Tag: 10C

The little 10C we bought from Holland has not been running that well so after going through the basics we decided to pull the motor. The problem was quickly evident. Back in the day a repair was made which included adding a top to the piston. This may have been done to repair the piston crown, to make a ‘too small’ piston larger or even to alter compression but regardless, they used the wrong material and the damage is clear.

We have re-honed the cylinder, we have a piston we can use but we need to make some rings, then put her back together. Fortunately there is no other damage to the motor.

I just got this little 10C single cylinder with two speed rear hub. She was restored in the early 1990’s in Yorkshire at a time when reproduction parts were not so readily available. It was also pre-internet so if parts were missing from a machine and the owner didn’t have access to another model or a reference book, it was very difficult to know what the correct parts looked like.

But of course the owners needed to get their bikes running and often fabricated some quite imaginative solutions. The magneto control on this bike is such an example, cleverly constructed but overly complicated. Should it stay on the bike for the sake of history and ‘quirkiness’ or should it be corrected? Other linkages are wrong and some of the parts are for the wrong year model. The more you look the more you see. But the first job is to fit new tyres and tubes and get her running.