Honda-SOHC

General => New Member Introductions => Topic started by: Eyeguy on December 28, 2014, 10:28:42 PM

Title: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Eyeguy on December 28, 2014, 10:28:42 PM: Hi everyone, Paul from West London ( near Kempton). New member here, but not new to 750/4's. Back in the day, I worked at Dresda in Putney and have owned a few of those, plus a Rickman. finally got a Seeley last week, which appears to only need a bit of recommissioning. It's a lovely piece of kit, much more integrated a design than the Dresdas I've owned and worked on.
I'll keep you posted on progress, if you like.

A tutto gas!
Paul
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on December 28, 2014, 10:55:16 PM: Hi paul and welcome, there is someone on this forum who has had a rickman a seeley and dresda in their barn, he may well chime in when he reads this
The seeley is quite a rare bike these days can you post up a picture
pete
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on December 29, 2014, 08:17:26 AM: Who would that be Pete?
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on December 29, 2014, 09:20:52 AM: Quote from: SteveD CB500F on December 29, 2014, 08:17:26 AM
Who would that be Pete?

ERMMM, i wonder steve (http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/hand-gestures/pondering-and-thinking-smiley-emoticon.gif) (http://www.sherv.net/)
Title: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: JamesH on December 29, 2014, 09:27:06 AM: That was subtle
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on December 29, 2014, 10:01:39 AM: Pics:

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

All gone now...
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP) on December 29, 2014, 11:07:43 AM: Love the wheels except the comstars and yeah I remember them well one off the gang I hung around with had a Rickman.
Nice photos Steve
Cheers
Bitsa
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Eyeguy on December 29, 2014, 12:24:26 PM: the Dresda is my old bike, I rebuilt it about 12 years ago. What would you like to know about it, apart from the BS and chinese whispers you already know!

Cheers

ATG
Pau
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on December 29, 2014, 02:11:46 PM: Small world.
Are you the one who won it or the one who replaced the frame?
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Trigger on December 29, 2014, 03:40:52 PM: Welcome Paul. Nice collection Steve.
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Eyeguy on December 29, 2014, 05:47:11 PM: re: Dresda. Neither. It was won, as I'm sure you know, as a spot-the-ball prize. The winner sold it to the father of my best friend at the time ( and still is), Norman Gardner. Norm and his son rode it for several years before the son ( the eldest) pranged it super hard. A replacement frame was procured, one that had been raced, complete with rear disc, instead of the original drum. There it languished, unfinished, until i bought it many years later. The reason the tank doesn't fit properly( it has that large rubber block) is that it was a display tank purchased from old Dodgy Dave when he sold up, not the original. For me, it was a labour of love ,as it was the first bike i ever 'connected' with - my mate used to be brought to school on it. I have some original period photos which were used matching the paint, Dream Machine did a fantastic job ( it was Ray Leon, originally, of course). Owning it was a dream of mine, riding it.....wasn't. A bit dull, tbqh. After a few years I sold it and struggled to find a buyer. The chap who had it wanted to beat his mate with a Triton and knew nothing about it, really. The next owner ( I don't know if it was you?) seemed to get a lot of publicity, implying that he'd done the work, bloody cheek of it! All I could see he'd done was drill a letterbox in the fairing for the oil cooler and fit a bar end mirror. He then tried to flog it for something like Â£14K, I think I sold it for Â£3800, having spent six grand on it, of course. Didn't it surface at Bonhams or some such, recently?

Always raises a wry smile when I read increasingly tall stories about it. It won the Bol D'or, I was informed, without a hint of irony. It was also built for the Aga Khan who sold a race horse in order to buy it. Degens parked his fat arse on it and spouted the usual bowlocks he tends towards, also claiming to have been involved in the restoration. He wasn't, at any point.

Old bikes, eh? doncha just love 'em!

Cheers
ATG
paul
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: JamesH on December 29, 2014, 06:11:17 PM: Nice write up there
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on December 29, 2014, 06:29:47 PM: Hi Paul.

"The next owner" wasn't me but a mate of mine (let's call him "E"). He had a collection of 50-60 bikes and very good connections in the media. He loved nothing more than to have his bikes in the magazines. TBH, I'm not sure that he ever claimed to have done the work, he just looked after them. It lived in my barn from 2006 until this September.

