Factory Records & Transfer Service
DID YOU KNOW?
That the VMCC now has custody of ALL the ORIGINAL MOTORCYCLE FACTORY RECORDS held by the Science Museum in London since the early 1980’s?
That the VMCC is a DVLA recognised body for assistance in retaining original registration numbers, orgaining an age related one?
That the VMCC has a specific TRANSFER SERVICE supplying waterslide transfers for British, European and American motorcycles?
The VMCC has a lot more to offer than most people realise, its superb reference library at Allen House, in Burton on Trent contains the surviving records of a very large part of the, once mighty, British motorcycle industry.
The VMCC holds the worlds foremost motorcycling library, their staff are both knowledgeable and helpful and surprisingly enough the library is open to both members and non-members, during office hours five days per week.
As a member, I have made a couple of trips down to the VMCC Library, in one instance seeking information on a 1938 B.S.A and some years later when I was seeking information about a 1964 Triumph that I had purchased.
I was truly amazed at what I saw, original B.S.A and Triumph bound ledgers, handwritten records of bikes, frames, engine numbers, their destinations and dispatch dates, kept after all these years in such lovely condition.
The Triumph ledgers shown here date back to the early 1960’s.The columns from left to right read “FRAME”, “ENGINE”, (with matched frame and engine numbers and the model usually handwritten in between) “REAR WHEEL” (QD for quickly detachable), “ORDER No.”, “DESPATCHED” (the date the bike left the Meridan factory), “SUPPLIED To” (the individual or dealer), “INVOICE No.” and “REMARKS” (usually mentioning accessories such as “Tacho”).
As well as all of the famous UK retailers, Pride & Clark, Cundles, Victor Horseman, Kings etc. I was surprised to see bikes despatched to the majority of Scandinavian countries and as far away as Australia, however there was page after page of Triumphs heading for Canada and mainly the USA, where there were only two main contenders found within the ledgers, as TC and JoMo. They were the Triumph Corporation (aka TriCor) and Johnsons Motors Inc., (aka JoMo). Triumph sent an incredible number of bikes over to the USA.
One of the 1937 B.S.A ledgers shown has the headers –“ENGINE No”, “FRAME No”, “TALLY No”, “DATE of DESPATCH”, “FOOT or HAND CHANGE”, “SINGLE or 2 PORT/UPSWEPT or DOWN”, “SIDECAR or SOLO GEARS”, “TANK FINISH”, “CUSTOMERS NAME”&“TOWN”.
Another 1938 record book shown, lists–“FRAME No”, “ENGINE No”, “TALLY No”, “MODEL”, “MAGNETO”, “HORN”, “CUSTOMERS NAME”&“ADDRESS”. Obviously, B.S.A Frames & Engine numbers did not always match as Triumphs did.
As requested by the VMCC the Engine and Frame numbers within the images have been purposely blurred out.
The VMCC also has an excellent,friendly,Transfer Service and can provide waterslide transfers for British machines, ABC to Zenith, European, Adler to Zundapp and American, ACE to Whizzer, for tanks, sidepanels, mudguards and frames. In fact, everything that you will need, to finish your project.
Contact Details:-
The VMCC Library Team Email: library@vmcc.net
Transfer Service Email: transfers@vmcc.net
VMCC HQ Email: hq@vmcc.net
VMCC HQ Tel: 01283 540557
Michael W George