trying to start a owners club for the famous james motorcycles

hi i am very interested in old british bikes but i was shocked that there was no owners club for the James motorcycles which was part of the AMC group as well francis barnett which is why start a page on facebook and a blog to start a owners club for james is this good idea, also wish to make contact with members with Francis Barnett club to help me with this if possible as think james does need one

Good idea, tho some of james later designs originated from the FB factory, so I would like any james club to keep its ties with FBOC.

James designs originating in the FB factory? i would like to see some evidence of that,admittedly the kestrels,plovers were badge engineered james,but designed by james.Later on when AMC owned the James and FB brands again some badge engineering was done and Fb had to be over-ruled on their better,but more costly products,eventually all products being made in the same factory(the james factory) after lower ford street production ceased.If you look at the two products the FB's were built to a standard and the James were built to a price,hence their unsupported swing-arms and bendy frames.JH

I can only speak for certain about my own bike, the james M15, which you would know as the Plover 95.This is definately a FB design,(and it's frame strength was being questioned when first produced, FB or not!).The design was identical in both forms,except for the colours, so I don't see any "superiority" in the FB badge?
Yes it's badge engineering but this bike is still a james, albeit from the FB stable.... which is the point I was trying to make!

No sorry the M15 was an AMC DESIGN from the james stable and designers,it was badge engineered and foisted upon FB by their owners (AMC) the Fulmar 88 was the design for the FB range, the james designed FBs were the Kestel 66,Kestrel 69, Plovers 73,78,86, 95, and the model 96 and 91 sports twin, the only FB designed bikes with james badges that i know of are the trials and scramblers post 1961,in fact the works team bikes (FB,) were repainted and rebadged as James in 1963 even keeping their registration Nos from the works FB team,sorry not convinced!JH

thanks replying please james owners please do contact me to show some support as only got eight people so far

Further to my previous post it may look as if i am anti-james ,the oldest james i have owned was a 1912 600sv with wicker chair,and also had a 1923 v twin and james sidecar.I currently own a J9 commando (second one built) and a tricked up commando bored out to 225cc with electronic ignition and many non standard bits to make it ultra competitive,as well as acting as dvla FB dating officer,i also have a comprehensive knowledge on the james marque and can date these for registration if required,ihave nothing against the marque ,but the post second war models did cut corners and it showed in the design and build quality,basically it all started to go wrong when the James bought out Baker m/cycles in 1931 and inherited some of their designs,and worsened from 1954 with the plunger frame models and worsening still further when the "y" type swing-arm frame was introduced in the same year for the captain with its unsupported swing arm pivots,a design they stubbornly stuck with to their demise circa 1966.JH

don't no what my bike is yet as it got the amc 225cc engine in but doen't look like it should be there think it a captain rear damper have little springs and ampmeter but maybe bits from alots of different bikes got to get a logbook yet need reregistering and restoring yet

Lets try and help you a bit? amc made a 149cc,171cc 199cc and a 249cc engine ,namely the 15T,17T,20T ,25T .Note no 225cc,if you give me your engine No and frame No ,there is a reasonable chance i can tell you what you have got(or at least what the frame No and engine No belong to),a picture may help with the identification as occasionally the frame and engine No has nothing to do with the bike! (thanks here to all No plate merchants and tealeaves),JH

james captain wrote:don't no what my bike is yet as it got the amc 225cc engine in but doen't look like it should be there think it a captain rear damper have little springs and ampmeter but maybe bits from alots of different bikes got to get a logbook yet need reregistering and restoring yet

Presumably you have loked at the 'James Motorcycle Information Website' at http://www.simplywizard.co.uk/index.htm - this gives lots of information on these machines.

i put pic on soon so you can work out what it is

that my reply above pic in few days

here my bike which slowly restoring she is my pride and joy which uses to go college on when it finished

It is a 175 cc james cavalier with the 17T engine,i can just see the carb float bowl enough to see it is the correct engine,it should have an engine No on the crankcases just below the barrel at the front starting 17T,this was a james unique model,which used some 150cc plover parts and some captain 200 bits(a bit of a part bin special) it was quickly dropped in the end of 1959 in favour of the L20 captain,JH