General Category => Simplexes with Non-Original Engines => Topic started by: trooper82 on February 13, 2011, 04:23:58 PM
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Hello all,
Bob, thanks for the effort putting this web site out there for all of us.
I’m building a custom Simplex based on the early 1940’s military model G-A-1. I’ve been able to find a few pictures and some bits and pieces of information on the web but not a lot. If you have any information that you would like to share I would appreciate it.
Thanks, Mike
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Hi Trooper. It's a pleasure. Here are some photos of an exact WW2 Simplex bike. Gary Wollard in Fla also just built one for a military museum in La. I don't know if he has any pics, but would be willing to bet he does. I was also looking at some of the prices for various parts for the bike. I don't know how exact you want to get, but if you want period saddlebags they run about $500. The bag mount is about $100. The exact rear tail light is $80 and the windshield is $300. I was looking at that windshield and you can build one for a lot less. Pick up a generic windshield for around $60-$80 and get a duffel bag from the fleamarket $10-$20 and a little sewing would do the trick. I have a picture of original winter leg guards and those were made of aluminum. It would not be that much of a trick to make those. Anyway here are the pics and I hope they help.
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Dunno what happend. It said my folder is full. Here are the links to them.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil1.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil1.jpg)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil2.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil2.jpg)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil3.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil3.jpg)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil4.jpg (http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd149/bobgurkin/Simplex/simmil4.jpg)
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Hey Troop, have you done anything else with your bike?
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Hi Bob,
Thanks for posting the pictures. The exhaust is finished and I'm installing the chain guard I built this weekend. I take some pictures and post my progress soon.
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Bob, In regards to the windshield, is that an original or a repop for $300? I would be interested in see the leg guards, I know the Harley WLA's had them but didn't know about ones for the Simplex.
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A pic of the current state of my Simplex build. Tail light, exhaust, chain guard and fuel filter installed.
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Another pic.
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That's pretty neat trooper! Do you plan on riding it or just display?
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Hello Rick, Definently I'll be displaying but it's for occasional riding too.
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Troop, here are the leg guards. The windshield is a repop. All of the pics I showed were repops. That is such a great looking bike :)
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Thanks for posting the info. Who has the repop windshield?
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Troop, here are the leg guards. The windshield is a repop. All of the pics I showed were repops. That is such a great looking bike :)
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Bob, you have to post that book! I've tried calling Gary to see if he has it available, but have not heard back.
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Rick, do you recall anything in Gary’s book about the military Simplex? Specifically I’ve been trying to find information about the lack of the crash bars on the military model and how the footboards were mounted. I’ve seen pictures of the military Simplex in WW2 on the web site, theliberator.be/militarybicycles.htm and in all the pics, no crash bars . I emailed Johan for more info but he only has what he's posted.
Here’s a pic of Father Sampson, 101st Airborne Division on one in Holland. Sept ’44. This photo has been cropped but I have an un-cropped and the footboards are there.
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The 1 picture of a military G-A-1 in Gary's book shows the crash bars just like the civilian version.
The was also at least 1 3 wheeler sold to the Navy, painted orange, the Navy's flight line color. There is a brass tag on the head " C.N.O. #13892".
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That’s interesting. When I first started researching I thought that cutting off the bars could be just a military “motor pool modification” possibly to save a little space for loading on the gliders for the airborne operations but then I saw the below picture on “The liberator” web site. It’s a scanned image of the Model G-A-1 from the Simplex military manual dated 1943, no crash bars but the footboards are there. I would think that any pictures in the manual would be of the bike as delivered and not modified after the fact.
I’ve seen a post on another forum that Simplex delivered about 650 bikes to the Army between 1942 and 1943 (I haven’t been able to validate that number). Simplex built around 11,000 model G's between 1940 to 1945 so I would guess that some were initially manufactured per the military spec and didn’t have the crash bars and possibly as the war progressed the civilian models were just painted OD at the factory and delivered to the Army to meet the contract.
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Simplex did a lot of custom bikes for various reasons. I know they made 3 battery operated bikes for an aircraft plant in California during WW2. I rode the only existing battery operated bike some years ago. They used the same control (like a huge foot pedal rheostat) that was used on the trolly cars of the time. The motor is a DC motor totally enclosed that will take up to 36 volts. The bike I rode was supposed to have 2 6 volt batteries in series to give it 12 volts and the builder of the bike did not understand that and set it up to operate off of 2 6volt batteries parallel. Even with that little bit of power it would still zip right along.
I did not ride the 3 wheeler they built for the guy who lost an arm and leg during WW2, but do know where it is. The bike was built to accomidate the fellow with the disabilities and was not used very much. It still looks just as good as the day it rolled out of the factory.
Rick, I will work on copying the book and will post it on here. Needless to say it will take a lot of time.
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Troop here is the site for the repop military bike stuff. http://www.ziggysmotorworks.com
Rick I am working on copying the book. It's going to take awhile. This thing is about 90 pages.
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Here is a photo of a Chaplin riding a Simplex. Notice the lack of crash bars, 2 piece front fender supports and blacked out headlight. The exact leather saddle bags are avaliable as repops. These bikes also had very large mufflers with a wire mesh cone shaped spark arrestor on them.
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I know of two authentic G-A-1s that exist. One is in a private collection in Illinois, the other is in the 101st Airborne museum. I have been working with a curator at the 101st on the G-A-1 that they have. Here are some photos of the genuine G-A-1.
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Hello Servicycle,
Thanks for posting the picture. You wouldn’t happen to know the serial number on the engine would you? The reason I ask is that it looks like that’s possibly an early model H. The octaganal foot boards are correct for the model G but the toe operated rear brake pedal came out in 1945 with the model H. The Model G had the brake pedal mounted to the rear of the engine and was heel operated.
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I can see the rear operated brake pedal in this pic from the military brochure and there is another pedal of some sort directly behind the foot board, but I don't see the kick start. You can also see the oversized muffler in this photo.
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Here’s a pic of the opposite side from the military manual. The other pedal operates the clutch. According to the Simplex history on the Servi-Cycle web site, the kick starter didn’t come into being until 1947.
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Nice looking bike! How are you powering the light? Ive been doing some looking around and am coming up short with lighting solution using a Briggs?
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I haven't got around to figuring out how to power up the lights yet. That's a project for this winter. I don't think theres enough juice in my 3 HP to run the light(s) but I don't know for sure. I've seen some battery/LED lighting kits for bicycles on eBay that I'm considering.
Any thoughts from anyone?
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I've thought about this for my 3 wheeler build. My solution was to get an electric start version of the motor, which in my case is a 6.5 hp honda clone. These motors come with a charging stator to charge the battery. I'm going to run a small tractor battery, which I'll probably put in the truck bed. When I get my 53 automatic done, I'll jump back on the truck. Check out my 3 wheeler thread for future updates.