I rode it down to Dave Degen's place in the summer of '06 (hence the picture). On the way back it fried the electronic ignition and I had to swap the points plate from one of the K6s to get it back on the road. It was temperamental and uncomfortable. It didn't move (apart from the odd MOT) until recently. E has been quite ill and asked me sell the collection in my barn (which included the Rickman and the Seeley as well as A GS850G and a bunch of Hinckley Triumphs and XS750/850s. I also sold the PRR, which in my opinion, although not necessarily the best looking, was the best to ride. It had an excellent riding position as well as indicators and mirrors (!)

I sold the PRR, Rickman and Seeley to enthusiasts, but then got bored and irritated with the whole process and cleared the lot to a local guy who ran his own motor mechanics business and restored bikes in his spare time. By then it needed a fair bit of work. Fork seals, brakes stuck, rust, tyres etc. He did the lot, MOTd it and rode it for the summer before deciding that he couldn't live with it either!

He sent it to Bonham's at Stafford this October where it fetched Â£7,360. He also sold a CBX, Mach III, KH400, T350 Rebel, GPZ750 Turbo, CX500 Turbo, Kettle and a GS1000S (clearing the decks or what?)

I had a massive documentation pack with the bike (E always did that) including a copy of the original MCN, old photos and letters from the original owner. That's how I learned about the frame. The whole lot went with the bike (of course).

Anyways, I'd love to see any old photos that you have.

You may have seen it on our old website. The Â£14k was never serious as he always said he'd never sell it. When I insisted that he name a price he said "OK, Â£14k then!"

:D

Good to have you on board.

Steve
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Eyeguy on December 29, 2014, 07:27:00 PM: Thank you for the nice comments, it's good to be here. Apropos the Seeley, once it's on the road I might ask if anyone here has a PRR or Britain equivalent and could spare a day. I write for a couple of the mags and think some clarity between a Seeley and an F2 in Seeley garb might be interesting to the readers; it can confuse some folk.

I remember 'E' quite well, he called me , pressing for info and Norman's contact details. Having told me how much he loved it ( I think he had, or claimed to own, a sandcastle as well) I thought it amusing that it immediately went up for sale!
Love enthusiasts, hate speculators 8)

I'm going for the body off photos at the weekend, will stick 'em up if you like ( that's the bike's body, not mine, put the sick bag down....)

Cheers
ATG
Paul
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP) on December 29, 2014, 07:35:17 PM: Nice history here interesting more pics the merrier as far as I am concerned :D :D
Cheers
Bitsa
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on December 29, 2014, 08:53:25 PM: The rickman now lives in my garage, it was undergoing a transformation , i am converting it to the long tank single seat as you can see it still needs finishing
(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/UK-Pete/IMAG1467_zps4eff2015.jpg) (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/UK-Pete/media/IMAG1467_zps4eff2015.jpg.html)

(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/UK-Pete/IMAG1468_zps3db5477d.jpg) (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/UK-Pete/media/IMAG1468_zps3db5477d.jpg.html)

(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/UK-Pete/IMAG1471_zps9afec736.jpg) (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/UK-Pete/media/IMAG1471_zps9afec736.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: royhall on December 30, 2014, 07:28:27 AM: That black Rickman is a real beauty. Had something similar in the early eighties, a Rickman Kawasaki Z1B. O how I wish I had kept hold of that one. Kawasaki lime green, alloy wheels, triple disc brakes, the whole works. Secondhand cost me a mighty Â£1200 in 1981, and that was a pile of money back then. Got it off a guy called Jones that lived in Fleetwood if I remember correctly. Not even got a picture any more. Happy days. What's something like that worth these days, any ideas. Must be 10k plus I guess.
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Erling on December 30, 2014, 11:09:58 AM: Probably better keep silent as I can't do pictures, but I do have a Seeley. New in '78 and fitted with the original Sandcast engine. Carried me to the I.o.M races next year and Misano Italy '82 Moto GP. On long runs a little irritating as tank filler is on the left so only 16 litres was possible to the 19 when kept upright as it has only a side stand. Centre one no room for with the 4 in 1 exhaust for the big diameter Seeley "silencer". Half a dozen years and a ko engine with 8xxcc was fitted. Never ran well. An '84 CBX 750 engine came my way. Could just be shoehorned into the Seeley frame! Did well for the next 25 years, but now some electric fault has stranded it.
Erling.
Will ad picture if some day I find out how to do it.
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on December 30, 2014, 11:15:39 AM: Not sure on there value roy, but over the last year they have over doubled in asking price
there are people on ebay asking as much as 15k for them, go back a few years and the money was just not in them, i love rickmans they are a marmite bike , you love them or hate them, i have to say when you ride them you realise just how crap the jap bikes were handling at the time
Here is me on my other one a Z1R Rickman, it goes like a rocket and handles like it is on rails, an amazing bike
(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/UK-Pete/random%20pictures/IMAG0667_zps9743cd85.jpg) (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/UK-Pete/media/random%20pictures/IMAG0667_zps9743cd85.jpg.html)
(http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/UK-Pete/myrickman_zpsd8d00fa1.jpg) (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/UK-Pete/media/myrickman_zpsd8d00fa1.jpg.html)
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: JamesH on December 30, 2014, 11:30:58 AM: Now that is a very cool bike indeed Pete...
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Eyeguy on December 30, 2014, 11:49:57 AM: Pathetic earthlings. The sole purpose of the Z1r was to terrify, using the strange combination of powerful motor, flexi frame and shit brakes. Dilute it not with your fine handling rickman tubes! In fact, what you really need to do is this:

