Dawes-man

As some may remember me mentioning in my Rotrax Vel d'Hiv thread, I was unexpectedly offered a pair of frames and was very excited about it. At the time I wrote, 'There are another 2 frames, not Rotrax, that I agreed to buy just yesterday. Both the same marque and one that I never dreamed I would ever have the chance of getting. I won't say more at the moment as I'm posting a cheque off tomorrow but when the cheque is cashed and the frames are mine they will be here with a thread of their own.'

Since then, I've been to the UK and picked them up and now that they are truly mine I can tell you that the frames are a 1956 H.R. Morris:

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

And a 1963 H.R. Morris tricycle:

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

It was in the middle of April and I'd been talking to a bloke about buying the tricycle frame from him since the middle of March but couldn't get him to tell me how much he wanted for it. I hinted a lot but just got back more messages about all the stuff, like transfers, eccentric BB and axles he had for it. In the meantime, I bought a Rotrax Super Course frame on eBay. He congratulated me on that purchase but still offered me no idea of what sort of price he wanted. Then, out of the blue he mentioned that he also had an H.R. Morris bicycle frame in my size, 24", and asked me if I would be interested in that, too. I thought, 'What the the…. whoah there! I don't even have a price for the trike yet!'

I don't know how many of you know anything about H.R. Morris frames but basically they are very rare - Dick Morris only made something between 600 and 800 frames in his lifetime (I did read the number somewhere…) and they very rarely come onto the open market. They usually pass between collectors instead and I know of 2 such frames that changed hands last year for considerable sums. Think Rene Herse or Alex Singer prices. Knowing this, I had never imagined that one would ever come my way, certainly not at a price I could or would want to pay for a bicycle.

Here I was, though, being offered these 2 frames. I immediately sent back a message saying that I was interested but had no idea if I would be able to buy even one, let alone 2. I mentioned the prices I'd been told of and that any such figure was out of the question. The seller ignored the content of my message and instead asked if I wanted the frames delivered to my UK address or to Japan. I immediately wrote back reiterating my concern at the possible price but that as I'd be in the UK at the end of April, shipped to the UK, I suppose. To that he replied with a price, delivered to my door in the UK, that almost made me faint. I showed it to my wife who simply said, 'That's cheap!'. I wrote back, 'It's a deal!'

It turned out that both frames had been bought new by the same chap and that he was very anxious that they should stay together. The seller had bought them from him under that condition and so he was selling them on likewise. He also said that he was happy that I was buying them as he knew that I would keep them and not sell them on. I find that rather touching. And he's right. I buy bikes to ride, not to flip (except for F-frame Moultons) and while I'm sure I would make money selling these beauties, it's not going to happen. What my wife does after I've curled my toes is up to her, of course.

As I've said, both frames are 24", which is at the lower end of my size range. Both frames came as is, the bike with a black re-paint and gold lug lining and the trike frame with the protective undercoat you see in the photo, having been shot blasted in 1984, and stored till now. The paint on the bike is excellent, the lug lining pretty good but the transfers have been poorly applied. I suspect the painter wasn't used to applying them. I'll probably have it all redone one day but will build it up and right it a good deal before then, particularly as it's going to take me a while to get over how much the trike refurbishment is costing

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

A cool thing about the bike frame is that it comes with its original stem, hand brazed by Dick Morris - it has been rechromed but can you imagine trying to find one?:

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

The trike is a whole new adventure… I'd been thinking of getting one for a couple of years, ever since seeing a Gillot trike on the internet which I found very beautiful. I joined a trike forum for info and tried to figure out whether it was feasible to ride one in Tokyo. I had to get my head around OWD (one wheel drive), TWD (2 wheel drive) and Higgins differentials. All a foreign language to me. I also read horror stories of cyclists coming off at first corners or veering into hedges due to road cambers. Luckily, I had the chance to ride a couple when I went to pick the frames up - the seller insisted I come and see the frames before sealing the deal. He had the cash to refund me if I decided I didn't want the trike (and then wouldn't have got the bike frame either).

It was a OWD so I had it converted to a TWD by Trykit in the UK. It's not really a TWD - both wheels are driven but not at the same time. It's a double freewheel solution to maintaining even drive on corners or when one wheel slips. Then I took it to Argos Racing Cycles for re-enameling and to have the fittings for drum brakes at the rear removed and some MAFAC pillars for cantilever brakes brazed on.

At Trykit, with the stainless drive shafts:

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

AT Argos, after the cutting and brazing work:

[IMG] Untitled by Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]

I had no idea how much expense was going to be involved. Well, the Trykit conversion and Argos work, around $1,800, was no surprise, really, but the shipping!! So far, I've been quoted from $1,005 to $1,355 for the shipping to Japan. It's the size of the back axle that does it. I guess with packing the trike is going to weigh around 4 or 5 kgs but because of the size they charge according to a 'dimensional weight' of around 100 kgs.

But anyway, I'm committed now and when the trike gets here it's going to be drop-dead-gorgeous in flam purple with flam pale violet head tube and seat panel. I can't wait… it should be painted by the first week in July and arrive her mid to late July. Yeah!!

ftwelder

H.R. Morris trike! and two wheeler in one score. I have seen a few photos of his shop and read an interview. A true hand made bicycle in amazing condition. Ill try to find that magazine.

Dawes-man

There's quite a lot on Dick Morris on Classis Lightweights, here and here and a couple of his bikes with interesting background info here and here. Incidentally, I've just found out that from when he started building frames under his own name he built around 450. From all accounts, Dick Morris was a very nice bloke.

I don't actually know what condition the 2-wheeler is in under the paint but it looks dead straight and has a nice tone when rung. I saw the trike after Argos had shot-blasted all the primer off and it has quite a lot of rust pitting but nothing structural.

BTW, I meant to mention that the forks on the 2-wheeler are straight The camera lens makes them look a bit bent, like on the Rotrax...