Hitchcocks Forum

Please forgive me for just wading in and starting commenting guys, that was rude of me. I should have introduced myself first......

So...... Hello I ride a 1953 500 Redditch Bullet fitted with Mr H's lovely 612 kit. All black with no tank badges, still waiting for some original ones to pop up from somewhere.

Hello and welcome. Love to see a pic or two of your machine.
S:)

Hi Simon, I'll post some photos when I can, I'm still on a 120 roll film camera

Welcome aboard.. always nice to see a new name on the list..

It would be nice to see a pic. Does it have the original 53 500 engine?, have you upgraded the brakes?, I assume its the alloy top yoke, seperate headlight model? Those tank badges are a pain, took a while to find a pair for mine, had to get them individually off e bay with a years wait in between!

Thanks chaps.
Yes Chris, it's the separate headlight. Much easier to get it pointing at just the right angle. No matching engine and frame numbers though It's a much later engine with the points setup. I have got a few of Mr Hitchcocks go-faster goodies in there which is nice. The original brake would be scary the way I ride so it's an oriental TLS jobbie at the front. Set up properly this one seems to work quite well. I'll try to do some pictures when I can, but life is real hectic ATM. Yeah i have an automatic search set on ebay so one day they will pop up. I got some of the Hitchcock's tank badges that are done up to look a bit like the original ones, but once you know what the real ones look like they are nowhere near enough for a detail obsessive like me LOL

I also have a 1953 500 Bullet, fully restored some years ago. It is a matching numbers machine re-finished in the original Polychromatic Copper Beech colour. It has the Casquette but all the other features of the early bikes, single side 6" front hub etc. It also has the very unusual bolt up frame as fitted to only the earliest machines. It was fitted with a dual seat from the Factory, a very early option. Although publicity pictures from the time show the bike with a separate top yoke I'm not convinced any left the Factory like this, if they did it may only have been a few Export ones. All these early (pre-1956) 500s are very rare, I've only seen 3 or 4 in over 20 years and one of those was a basket case 1955 I collected the bits for and helped to rebuild! The tank badges are very hard to find, the last set I saw went on Ebay for £73 I think! I will try and post some pics of mine at some point.
REgards, Mark

It'll be nice to see a pic Mark, interesting you think none had the alloy top yoke.

120 Roll film, that takes me back. When I was about 12 I had a Kodak fold out camera given, I used to save up my pocket money and get a roll of film from Boots the chemist. I was mad keen on bikes even back then and ended up with a suitcase of photos of Gold Stars, Vincents, Velocettes and Triumphs. A few years later we moved house and my dad chucked the whole lot in the dustbin as we couldn't afford a removals lorry.