W.E. Wassel ltd advertised themselves as suppliers of motorcycles accessories and components but they found time to incorporate some of there parts into a rather nice trials bike with several different engines fitted from several makers.
The Wassel that came our way had a previous 10 owners so any kind of misdemeanor or ill worked parts could have been carried out and will no doubt rear there ugly heads. This wasn’t so after stripping the Sachs engine out of its frame as the previous owners or the last owner had an eye for attention as there were plenty of parts that had been rubber mounted that wouldn’t have originally been.
The sale price of £309 on the 9/8/1974 wasn’t bad, but a few quid could be saved if you lived in the USA, as they were sold in Woolworth’s major stores in kit form ready for the buyer to construct. Along with the kit came a hideous rear chain guard that looks like it found its way off of one of Evel Knievel’s bikes or a 1950 pram.
Reading through the sales brochure which cites all the technical data I found not one reference to a part made by Wassel, even though I am sure they made the handle bar gripes, at least.
The Sachs 122 cc engine with a square bore and stroke of 54mm and a 12.1 compression ratio sounds great when they are set up correctly. The big fat cast finned cylinder head sort of overpowers the rest of the engine in its immensity, but it does do it’s job in ridding some of the high pitch noises coming from the thinly die cast bottom end. With simplicity in manufacture Sach’s found it prudent to arm the gearbox with 6 speeds and as standard a 64 tooth Renold chain of 126 pitches and dimensions of ½ x 5/16 that was run through a chain tensioner that had to be set up right to avoid the chain climbing off of the rear sprocket and kicking the rear wheel over on it’s snail cam rear wheel adjusters that I don’t like. The engine nestles easily in its duplex frame and as standard, a Hammerite silver finish that was advertised as, “easily touched up after a scuff”. Underneath the engine is the sump guard that as standard should be highly polished but I think it looks better vapor blasted. The 6 inch conical brake drums are really eye catching particularly when polished. But I wouldn’t have had the original rims rechromed as it is so expensive. New pattern rims are easily available but without the original Dunlop markings. The aluminium petrol tank had taken a beating in the past. Most of the dents were eased out with tools put through the filler hole. Only one small hole was drilled in the underneath of the tank to ease some other dinks out. The alloy side panels were remade as dents over the surface of the originals would be impossible to remove. You will notice a little badge on the side panel that was in very poor condition but we managed to restore it.
