Hitchcocks Forum

Hi All,

A year or so ago I let one of my project bikes go it was a RE 500 twin 1957 as you can see in the pictures. Sold originally by good old Pride and Shark in London did anyone on here buy it as I have lost the contact details and would love to know how the bike is getting on as I am in touch with the original owners son. Thanks for any assistance.

Do you know the registration number? It may be possible to get a bit more info with that.

REgards, Mark

I'm going for 1956, purely by the fact it seems to have a maroon tank badge.

Well, they might have been using them up on 1957 maroon bike I suppose.

"let one of my project bikes go"

Did you not close the shed door properly? Mine get locked down, never had one wander out yet!

Definitely a 1957 I still have a copy of the original receipt when it was bought and the Ajs part ex details. Not to say it was a 1956 model sold and registered in 1957. I do have the original number if someone can help. Thanks RR
Yes I have since invested in a big lock to stop similar happening again to my wife's digust!

The 500 Twin was only partly re-designed when all the other models were extensively revised in 1956. It got the new frame and cycle parts but kept the old engine although they also had the new primary chaincase. You can see in the picture that the heads are the old round fin design, not the rather angular version of the later models. The 500T didn't get the new engine until 1958 when the Meteor Minor was introduced. But that's a whole other story! Incidentally the Super Meteor also kept the old crankcases for a short while but fitted with the new timing cover with oil filter inside and the old filter location in the case blanked off. So what was the old reg number RR?

REgards, Mark

The reg is ORV 654 and the receipt

Well it doesn't come up on the DVLA database. That doesn't mean that it doesn't still exist, the number might have been transferred to another vehicle or it hasn't been re-registered yet. Judging by the state of it in the pictures a year to get it fully restored and back on the road might not be enough! From that excellent receipt (thanks for posting, haven't seen a Pride and Shark invoice like that before!) it was already a year old when sold by them. Interesting!

REgards, Mark

Pride and Clarke building shown briefly at the start of this video clip:-

Buildings, they had most of the street! David Hemmings in "Blow Up", strange film... A.