Nice video- congratulations to this lady on keeping such a lovely old machine in fine fettle; my late father spoke of a terrifying ride many years ago as pillion on a Sunbeam owned by a great-uncle of mine- a very short man who had been a colonel of Gurkhas; dad was 6'3'' and caught the full blast of the wind with little or nothing to hold on to. Memorable...!
That was great, listening to Trudy talking about Bills Sunbeam s8 Lovely bike and yet to try one it encourages me to do just that😊😊 I like these type of videos Look forward to the next All the best Phil
Enjoyable video thanks. I have had two Beams over the last ten years and enjoyed them very much. If your Beam is in good fettle it will do it no harm to give it some 'welly' sometimes. I have never tried to get the absolute maximum out of mine but it will run up to an indicated 75 quite easily. The smoothness of the revvy OHC square engine encourages spirited riding. The rear drives last well if you keep them suppied with the correct oil.
I have been riding Fast bikes since the 1970s, specialist on Norton, Ducati and Honda V4s. Sunbeam I knew two. N°1.... I had to work in London so I was on the train every morning. Once I passed Wimbledon station On the left, parked in a front garden. I think an S8. It looked so cool, I wanted one, but so rare could not find one. N°2, one of my biker mates was called Dave "Knitty" Knight. Why "Knitty" you could not be sure what was crawling in his hair. Now he was a professional car mechanic, his family had a farm in Surrey, he had a Barn on the Farm which he filled with old bikes and cars. In there he had an early 500cc Sunbeam twin, 500cc Overhead cam he told me, I asked "Why don't you drive it?" rear pot overheats. Now at that time we rode British bikes Hard till they broke then repaired them ourselves. On my Norton, still in my garage, I could change a head gasket in 30 minutes, rebuild the complete bike down to the last nut and bolt in 2 weeks. He would not sell me the bike, I would break it. Now let me tell you a story, to get a picture of the time. A member of the "75 club" got married, we held the celebration on Knitty Knights farm, It was LOUD, the Police turn up in their car. For a change I was not wearing Leathers and filthy jeans I was in a three piece suit, while I and the girls discussed politely with the two police officers about turning the noise down a bit, Knitty Knight climbed on top of their car with bolt cutters and removed their flashing lights then buried them in a field. The Police went Bezerk, but couldn't arrest 100 people without knowing who did what. You are the second Sunbeam rider I have encountered I hope you or your dad were as much fun. Small lesson learned, don't trust a Norton rider in a suit
I had two sunbeams back in the early 1950s S7 with a sidecar. and the s8 as a solo bike, one Black like Bill`s, and the other Green the sound of those engines was music to my ears. Not heard that sound in many moons. just packed up Biking now as I am 86. and Road Manner have all gone. Shame!
Mentioned this earlier, but I'm not sure where my comment went. The web address displayed at 6.00 is for the Marston Sunbeam club - not the Sunbeam Owners Fellowship. Although you can find the correct address by looking through their FAQ section..
don't be put off. The rear drive is 100% reliable assuming it is properly built and filled with the correct oil. The bad rep originally stemmed from Sunbeam specifying the wrong grade of oil - keep it filled with sae140 and you won't have any issues.
I was very surprised to hear it was made of brass mate. Perhaps someone makes a harder metal one now ? Bit like Amal carb slides made harder by better metal
@@Anotherflyonmyvisor Not made of brass - made of phosphor bronze. The wormshaft is steel. There is no real need for a 'harder' item as the bronze wormwheel works fine as it is. The early problems only arose because everyone was using the wrong oil in the early days.
I owned an S8 with a matching sidecar in the late 50s. Great bike, which I enjoyed for many years, both with the sidecar on and off. Happy days!
Nice video- congratulations to this lady on keeping such a lovely old machine in fine fettle; my late father spoke of a terrifying ride many years ago as pillion on a Sunbeam owned by a great-uncle of mine- a very short man who had been a colonel of Gurkhas; dad was 6'3'' and caught the full blast of the wind with little or nothing to hold on to. Memorable...!
I wonder how many riders actually hate being on the back. I can’t think of anything worse than
That was great, listening to Trudy talking about Bills Sunbeam s8
Lovely bike and yet to try one it encourages me to do just that😊😊
I like these type of videos
Look forward to the next
All the best Phil
Enjoyable video thanks. I have had two Beams over the last ten years and enjoyed them very much. If your Beam is in good fettle it will do it no harm to give it some 'welly' sometimes. I have never tried to get the absolute maximum out of mine but it will run up to an indicated 75 quite easily. The smoothness of the revvy OHC square engine encourages spirited riding. The rear drives last well if you keep them suppied with the correct oil.
I have been riding Fast bikes since the 1970s, specialist on Norton, Ducati and Honda V4s. Sunbeam I knew two. N°1.... I had to work in London so I was on the train every morning. Once I passed Wimbledon station On the left, parked in a front garden. I think an S8. It looked so cool, I wanted one, but so rare could not find one. N°2, one of my biker mates was called Dave "Knitty" Knight. Why "Knitty" you could not be sure what was crawling in his hair. Now he was a professional car mechanic, his family had a farm in Surrey, he had a Barn on the Farm which he filled with old bikes and cars. In there he had an early 500cc Sunbeam twin, 500cc Overhead cam he told me, I asked "Why don't you drive it?" rear pot overheats. Now at that time we rode British bikes Hard till they broke then repaired them ourselves. On my Norton, still in my garage, I could change a head gasket in 30 minutes, rebuild the complete bike down to the last nut and bolt in 2 weeks. He would not sell me the bike, I would break it. Now let me tell you a story, to get a picture of the time. A member of the "75 club" got married, we held the celebration on Knitty Knights farm, It was LOUD, the Police turn up in their car. For a change I was not wearing Leathers and filthy jeans I was in a three piece suit, while I and the girls discussed politely with the two police officers about turning the noise down a bit, Knitty Knight climbed on top of their car with bolt cutters and removed their flashing lights then buried them in a field. The Police went Bezerk, but couldn't arrest 100 people without knowing who did what. You are the second Sunbeam rider I have encountered I hope you or your dad were as much fun. Small lesson learned, don't trust a Norton rider in a suit
I had two sunbeams back in the early 1950s S7 with a sidecar. and the s8 as a solo bike, one Black like Bill`s, and the other Green the sound of those engines was music to my ears. Not heard that sound in many moons. just packed up Biking now as I am 86. and Road Manner have all gone. Shame!
Yupp a Bike is for riding, My T120R like a look at a True 80 mph!
Mentioned this earlier, but I'm not sure where my comment went. The web address displayed at 6.00 is for the Marston Sunbeam club - not the Sunbeam Owners Fellowship. Although you can find the correct address by looking through their FAQ section..
Yes I know but if you just want S series contact sunbeam owners fellowship (Sof)
I’ve always liked the look of these Sunbeams, but I was always put off by the worm drive.
don't be put off. The rear drive is 100% reliable assuming it is properly built and filled with the correct oil. The bad rep originally stemmed from Sunbeam specifying the wrong grade of oil - keep it filled with sae140 and you won't have any issues.
I was very surprised to hear it was made of brass mate. Perhaps someone makes a harder metal one now ? Bit like Amal carb slides made harder by better metal
@@Anotherflyonmyvisor Not made of brass - made of phosphor bronze. The wormshaft is steel. There is no real need for a 'harder' item as the bronze wormwheel works fine as it is. The early problems only arose because everyone was using the wrong oil in the early days.
@@AndrewSmith-hh3nj thank you for commenting.