F.Bacchus 

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here could help me date my New Hudson sports. I got the frame in an extremely pitiful state so the only things that are original to the bike are the crank, fenders, and seat post; this has made dating it a bit more difficult. I know that the bike originally came with a single speed coaster brake bsa rear hub. The lack of a white stripe on the back of the fender places it as pre-war but I'm very curious about getting a more exact date.

PeterLYoung 

Kind of you to suggest this BSA Dyno Hub, which must be a rare thing, unfortunately my Roadster has hub brakes which are fairly rare and prelude me as you say fitting a Dyno Hub.

But Thanks anyway!!!

PeterLYoung 

1956 is the last year a catalogue is published on the UK's Veteran Cycle Club Website. Your bike looks similar to the one I extracted from the 1954 Catalogue below.

This is all the information/documents on New Hudson in the VCC Library. You need to be a member to access these documents.



From New Hudson 1956 Catalogue on Veteran Cycle Club Library, Last year they have a catalogue for.




The top Sports Model looks very similar to yours, this is from the 1954 Catalogue.

PeterLYoung 

A brief History of the New Hudson Company:-

Velo Mule

Wow, the chrome on the fenders and the fenders (ehem, mudgards) themselves look great. The cranks too. It looks like the chainring was done a separate from the cranks or maybe the setting need to be different from the cranks? I wouldn't think that would be the case thought.

Nice bike. It is interesting to note that there is no roller for the 3 speed cable. Only cable housing. Does it shift smoothly. I imagine it does as long as the housing is nice and lubed.

clubman 

The white fender rule doesn't apply here. Yours is a Raleigh made New Hudson and is therefore 57 or later. Serial numbers are only useful to a point since Raleigh lost most records in a fire. US frames of this timeframe usually had an RA prefix, Canada had an RC prefix but hard dates are impossible. Usually the 3 speed hub indicates the year or year before assembly. What's your numbers?

F.Bacchus 

Serial number is on the top of the seat lug, 2003027.
I was an idiot and threw out the original wheelset because they were almost literally made of rust and I didn't realise the value of the hub. Current wheels are replacements. The original was a single speed bsa coaster brake going off memory.

The bike came with no hardware/fittings for a three speed shifter so I got an old sturmey shifter and bottom cable stop, then bought a new sturmey archer cable from the lbs. I assume that because it's modern its like a regular plastic lined brake cable, shifting is super smooth.

clubman 

I might add that your bike has unusual features. The fork has a non Raleigh standard headset, which happens on occasion. It could be your fork was old stock when Raleigh assembled it and therefore had the older British standard thread. Or the steerer was re-threaded at a later date. Not common but I once had a Nottingham Sports with a campy headset. The decals do look pre Raleigh but the rear mudguard stay location behind the axle is a Raleigh giveaway. That and the Raleigh stamped parts.

clubman 

Don't beat yourself up. These are fun, quality bikes and many have interesting stories but original rusty wheels aren't going to give it any real value. It's a good utilitarian bike and you should enjoy the ride.

F.Bacchus 

Ah forgot to say, the fork is a replacement taken off a torpado I believe, the original fork literally fell apart at the seams so I had to make do.

Edit: decided to look at the rear reflector to see who it was made by. Unfortunately it's broken but the text that remains reads "B.S.A.U 40 LI LIC.2628 FAIRYLITES BRITISH MADE I 32".
I think a Raleigh made bike would have a sturmey reflector?
Could the I 32 be a date code for January 1932?

BigChief

The Raleigh frame is post1963 since there is no lug on the drive side chainstay for an enclosed chain case. There's no lug for the 3 point chainguard which was added in the late 60s. So, from what I see, I'll call the frame 1963- 1967.

Dan Burkhart 

Here it is. Quite lengthy. I will try to edit it down a bit when I get a chance. Also don't have the closed captioning edited yet, so it will be the always comical voice to text version for now.

BigChief

Great job!!! I really appreciate your work on this. I wish I had a video like this back when I did the S5. These videos are a wonderful asset for our hobby. Hope to see more.

gster

Excellent tutorial.
Thanks

butch50

Try looking here: reflectalite dot com


He has lots of useful information on the website.

butch50

There are several simple circuits on that website for using either capacitors, for a short standlight, or nicad cells. Also how to recharge nicads,from a Dynohub or generator, also simple voltage regulators that mount on Dynohub terminals. (probably zener diodes).

BigChief

Or you could just use the bulbs. The red LED tail light bulb is quite bright. Handy that it's a red LED since the once red plastic lens on mine faded to a pale amber over the years. The strobe effect smooths out once you reach 10mph or so.

agmetal

One thing I've always been curious about with these...how does the cable pull on the shifter compare to an AW hub? Would the shifters be interchangeable?

BigChief

That's a good question. Can you "flick" instead of "snap"? Of course, I don't know, but the BSA hub does seem to be an exact copy of the SA X hub. Here's a picture of the SA X hub shifter. Same as the BSA and looks similar to the later quadrant shifter. I have seen people use quadrant shifters on AW hubs. That's a lot of ifs, but there's a chance it might work. edit..Looks like Low Normal and High would be backwards though.
SA X hub shifter

agmetal

I've even got a quadrant shifter controlling a modern X-RD3 hub!

gster

Speaking of BSA, this bike may join the fleet today.
I've contacted the seller and hopefully I can get him to ride it over to my house..
Listed as a 1956.

Dan Burkhart 

This bike is equipped with a Sturmey Archer compatible Brampton shifter. It works fine, except the low/high markings are reversed for this hub.
In first gear, the cable is slack, as it should be, the adjustment indicator is in the proper place in second, and it pulls far enough to fully engage third.
The two piece spring loaded indicator rod passes through the shift key rather than threaded into it in modern Sturmey Archer hubs. This means there is no hard stop for the indicator, and when the mechanism reaches full travel and third gear is fully engaged, the indicator can continue to travel, compressing the spring until the shifter clicks into the shift detent.

BigChief

Nice! Pre Raleigh. Dyno too. 56 sounds right from the looks of it. Already has a riser stem. Maybe it will already fit you if you raise the saddle. Looks like you'll have a chance to use one of those shifters you rebuilt.

gster

Thanks.
Spoke to the owner and he's dropping it off at my house today...
$80.00 (CDN)
He says it's a sturmey hub so we'll see.
I should have a proper stem in stock as well as a leather saddle and we'll see about the rest of it when it arrives.
I had said no more small bikes but I couldn't resist a BSA at that price.

gster

The bike did arrive today and it's a little rougher than it appears in the photo...
they always do.
The Good
Vintage frame in reasonable shape (straight)
BSA chain ring
Decorative front forks
Dyno hub
Newish front tire
1961 SA hub
one good caliper
Faint "Tour of Britain" decal
Cranks are straight

The Bad
paint is rough (I will leave as is)
back tire needs replacing
Cables and brake pads crap
vinyl saddle
Cheap grips
modern trigger
weird modern stem
Chrome fenders from an Eatons Glider
crappy brake levers
cranks are mis aligned
cotters driven in from same side






Somebody has clearly messed this up a bit.
Not surprising for a bike 60+ years old.

So I think this one's a good candidate for a semi-scorcher.
I have most of the parts I need in the garage