Author Topic: English Single Mystery (Read 4382 times)

DavidGraves · **on:** March 20, 2020, 12:35:34 am

I have a query for all of you while bored with the damn virus.

I recently aqquired a mid sixties Avon Avonaire full coverage touring fairing that I intent to mount on my bullet classic.

Of course I don't know what this individual fairing was designed for but the scale of it fits the Bullet very well.

The mystery is that the fairing has a LEFT side lower cut out for a down pipe from a single.

I am not entirely fluent in English bikes but I cannot think of a mid sixties mid sized road single that routed the exhaust down and back along the left side.

There is your assignment for the night...prizes awarded.

David Graves

Stanley · **Reply #1 on:** March 20, 2020, 01:20:09 am

No idea, but thanks for the distraction.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #2 on:** March 20, 2020, 02:25:03 am

Bit earlier than your fairing, but at least some prewar Norton Model 19 singles had a ~~right-hand~~ left-hand silencer.

I gather these big 600 singles saw a lot of sidecar use, so maybe that had something to do with the unusual placement?

Royal Stargazer · **Reply #3 on:** March 20, 2020, 02:29:13 am

Is it just the left side? I could have sworn that I stumbled upon a British single that had a weird sort of faux dual exhaust where the header split right at the port, leaving a silencer on either side of the machine.

Then again, it might just be the whiskey talking.

DavidGraves · **Reply #4 on:** March 20, 2020, 02:39:54 am

Hey Bilge,

No...your other right hand.

That Norton is too old.

Middinhall brothers made the Avonaire for many models and size bikes...touted for touring or for just weather protection.

Your Norton image is the correct left side placement for the cutout I am talking about on this Avonaire.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #5 on:** March 20, 2020, 03:44:21 am

Quote from: Royal Stargazer on March 20, 2020, 02:29:13 am

Is it just the left side? I could have sworn that I stumbled upon a British single that had a weird sort of faux dual exhaust where the header split right at the port, leaving a silencer on either side of the machine.

Then again, it might just be the whiskey talking.

Nope. It ain't the firewater. Lots of British and other singles have had dual port exhausts. Google "BSA Sloper'.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2020, 04:14:59 am

Quote from: DavidGraves on March 20, 2020, 02:39:54 am

Hey Bilge,

No...your other right hand.

That Norton is too old.

Middinhall brothers made the Avonaire for many models and size bikes...touted for touring or for just weather protection.

Your Norton image is the correct left side placement for the cutout I am talking about on this Avonaire.

Yup! That was a straightup brain fart. As for your Avonaire fairing, what is its approximate year of manufacture and in which country was it originally used? I'm still nursing a hunch that its oddball exhaust configuration was somehow sidecar-related...maybe on some commercial or service vehicle, like a Royal Automobile Club roadside assistance patrol. They used all sorts of freaky-deaky vehicles for that in the '50s and '60s.

DavidGraves · **Reply #7 on:** March 20, 2020, 05:17:35 am

I have to guess my fairing is mid sixties.

There is a big AA BSA 600 with sidecar and an Avonaire fairing in the British Motorcycle Museum....they let me take some detailed photos and measurements from it during a visit last august.

This fairing is the next size smaller tho....

I think I have seen an Avon ad for even the Honda 125.

Remember, motorbikes were an essential part of British transport...much more than sporting use...until the early sixties.

cyrusb · **Reply #8 on:** March 20, 2020, 12:08:04 pm

How about a pic?

DavidGraves · **Reply #9 on:** March 20, 2020, 03:13:32 pm

Can you tell me how ?

I am 65 and most tech is unfamiliar to me.

I can take an image with my phone but not sure how to post it.

David

cyrusb · **Reply #10 on:** March 20, 2020, 06:24:49 pm

Download it to your computer. Then just follow the buttons to add it to your next post. They are at the bottom, labeled Attachments. and other options. You will get it, just click away until you get what you want. I can do it and I'm 65 plus my mother drank heavily during pregnancy.

So, I looked it up and wonder why you would want to cover up what makes a bullet original special, that lovely mill. Also it will direct all that noise right at you.

Aethelric · **Reply #11 on:** March 20, 2020, 07:39:04 pm

Maybe for a siamese exhaust for a twin?

DavidGraves · **Reply #12 on:** March 20, 2020, 09:23:28 pm

I texted some images of the fairing to Bilgemaster Bill.

