Simplex manuals & such

[Mike Sal]

How much literature is available for these bikes......History, owners manuals, shop manuals, etc.....& where do you find them?
thanks,
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

Wayne Mahaffey has a lot of the manuals reproduced.  As for originals, they pop up on Ebay and craigslist from time to time, but get pricey.  As far as history, there is a gentleman named Pat Williams that used to run a website with a lot of info, but this site is no longer around.  If you use "thewaybackmachine", you can find some of the info archived.

As for books, the only one I am aware of is "Simplex Servi-Cycle, America's premier light weight motorcycle"  by Gary Wollard.  Gary passed away in early 2011, and the book is no longer in print.  His son Adam may have some left for sale; search this site for contact info on him.

Rick

[Mo in Mo]

I talked with Gary's son (Leslie) a month back or so and they had some book left. He said send a check for $35.00 to him at

204 NW 46th St
Bradenton, FL 34209

[Mike Sal]

I've been in communication w/ Leslie regarding the purchase of one of the bikes from their collection.  I'll also pick up a book too!

I figure it just a matter of time before I find a bike, so might as well start trying to gather up the technical & information stuff now (much to my wife's displeasure....)
thanks,
Mike Sal

[Mike Sal]

I received an Instruction Manual (from ebay) tonight for the Model M, Simplex Automatic, & Simplex 125.  How many different manuals did the company produce?  Besides the Wollard book, is there any other "bible for Simplex" that is a must have?
Mike Sal

[Mike Sal]

How common is the manual I have?  I made some copies today at work so I'd have one to use in the shop (& not ruin the original copy).  Is there any interest in scanning it & putting it on this site?  Any interest in the copies I made?
Mike Sal

[Ricks]

Mike, I have no idea how many original manuals are still out there, but they do command good money on ebay!  Reproduction manuals are available from Wayne, and he seems to have quite a few.

According to Gary's book, there were around 15 manuals, servi-grams, and instruction books.  Gary was also a supplier of manuals, but I don't know what was done with those. Maybe someone will obtain them and make them available in the future.

Maybe I should create a new section to post manuals in, if people are interested in scanning and posting them.  I don't think we would have to worry about copyrights after all these years.

[Mike Sal]

I don't want to rob any sales from the vendor(s), but it appears the audience for this group is pretty small.  If there were no objections, I'd like to see another section added for "documents" into which we could scan in copies of manuals & other related printed material.
Mike Sal

[JoeSimplex]

Hi guys,
I have a manual ready to upload. The file size is 30mb. Manual is copywrited 1946.
Cheers!
Joe

[ltcps]

Looking forward to it! I'll have to go someplace where high speed  internet is available, but WOW!

[Mike Sal]

Wow, that is a really nice manual (in the manuals section)!  Certainly more information than in my little 16 page instruction manual. 

It's making me really hungry to get a bike.....but it's probably march or April before we go to florida to see the Wollard collection to shop....I've got a buddy who's in florida....maybe I'll have him shop for me.
Mike Sal

[Pete57]

Just got my "Simplex Servi-Cycle, America's premier light weight motorcycle" book in the mail from Leslie.  He even threw in a nice surprise for me. What a great guy,
 Thanks Leslie!
Pete

[Ricks]

What was the surprise?

[Pete57]

a brochure, about 30 pages, about the Servi-Cycle organization with really great photos of the factory inside and out.  I plan on reading it tonight.

[Ricks]

a brochure, about 30 pages, about the Servi-Cycle organization with really great photos of the factory inside and out.  I plan on reading it tonight.

Scan it and post it!