Saturday 3 December 2011

Greetings.
I'm not a fan of the seat that is currently fitted to Little Walt. I want a more 'vintage' looking affair. Some sort of leather pan type would be ideal. Walters saddle springs don't tick any boxes with me either.........they are set at the wrong angle and look very BSA Bantam.
Time to raid the piggy bank. Here's my purchase. Two springs. How delightful on further examination they turn out to be a matching pair ! Left and right handed coils ! Wonder who made them ? and for what ?

Now, what does my Raleigh parts book suggest ? Not a lot, I can see from the main diagram that they are technically wrong but hey, it's my bike. But what's this mention of Gough and Nonpariel under the chapter title ?
Turns out Gough & Co where a manufacturer of quality saddles. Found a couple of pics of their bicycle jobs on Google but no motorcycle seats. Nonpariel ? You tell me........

Saddle springs in 1925 ? £0. 0. 9d each.
Saddle springs in 2011 ? (secondhand) £10.


4 comments:

  1. Those are drop springs for a bicycle seat. The top/outside end of the springs attach to the seat base, and the bottom/inside end of the springs attach to the bottom of two rods coming down from the back of the seat. The springs are meant to expand to absorb shock instead of compressing like the ones you had on your bike.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Evan, thanks for stopping by on the 1925sidevalver blog. Yes, you may be correct, the springs could be off a bicycle but they are pretty heavy gauge. I wanted to convert to 'drop springs' as you call them. Are you interested in Raleigh motorcycles and where in the world are you?.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm posting from Virginia, in the US. Raleigh's bicycles are probably more in my vein of interest, but old-school motorcycles are very cool, albeit too expensive to be a hobby for me right now.

    I was actually in the middle of hunting for information about and sources for sprung saddle parts when I saw your springs. I only suspect they're for a bicycle seat because I sit on an identical pair. Mine are probably about 5/32" in gauge. Unfortunately for me, they are low-tension springs. I weigh around 140 lbs and my saddle bottoms out. The springs might work with longer rods and more travel, or in conjunction with compression springs, but in the 3" of travel in my seat, the springs don't provide enough resistance to support me. Most old "long spring" saddles seem to have used a combination of low-tension expansion springs below high-tension compression springs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, Just found your blog after searching gough motorcycle saddles. Just picked a large one off ebay, it has the same springs as your photo. Enfields used a gough cycle style saddle about 1910/11 (on 2 3/4hp twins), but this is the first pan saddle by them I've seen. Good to know Raleigh fitted them, wonder who else? Cheers Keith

    ReplyDelete