Troy I'm real flattered that you will be spending some of your hard earned "spare time" following my project - no pressure then !!
Ancestory is top of my pile at the moment - Monterey seems popular with most folk, but I feel that the Ancestory has more "movement" - due to the slope ?
Thanx for posting the French sign .... IF I Do go with the one in my head [ if I find it ] - it WILL be as the old Cafe Noir sign I saw all those years back. Never the less - that poster does have the correct period feel about it.
I might sketch out as close as I can to the old Cafe sign and see what others make of it.
I don't feel that I am sufficiently "one of the boys" yet to ask out loud for help with the design from pro's like Crescent.
Colourways DEFINITELY Coffee / Cream - at least one decision made !
Brass fire extinguisher - great minds !!
That's one of the items we're going to look for at the Autojumble! The old immediate post WW2 Post Office / Telephone vans [ Morris Z van ] used to have a small brass extinguisher attached to the outside of the door. It was purely mechanical, and all Brass. There are one or two other WW1 era brass do-dads that I have in mind. Don't want to overdo it, as the original plan was for a "minimilistic" look.
I also have a very specific idea for the Turbo oil return pipe. Instead of using Russell / Earl's / ....... Stainless hose I'm going to have some 1/2" Copper pipe wound into a loose series of coils [ like a shock spring ], maybe 10" - 12" deep overall and say 3" o/a diameter - which will also act as an oil cooler !!
A pal [ that I got the 4" period speedo from ] has also got a long handled handlebar choke lever - which he's debating whether to let me have. If not, I've got my eye on a brass advance / retard plate and lever [ dash ] from an old Austin car. That might be incorporated on the side of the tank and will operate the mechanical choke on the SU.
Like everything, depends on cost.
I managed to score a couple of Citroen 2CV "Dolly" headlamps yesterday [ E-bay ], which look pre-WW1, even though they're 1980's ! I plan to use one of them with a suitable lens.
My pal AC that I'm building another bike for - has also fallen in love with the style..might be building 2 now ! I told him he can have my second colourway choice - Satin Blackcurrant and Lemon. It also means that he has a 4LS Grimeca front hub / brake assembly going spare ............................
Excuse my ignorance - "M" bars ? I think the full droop Boardtrack race bars will be too extreme for my ageing joints and pull backs - too "Cruiser'ish".
I saw somthing similar to what I have in mind in one of my old Back Street Heroes mags, I'll try to dig it out.
I think Father would definitely approve of using the lamps, rather than have them sit on a shelf gathering dust.
Keep the ideas and critiques coming guys,
really grateful for your input - a sort of International Design forum !
Ideas are really starting to buzz now, and with input from my US and Worldwide cousins - I'm sure the outcome will be at least a moderate success.
Attached the Post Office version - with extiguisher on the fender - the Royal Mail [red vans ] had them attached to the door.