(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8646/15960108509_bf0358fe0a_s.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/qjkJdD)Untitled (https://flic.kr/p/qjkJdD) by atuttogas1958 (https://www.flickr.com/people/76341843@N02/), on Flickr

A VERY scary bike! Mine is completely unrestored. 145BHP at the rear wheel-eek! Front brake uses a cable :o to operate a remote master cylinder. My BSA has better brakes.

Cheers

ATG
Paul
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on December 30, 2014, 12:06:54 PM: A turbo, nice one paul, your obviously a nutter ;D ;D ;D
pete
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Norniron on December 30, 2014, 12:43:17 PM: Quote from: Erling on December 30, 2014, 11:09:58 AM
Probably better keep silent as I can't do pictures, but I do have a Seeley. New in '78 and fitted with the original Sandcast engine. Carried me to the I.o.M races next year and Misano Italy '82 Moto GP. On long runs a little irritating as tank filler is on the left so only 16 litres was possible to the 19 when kept upright as it has only a side stand. Centre one no room for with the 4 in 1 exhaust for the big diameter Seeley "silencer". Half a dozen years and a ko engine with 8xxcc was fitted. Never ran well. An '84 CBX 750 engine came my way. Could just be shoehorned into the Seeley frame! Did well for the next 25 years, but now some electric fault has stranded it.
Erling.
Will ad picture if some day I find out how to do it.
To add pics ask trigger hes a master at it
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP) on December 30, 2014, 02:55:05 PM: Keep them old photos coming love em ;D
Cheers
Bitsa
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: SteveD CB500K0 on December 30, 2014, 03:05:49 PM: Old pics...

Here's another:

Honda Britain(s) in the car park at the Gaulioses Powerbikes meeting at Brands Hatch in 1978
[attachimg=1]
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP) on December 30, 2014, 03:11:41 PM: Brill Steve yeah remember them well now
Cheers
Bitsa
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: motad_uk on January 12, 2015, 01:15:38 PM: Got to drag this story out!- working at Micron in the 90s (my 10 year holiday from motad)

We were mega busy, phones going crazy and we were all under pressure

Lisa takes a call (on a bad line) and when asked a question, when she asked who was calling was told "Mr Silly"- just before she told the person to stop the "wind up" and that we did not have time for joking- it was Colin calling!!

that was a lucky escape

(and nice Neta on the Kawa- they just would not give in and break!)
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: UK Pete on January 12, 2015, 03:11:45 PM: Good story Ian very funny
the Neta on the Kawasaki really suits the character of the engine makes it feel smooth and turbine like, is very neighbor friendly ,, i have to say they are great pipes if you want a sensible bike, i have often fancied putting a noisier / slimmer yoshi style pipe, do you make anything a bit wilder than the neta?
pete
Title: Re: Hello- I appear to have a Seeley!
Post by: motad_uk on January 12, 2015, 04:19:24 PM: we used to make Yoshimura under licence for David Dixon the uk importer in the 80s (that's the 1980s!!!)

as with all of this "thin" silencer 4-1 the power was just appalling with the major mid range "hole" making it feel good! (so we don't!)