Inspiration – Jack Hough

Sometimes this job really is the best in the world, like when Jack Hough sent in a few words about building his own bikes. Yes, really. This is his story about a life of bikes and how it led Jack to building what he wanted. Jack, you are an inspiration.

My name is Jack Hough. I’m 76 and have been around bikes since I was a toddler; that’s me on Don Houghton’s speedway bike. He rode for Norwich Vikings in 1940s, one of the top teams, and my father was his mechanic. Since then, I have been building specials for more than 60 years.

My father loved bikes and cars. His big interest was in Bentleys, which were old even back then – you could find Bentleys in scrapyards. Parts were cheap for most machines; BSA and Norton frames fetched £5 to £10, with forks and swinging arm fitted, of course. BSA, Norton and Triumph engines cost about £5, but you would have to remove them from the frame.

Dad bought my first bike when I was 14 and it came from a scrapyard! It was a BSA 650 Gold Flash plunger, and in a bit of a state. After a while, we got it ready for sale. I remember the day well – Dad decided to give it a last road test (his words) and after 20 minutes he staggered up the drive pushing the BSA, blood all down his face (no crash helmet), and his arm and hand were in a mess. I took one look and said: “What have you done to my bike?!”

Once sold, it gave me the money to get a DOT round-frame scrambler with a two-stroke Villiers engine... great fun, but couldn’t stop it from fourstroking. At 15, I started my apprenticeship at the local garage; the pay was £2.10s.6d for a 48-hour week, with Saturday mornings being part of the week in those days. With money in my pocket and access to welding equipment, I removed the engine, chopped the single downtube out and replaced it with twin, then bronze welded them and fitted a C15 scrambles engine. I made an oil tank using all the fittings cut from a BSA A10 oil tank. No battery needed – the C15S engine was fitted with energy transfer ignition. Years later, I even went to the 1963 Dragon rally on it.

Shame I don’t have many photos of my early bikes, but I remember all of them (as you do). The one and only Norton. Triumphs. A10 & A7 BSAs. A Triton I built with an engine obtained from a Mate (?) which, a few weeks later, giving it some revs – well, only some – there was an almighty bang. The back wheel locked and I just managed to pull the clutch in before landing on my you-know-what.

When putting another engine in, I found the front engine plates a good hole out; the frame was bent. Inspecting the old engine, a big end bolt had broken and bent the other one back, allowing the conrod cap to come off the crank. It then broke the skirt off the barrel, came down and broke through both crankcase halves, landed around the cross tube of the Norton frame and bent that as well. If you do something, do it well, that’s what I say! I even had to replace the back tyre.

Another Triton, 350 and 500 Gold Stars followed. Have you ever tried going to work in a foot of snow on a Gold Star Clubmans? My favourite was a featherbedframed CB 500 Gold Star engine. It had oval flywheels and, I think, one of the first big fin motors. Manx alloy oil and petrol tanks both bought second-hand from

Reg Dearden’s shop in Chorlton, Manchester, an RRT2 gearbox with a Norton clutch, alloy rims, and a 190 front brake.

One of the best shops for new parts was Pride & Clarke. We would go there most Saturdays, and there wasn’t much it didn’t have or couldn’t get – we didn’t need eBay in those days. We had a Triumph Bonneville, my Norton Goldstar and a Triton; I don’t think any of my mates had a standard bike. In 1969 we left

Manchester and moved back to Norwich. I’m nearly back to being a local now, but the accent still gives me away.

Over the years I’ve assembled all the tools needed to repair and manufacture motorcycles. My frame jig is the most important, and the English wheel with all the bits and pieces to make petrol tanks, mudguards etc. There are MIG and TIG welders and now a plasma cutter. The real bonus of the TIG is being able to weld aluminium and bronze-weld frames... far easier and safer than the old oxy/ acetylene. Argon gas is inert, so no chance of a big bang!

Having had a BSA C10L sidevalve engine in the back of one of the sheds for the last 20 years, I decided to build the bike I have always wanted but never could afford – a 1920s flat tanker. I swapped a Triumph ‘box with a good mate of mine for a three-speed BSA ‘box and some C10L primary cases. First things to make were engine plates. I set up the engine and gearbox on the bench and using the inner primary cover, I could get the centres for the crank and main shaft. Mock-up plates were made from cardboard, then ¼in ply, and when happy, the final steel plates were manufactured.

With engine and gearbox as one unit, they were easily set up in the frame jig. For the frame, I decided to use the same geometry (head angle and wheelbase) as the C15S I have. Steering head was 65deg and wheelbase 51 3/4in. Frame built round the engine, using the old fashion method: what looks right normally is right.

Girder forks were made after quite a bit of head scratching and photos off the internet. They were fitted to some 1920s top and bottom yokes – they looked right. The headstock machined up and the bearing holders bronze welded. The hubs are from a Honda 90, reconditioned with new bearings seals and brake shoes, painted then laced into powder-coated WM1 21in rims.

The tanks were the next to be made. From the start I wanted the bike to look right but not be a copy, so the tank was built in two separate sections with just a small gap between them. I wanted to use as much brass as possible, so I fitted brass filler caps. The petrol cap came from India, the oil tank cap off a vintage petrol can, and the dummy oil pump from an old brass blow torch.

That engine was from a boot sale, so I had no idea what it was like. After stripping and cleaning, I was amazed to find the bore was STD and just needed glaze busting. Rings were solid in the piston, but after a good soak on the stove in boiling water, rings were removed and grooves cleaned out with an old ring used as a scraper. STD rings were a job to find, but I managed to get some from Germany. New valve guides and valves were fitted, but no work was needed on cylinder head.

