you did of my petrol tank. My friend saw the tank again this morning an said what a wonderful job you had done of the tank. Thanks again for doing a good job. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you
Alex
