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Armstrong, Middlesborough
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Posted by Stuart (UK)  on Wednesday, July 30, 2014 at 20:43
Hi All,
BritBike forum readers will be aware of the thread about triple production numbers - http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=551288#Post551288. The last few posts to it have been about '71 R3's and mention has been made of a bike (01146) that appears to have been returned from a dealer and sent to the Service Department to have its engine removed and sent to "Armstrong, Middlesborough".
I'm curious about "Armstrong, Middlesborough" (Google didn't turn up anything obvious :( ) and what would have been so specialist that Small Heath would've turned an engine over to them rather than investigating any problem there? And who was "P. Adcock", presumably at Small Heath?
Regards,
Replies   :
What a great read. Thanks Stuart. Thanks for the heads-up Stuart, interesting discussion.
I posted a note over there about the work I have done thus far on the records - I should probably get on with doing some more.
This is a screen shot from the engine no. lookup page I built (it's not available for general use just yet):
Hi All,
Thanks for the replies. So what (if any) was the significance of Armstrong doing the rebuild, as opposed to the Service Dept. at Small Heath? :? Did someone there have a particular skill, or was it a favoured dealer if Small Heath's Service Dept. was busy? As I say, just curious about the system and how it worked?
Regards, 'Warranty Service' bikes that were *not* rebuilt in the Service Dapartment were used (on occasion) as 'free issue' to a dealer (as 'works' support) who wanted to enter competition.
A 'used' or 'failed' machine was ideal, as it was going to be stripped and tuned anyway.......
You may also note the phrase 'Returned to Produce' for some test machines. In other words, stripped for parts for development (read - racing) use.
:-) :-)
Yes, you *know* that the back door was as large as the front.......
hth
Philip   Ahhh ... Stuart (UK) on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 08:51RE: Ahhh ... qk@mr1 (UK) on Thursday, July 31, 2014 at 10:18
Armstrong were a Triumph Dealer back in the day,based on Linthorpe road. Alas no longer exist as a dealer.
Others on here may have racing knowledge,certainly Middlesbrough& District Motor Club will have as one of their members was the workshop foreman. RE: Ahhh ... KMason (UK) on Tuesday, August 5, 2014 at 02:12
Martin. The Armstrongs member of the motor club (Nick) laughed when I said he was forman.
Armstrongs were a Triumph dealer, not BSA. He can't remember the engine but they did have a Hurricane with engine trouble. But the date was before Hurricanes. He is getting in touch with the forman (Keith) to see if he knows anything about it. Nick doesn't know why they would send an engine unless it was exchanged. Will keep you informed. Armstrongs Motorcycles, Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough opened in 1897 selling cycles. It closed in October 2009. Russ Armstrong is Clerk of Course at Redcar Speedway and Saltburn Hill Climb. I still see him and go for rides out with one of the mechanics. The last day I asked him if he still had details of bikes sold as my T150 is a Middlesbrough registration (RXG). Unfortunately he had shreaded all details and paperwork. I will ask if he knows but a long time ago. They use to race Triumph twins and developed an overhead cam 650 engine which had an article written about it in Classic Racer lots of years ago. A slight digression on the same theme.
There were a small number of bikes on the despatch records that went back to "Service Repairs" and which appear to have resurfaced with changes to engine/frame numbers (or not resurfaced at all). From detective work on one of the R3 exports I have and some anecdotes from contemporary folk at BSA it was not unknown for such bikes to reappear with deviations to the "year spec". In short, what happened in "Service Repairs" is as intriguing (to me) as some of the detective work on original production.
I suspect I know the answer to the following question but .....Does anyone know if any records were kept or possibly, remain of Service Repair's work/events? Hi ,
" Armstrongs" was a old ( i beleive , the oldest motorcycle dealership in the country - but someone somewhere will of coarse argue that !!! ) motorbike shop on Linthorpe Road , Middlesbrough . It closed a couple of years ago .
hope it helps ! |
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