He seems the most gregarious of us all and he is the defacto social chairperson of the forum.

(And I had his cell phone number)

Lets all await his response.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #13 on:** March 21, 2020, 12:53:14 am

The Bilgemaster in his "Social Butterfly" guise presents the Avonaire Fairing

DavidGraves · **Reply #14 on:** March 21, 2020, 01:47:53 am

Thanks Madam Chairperson.

The header pipe cut out is a bottom left in first image.

Stanley · **Reply #15 on:** March 21, 2020, 01:49:11 am

Hubba hubba, Bilgio.

cyrusb · **Reply #16 on:** March 21, 2020, 01:26:48 pm

So, you can either take a coping saw and create a pipe cutout in the right spot OR leave it off and let that lovely antique chassis and mill display itself. It's up to you. Have fun.

DavidGraves · **Reply #17 on:** March 21, 2020, 02:30:50 pm

I can cut the whole thing up and leave on the scrap heap....

I KNOW I can accomodate the header when I install the fairing.

For complete fun and giggles I shared a bit of history and wondered if anyone can think of a left handed exhaust single mid size touring bike in the British market during the early sixties.

Perhaps no one does...who gives a rats ass if that is the case.

cyrusb · **Reply #18 on:** March 21, 2020, 03:47:52 pm

Wow, righty-o then.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #19 on:** April 02, 2020, 02:49:07 pm

Here's another fairing, this one with TWO holes in the left-hand side...but not for headers--more like "beheaders." From a Bond film maybe?...

Adrian II · **Reply #20 on:** April 02, 2020, 03:17:23 pm

Yes indeed, Thunderball.

https://jamesbond.fandom.com/wiki/BSA_Lightning_A65L

A.

mrunderhill1975a · **Reply #21 on:** April 02, 2020, 05:49:29 pm

I cried when Fiona Volpe dumped that A65 into the lake.

cyrusb · **Reply #22 on:** April 02, 2020, 05:55:32 pm

It was a better end than most received. Plus it ran for the whole scene!

DavidGraves · **Reply #23 on:** April 03, 2020, 06:51:37 pm

This is the fairing I have up to and including the little cutout at lower center which allows one to fit the fairing with out removing the front wheel assembly.

I have the taller touring windscreen.

As a long distance touring rider I have always liked the look and also the protection from the elements.

David Graves

Bilgemaster · **Reply #24 on:** May 23, 2020, 04:54:49 pm

David: You should check this out: https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php?topic=28455.msg325879#msg325879

I expect it may be what you're seeking. Well, mascara's touched up, so back to the stage...Show must go on!

DavidGraves · **Reply #25 on:** May 24, 2020, 01:22:01 am

Howdy

The Fairing in the video is I believe a Enfield product called an "airflow" maybe...

They were available from the factory on certain twins....there is a great write up but I cannot remember where I saw it....maybe Royalenfields.com ??

The fairing in video would provide good coverage but nowhere as sexy as the Avonaire.

Mine is the very fairing from the Bond film except higher touring windscreen.

Thanks for pointing at it tho.

I recently just missed a set of Craven Dolomite panniers for sale on a 67 BSA in Portland....they were the crem for quality and good weather tight storage.

Boxerman · **Reply #26 on:** May 24, 2020, 09:11:35 am

The Airflow fairing was available for singles as well as the twins.

Frank

DavidGraves · **Reply #27 on:** May 24, 2020, 04:18:32 pm

Hi Frank

Airflow, thanks for that...aren't there some good images somewhere on the web ?

DG

Bilgemaster · **Reply #28 on:** May 24, 2020, 04:59:18 pm

Sorry...I thought I'd seen one of those mysterious left-hand holes in that fairing with an exhaust pipe through it as it briefly flitted by on my device's little screen in that YouTube film. Upon closer paused examination on my laptop, I now believe I was mistaken.

DavidGraves · **Reply #29 on:** May 25, 2020, 01:04:14 am

We all forgive you.

Have you ridden this Spring?....hear there is lots of rain in the DC area.

Bilgemaster · **Reply #30 on:** May 25, 2020, 02:04:51 am

Quote from: DavidGraves on May 25, 2020, 01:04:14 am

We all forgive you.

Have you ridden this Spring?....hear there is lots of rain in the DC area.

Oh yeah...I'm getting out there when I can. Yesterday morning was a bit misty, but as that Danish guy might assure us, a little dampness is good for both the soul and combustion chamber.