Jawa 05 scooter or no good deed goes unpunished.

Hi John

Something rather different to your James Clockwork Mouse. Could you explain a bit more about the US registration system and the bond. Is the bond based on the value when the vehicle was new or is it the vehicles current value. Is the problem because the previous owner did not register the vehicle in his State and you need proof of the price he paid to set the bond value ?

The Jawa 05 scooter cost £87-10-2 ( 87 pounds, 10 shillings and 2 pence ) in 1965 including UK vehicle Purchase Tax. In 1965 the US Dollar to UK Pound exchange rate was approximately 2.8 Dollars to the Pound. This would equate to a price of approximately $ 245. The price in the US would be different because of different transport costs and taxes but I would have thought the price new would be less than $ 300.

I note that there is a 1966 Jawa 05 Pionyr Scooter with 1,364 miles on the clock for sale in Morgantown, West Virginia priced a $ 800. I am amazed a the prices that old 50cc machines fetch in the UK particularly Sports Mopeds.

The Jawa is the type of machine that would be of interest to 1951superlux. It's not a machine that has been tested in Iceni-Cam Magazine but there is some information on the Jawa 05 scooter in their online archive.

Best of luck.

Regards
Butty Bach

Hi 1951superlux

A very useful manual with a lot of good technical information and couple of amusing bits. I like the Section 2 on 'Undercarriage', 50cc Jawa's must fly. Plus they could not have had silent block bushes in Czechoslovakia in the early 1960s. The swinging arm bushes are a very unusual arrangement. A do it yourself silent block bush.

Regards
Butty Bach

Hi John

And we think that the DVLC at Swansea can be a pain to deal with. I truth it depends which person you have to deal with at Swansea some can be helpful others not. Fortunately most old bike clubs have a 'Dating Officer' or something similar who will deal with Swansea if you have a old vehicle that has lost it's original registration number. I have a problem bike that my father-in-law has purchased recently. The previous owner sold the original registration number to a number plate dealer but did not bother to apply for an age related number, so currently it does not have a registration. It will probably end up with an SV prefix registration ( a 1920s Kinross-shire number that was never issued due to the low number of vehicles registered in the area ) if Swansea have not issued them all by now.

As I now live on the outskirts of what is becoming a large city, the volume of traffic and poor standard of driving is becoming a serious problem. It's no fun riding any old motorcycle of any cubic capacity. Fortunately there are still some places you can enjoy riding, a few weeks ago I did a 115 mile club run in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley area on my 1929 Model E Ariel which was very enjoyable.

Regards
Butty Bach

Hi nortonjohn

I had a fun problem a few weeks ago. The magneto had failed on a friends 1938 G3 Matchless and needed re-winding. I was wandering around the Stafford Show Autojumble and spotted a very grotty looking Lucas N1 magneto. I negotiated a sensible price for it and hoped that I could get it to work. When I checked it out the HT coil was open circuit and one of the two 2BA screws that hold the end plate to the body was snapped off. It's the first time that I have managed to drill a snapped off screw out dead central and clean the original thread up with a tap. A small miracle. I also managed to transplant two thirds of the armature from a Lucas MO1 magdyno and get the N1 magneto working. I real pain of a job but very satisfying when you succeed.

It's now OK to be used as a temporary replacement but there is no guarantee how long it will last. 

Regards
Butty Bach

Hi nortonjohn

I like most old mechanical things. A friend of mine has recently got me interested in old sewing machines. He has over 40 machines dating from the 1860s and gets all his machines working so that he can use them. Because he has a very serious problem with his eyesight I have helped him out a bit and he has given my wife a virtually unused 1954 Singer 99K hand crank machine which she really likes because it is much more controllable than her more modern electric Singer. It sews beautifully, the bonus is that I can use it.

The mechanisms in sewing machines are quite complicated and they need to be set up and timed correctly to form good consistent stitches.

I also like old motor mowers. My current everyday mower is about 50 years old. It came from a friend who left it outside for about 8 years after he had been given it. When I tried to change the oil it came out in one black gooey lump. It's had a new set of piston rings and the Wipac ignition coil has had surgery to remove a duff internal capacitor. It now has an external capacitor that can be easily changed and this year it had a replacement old brass fuel tap when the original plastic one cracked.

My general rule is that if it has plastic parts other than electrical components it is not for me, so the mid 1990s Suzuki GSX-R750 that I helped my mate move the other day is definitely not for me. However I do have a relatively modern car. Not sure what I am going to do when I have to replace it because I do not fancy going electric and overcomplicated items like electronically controlled double clutch gearboxes and electric handbrakes are not for me.

Regards
Butty Bach