The Weems Motor Co. is a passionate outfit that is focused on the preservation, restoration and custom builds of vintage British Motorcycles.
The Motor Co. is the vision and brainchild of Jared Weems, who is about as passionate about old bikes as it gets.
“I love old stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s an old record player, an LP, an old motorcycle, or old tools… things that I say are older than myself have a soul to them”.
“When I look at a motorcycle, I bring it in, I look at every piece and part of it, I see those scratches, those nicks, the rust… all of those little things tell a story for that motorcycle, so when it comes to me building a motorcycle, I take those things into consideration. I am that person that goes and rescues them from neglect, from being lost and being rusted to the ground. So, to bring life and energy back into them, really it’s a passion.”
This is one of the incredible builds that has come out of the Weems Motor Co. and was assembled to race at the Sons of Speed – an American race series that takes inspiration from the early 20th century board trackers. The bike is named the Dolly Mongrel and is a blend of old motorcycle parts of the vintage era. As Jared explains in his video, many of the parts were sat lying around for years unused, and so a build like this presents the perfect opportunity to dust them off and put them back into action (with of course a bit a machining to make it work!).
The engine is a 1928 600cc J.A.P, the frame from a 1936 Royal Enfield Model G, and the front end from a wartime 1942 BSA M20. The common denominator that marries together the various parts is the fact that they are all British.
This story will take you through the fabrication of one cool bitsa that is inspired by old British metal, and this video is where it all started.
The first thing to explore is the J.A.P motor. In the early days of the motorcycle, John Alfred Prestwich created one of the most prolific engine manufacturers in the world that supplied motorcycles such as Brough Superior, motorcars such as GN and Morgan, and aeroplanes, tractors, lawn mowers and many more mechanical contraptions.
The motor that Jared has used in this build is a 1928 600cc side-valve J.A.P. It features crank pins instead of bushes which indicates that it was pulled from a motorcycle at some point in time. It is somewhat unique in that it features the addition of a 1936 J.A.P Clifford Magento drive case that has been removed from a rotavator. This feature includes the old hand crank slot, and so to spice the motorcycle up, Jared wanted to have the option of a hand crank start. In true fashion, a bespoke start handle was fabricated and mounted to the bike, should the rider decide against a run with the machine. It’s all about preserving those calories!
The fuel is spat into the motor through an Amal 276 Carburettor that comes from a 1946 Velocette MSS. The gearbox housing is from a pre-unit triumph and houses a custom main shaft with zero gears and sealed bearings. The clutch is assembled from various year Triumph components.
The next task in hand was to mount the J.A.P motor in the Enfield Frame – not as simple as you may think. It was common for these old units to have the magneto fitted to the front, and this restricts the amount of breathing space for the 21-inch wheel. The forks were assembled, the wheel installed, and hey-presto – a spot-on fit! Note, there are no brakes on this bike – an entry requirement for the Sons of Speed event. It takes a brave soul to ride a motorcycle with zero stopping power.
The pièce de resistance on this bike is undoubtedly the chromed Norton International tank, that really bounces the character of the machine. The mounting brackets on the Enfield frame needed to be cut and refabricated to accommodate the tank. This may sound like a simple process but watch Jared’s videos and you will see that it takes skill, thought and research to make them authentic to the era. A few Norton manuals will have been perused at this stage of the build!
The 1930s handlebars needed customisation to fit the clamps on the girder forks, and so the bars were chopped in half, widened, and a stainless-steel spacer machined to ensure a sturdy fit. The next head-scratching-moment was how to integrate an internal throttle into the 7/8” diameter handlebars. Fear not, for Jared is not one to be phased. Cue the Honda CT70 trail bike, which featured a 7/8” diameter internal throttle. A new CT70 throttle kit was sourced, and the bars were modified, machined and milled to accommodate this setup. In order to keep in sync with the early motorcycle ways, an inverted level was mounted to operate the clutch. It is the small touches that really make a vintage build like this pop.
A substantial portion of this build is made up from parts that have been gathering dust for many years, and this includes the rear fender which is believed to be from an old Vincent. It appears to be new old stock and undrilled, and ideal to accommodate the skinny 21-inch rubber. It has been mounted to impart a bobber-style look, which was in fact the fashion for race bikes of this era.
These custom builds are not all about simply putting a bunch of parts together to assemble a motorcycle… they require research, consideration, and deliberation to make it look right, and respect the old ways. The rear fender is one such detail. The motorcycles of the time would often have a fender mount that would double up as a grab handle in order to pull the rear end up onto the stand. If anyone has tried mounting an old bike on a rear stand, you might understand the pain. This detail has been replicated by Jared on this bike, a nod to the olden days, and a useful addition to make the bike that little more manageable.
The detail on this motorcycle is beyond impeccable, from the race plate mounted on bespoke rods that have been fitted to the Girder front end, to the custom-made axle stand with a laser cut “Weems Motor Co.” emblem.
You may have noticed in the Weems Motor Co. videos that the motorcycle featured has been allotted a name – the “Dolly Mongrel”. The name plays on ol’ Cockney Rhyming Slang which originated in the East End of London. “Dolly Mongrel” equates to “Pretty Mutt”, which makes perfect sense for this bike!
The Dolly Mongrel was finally ready for some cosmetics, and so it was lowered off the bench, disassembled, sent to the paint shop, and then reassembled. This video captures the final phase where the motorcycle became, a motorcycle.
It was a motorcycle that was ready for the Sons of Speed single cylinder board track and peashooter class, held at Tennessee National Raceway in Hohenwald. All said and done, but it had not actually ever been ridden! The Dolly Mongrel fired up, and was taken to the iconic Sons of Speed track. Jared soon realised that the ratios on the gears were not quite the fit. The bike wanted to run too fast, which was all well and good until it came to braking… well it had no brakes, so this caused an issue! A larger rear sprocket and bolt on drum was sourced from Bikes and Bits in nearby Columbia which would allow good old Dolly to slow down and enable acceleration through the corners.
The next day, and the Dolly Mongrel was revised and ready to race. But the heavens opened, and put a stop to testing. Maybe the bike had pulled over the British weather! Then, there was a break, and as Jared says “You only live once!”. The track was sketchy, but the Dolly Mongrel smashed it and spat up the dirt.
The Weems Motor Co. build is a great testament to proper old vintage motorcycles. It is not one that will appeal to the nuts-and-bolts brigade but is an awesome homage to the bikes of the era. If you have the time, watch the videos on the Weems Motor Co. platform. It features the process of assembling, disassembling, fabricating parts, and making things work. But it is totally worth it if you have an ounce of interest in old bikes.
Follow the Weems Motor Co. on their Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/@weemsmotorco
an article by The Girder Club
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