I must say, it was nice to work on a side valve for a change. The big end was in good condition but I replaced the main bearings and oil seal. One problem with the engine was removing the crank oil sludge trap plug. I ended up MIG welding a piece of hexagon bar to it. Heat and a spanner did the trick.

There was one quite important thing missing: the automatic advance / retard plate and points. I just couldn’t find the bits anywhere. I think I now have the only C10L engine with electronic ignition. This entailed some machining and a new taper fitting made up for the camshaft. That was topped off with a brass points cover, again from India, modified, and a clear inspection cover.

The gearbox was stripped, cleaned and rebuilt with new bearings and seals. Shafts and gears were in excellent condition, and I had a complete BSA A10 clutch stashed away so decided to use that; trouble was the three-speed ‘box had a different size taper on the main shaft, so the clutch hub was modified to suit. The C10L engine has an alternator fitted, another missing part, so I got a Royal Enfield alternator from India. The theory was Lucas used to make them for Royal Enfield, so it should fit... and at under half the price, it did – after sorting the wiring out.

Exhaust was the next on the list. Bends and a straight section were purchased, all in stainless steel, then welded and polished with an original C10L silencer. Handlebars were also made from stainless, with all the cables going through the inside to keep things looking tidy. Brass back-to-front brake and

clutch levers were used, with throttle adapted from a valve lifter lever, just to be different. It became a bit complicated to get the full travel for the carb; I ended up with two cables connected to an unequal, rightangle lever. You can just see it in the photo under the tank – loads of adjustment, works great.

I wanted a brass headlamp but to get a genuine one was almost impossible. Then, wandering round my local boot sale, there it was! Well, it was actually an old garden pump. But with pump removed, the inside of the bottom cut out, then the length shortened by 4in and all the dents knocked out, the diameter was spoton for a headlamp sealed beam unit. And the pump handle was also used as the gear lever. The tyre pump fitted to the frame over tank is also a garden sprayer, modified so it will pump the tyres up.

Air cleaner/ battery box has all the electrics fitted into it. Trying to find a small enough battery to go in the box and still have room for everything else was a problem. In the end, a 12v lead acid, the type used for mobility vehicles, was used. Small and rechargeable, it's only used for the lights; the alternator copes.

After completely dry-building the bike, it was stripped down for painting. Garage cleared and cleaned, I was able to do all the spraying in one place – tanks in cellulose (you can still get it from eBay), with pinstripes put on using paint pinstriping stencil tape; it puts two lines down in one go. The black parts, like frame and mudguards, were sprayed with aerosols obtained from the centre aisle of Aldi. They don't have it all the time, but when they do I get a good stock in. It's made in Germany and has its own clear lacquer built in. You will be amazed at the finish you get.

Something I'm really proud of is the only thing someone else did – powder-coating the wheel rims. And after a good 11 months, it was finally finished.

After all that came the DVLA's red tape in getting a self-built motorcycle registered and tested. To start you have to have a frame number; after two to three weeks, DVLA will provide one. Then you must arrange for a MSVA test (motorcycle single vehicle approval), carried out at your local Ministry test centre.

I downloaded the regulations – the idea was to get it right first time. It gives you all the info you need... if you can decipher all the mumbo jumbo. After quite a few headaches, I got everything sorted and the bike booked in for the dreaded test.

You do have to transport the bike there. It failed on two items: speedometer face in KPH, not MPH (my fault, I didn't even look) and stop light not working from the front brake. I must admit, when I came away I was over the moon – two small items and a free retest. Things couldn't get much better.

After the retest, I stood there looking at my elusive British National Type Approval / Minister's Approval Certificate, better known as a MSVA. Next, back to the DVLA with what I thought was all the relevant paperwork: photos of the build, all parts receipts, and I mean all... you have to prove everything. In the end, after nearly two months of letters and calls, I finally received the logbook. It was registered as a new vehicle but beggars can't be choosers; I had that nearimpossible-to-get piece of paper!

It's registered as a 250cc JMR – J for Jack, M for Margaret, my wife, whose help with the build was invaluable (the amount of times I needed three hands)

“There was an almighty bang. The back wheel locked and I just managed to pull the clutch in before landing on my you-knowwhat.”

and R for replica. I wanted S for special, but you can't have everything. At first it was used for shows, mostly local, and it's done well, a few remarks like ‘it's not the real thing' – but I never wanted it to be a replica. To me, it's just a different type of special.

For the second year of shows I decided to build a sidecar. Most of the parts I had left over (steel tube, hub, rim etc). It started with a full-size drawing on a sheet of plywood. The body was made using the drawing, then the frame to fit the body. The leaf springs I ended up making myself. The fronts are car engine mountings. The body frame was then clad in sheet steel. Wooden arm rests were made from old hardwood window frames. Inside is eighth inch ply and covered with nice thin dark grey carpeting. The seat came from a wooden armchair. After spraying, it was fitted to the bike, set up and tracked.

There are things to do at a later date. With the sidecar fitted it is a bit over geared; a smaller engine sprocket should do the trick, when I can find one. I have acquired a lot of patience, so no hurry. It handles great as well!

I'm now in the process of building a square-frame BSA Otter. Hope you found this of use or interesting.

“Sprayed with aerosols obtained from the centre aisle of Aldi. They don’t have it all the time, but when they do I get a good stock in. It’s made in Germany and has its own clear lacquer built in.”