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Gerald Gardebled of LRM in
Beijing |
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alpha 1 Alpha 2 Alpha 3 Beta Gamma XA Tech 1 Tech 2 |
| "Here is one of LRM's new bikes. It is
ready and available for sale. SV, M1M, 12 volt, electric
starter and reverse gear. Polished engine and chrome
parts. If anyone is interested they can get in touch with
me at gardebledg@hotmail.com." |
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| January
22, 2007 |
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"Here is an M1 SV engine I built for a
customer. This engine has been built with vintage NOS PLA
issue parts to ensure its quality. All components were
hand picked. Bearings are FAGs, the pistons are M1-2
three-ring short skirts pistons with M5 rings." |
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"The cylinders as you can see in the
pictures have proper cleaned cooling fins that allow the
airflow to circulate properly." |
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"The cylinders are PLA issue and are
crosshatched. The heads are NOS PLA issue with the brass
sleeve for the spark plug." |
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"And I used solid copper head gasket
for better cooling." |
| January
18, 2007 |
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| "Today was China National Day. I went
to Tian An Men square and I was able to get pictures of a
lot of the City Management Police Xiang Jiang sidecars.
These are made by the Hu Nan factory, the same one that
makes the engines for the Chang Jiang motorcycle." |
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| October 2,
2004 |
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The Shandong images submitted by Jim
Bryant (click here) prompted Gerald to
shed a little light on these unusual machines. This image
is from a manual. |
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You can see a few parts that look as though
they'd interchange with the CJ engine. It's impossible to
say accurately just from looking at pictures, but this
engine doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence. |
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A detail from the parts illustrations. One
has to ask why Shandong chose to completely redesign the
engine when the original was just fine. |
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Is that a magneto? The illustration above
shows the distributor mounted elsewhere so my guess is
yes. |
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And here's a diagram of the Shandong sidecar
frame, again, different from our bikes. |
| November 10, 2004 |
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Luca asked Gerald
if he'd mind doing the service on his bikes. It's not
hard to guess what his answer was. Here's Luca's R12 by
the way. |
| November 2, 2004 |
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Does this engine look familiar? The jugs and
heads look very much like those on a flathead CJ... |
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...and well they should. It's a 1928 BMW
R42, something you don't see very often, especially in
China. |
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The owner is Luca Vinciguerra.
He needed some mechanical expertise and got Gerald's name
through the Italian embassy. |
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There were carburetor problems that Gerald
had sorted out in ten minutes. |
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Here's the grand old dame next to another
great bikeAlpha. |
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Makes you drool. |
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Luca looks quite pleased in
this shot... |
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...as does Gerald... |
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...as does Clay. |
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By the way, Luca also owns this 1928 Indian.
But it's not your basic V-twin machine. This is the rare
straight four. You're looking at some money here. Maybe
Gerald will get to wrench on this bike someday. |
| October 31, 2004 |
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Gerald delivered Beta's
sheet metal parts to the paint shop. Take a look at what
was sitting outside! |
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Components from Beta. Look at the offset
fuel filler on the tank. |
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All of these fenders are the real deal. |
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Someone else was having some CJ stuff
painted there as well. This is a flamed out sidecar
fender. |
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And a flamed out front fender. The splash
guard looks like it's been cut down slightly. |
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And the rear fender. |
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The sidecar bucket. |
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Again... |
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...and again. |
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And last we have the flamed out tank. |
| May 29, 2004 |
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Gerald sent these interesting images taken
from a Chinese magazine article about the police. Check
out this well used flattie. There are two pictures in the
enlarged image. |
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Imagine riding around on a flathead CJ all
day... and getting paid for it. |
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Some policemen and women with a flathead CJ.
The enlarged image also shows a rather unusually equipped
bike. I don't recognize the sidecar, windshield or leg
guards. |
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And last of all, a modern
"plastic" Chang with three policemen on board! |
| May 21, 2004 |
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This bike is being customized at a shop in
Beijing, not by Gerald. |
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It's a water cooled M1S destined to become a
solo. |
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Here's the engine... |
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...and the engine tag. |
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Disc brakes on the front end. These inverted
forks are the big thing nowadays. |
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This is the first Chang I've seen with them. |
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Even the balance tube has been sprayed. |
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Take a look at the enlarged image to see the
quality of this paint job. |
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Here's an overall view of the tank. |
| April 6, 2004 |
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Introducing Bull Froggies MC,
Beijing's newest sidecar club. |
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Look at all the kids (and Changs!) |
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This was their first gathering. These two
bikes are flatties. The green one is an M1M. |
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The club is comprised of French expats
living in Beijing. |
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I'd love to be in a club like this! There's
at least ten CJs in this picture. Wow! |
| March 28, 2004 |
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Did you ever how these guys managed to get
the sidecar wheels off so easily... and without any
tools? |
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We'll let you in on a little secret. The
nuts holding the sidecar wheel in place have little
handles tacked on them... |
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...and no cotter pins! |
| March 24, 2004 |
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This could very well be the oldest CJ engine
in existence. It's a 1959. |
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CJ Godfather Shen Liang Qing tells
us that the first CJs came off the line in 1959 as
opposed to 1957 as claimed elsewhere. That would make
this an exceptionally great find. |
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This engine has a few M72 similatrities not
found on later engines. The cover where the distributor
seats has nipples on the bottom right side where the
ignition coil was once mounted on old M72 engines. |
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Looking down from the top. |
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In this detail image of the gearbox you can
see that the air filter is secured by only one screw as
opposed to two used on later gearboxes. |
| March 20, 2004 |
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Another incredible find. |
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It's a 1987 PLA M1. |
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Sure, it may look pretty ragged but... |
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...it only has 12km on it! This is a Jiangxi
speedometer, by the way. |
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If you still have doubts, check out the
protective wax paper on the exhaust pipes. This is
applied by the factory and probably doesn't last more
than a minute or two after the engine is running. |
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No run-of-the-mill petcock here. Instead the
bike has a mechanical fuel filtration device. |
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Here's where you activate the fuel flow.
This bike will be restored and then offered for sale. |
| March 19, 2004 |
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This isn't your average PLA bike. |
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It's a 1993 M1M showing 38km on the
odometer. That's right, 38km. |
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How did it get 38km on it when... |
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...the engine has never been started!?
Gerald opened it up for inspection and this is what he
found. It's an absolutely spotless Lanxiang engine. |
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Nonetheless he pulled the flywheel and... |
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...replaced the rear oil seal with this
upgrade. |
| March 12, 2004 |
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Gerald doesn't have any trouble keeping
warm. He was out and about yesterday with Alpha
which is now back together after the maintenance project. |
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Hey, it's Chris Drumgoole,
seen here on his M1 that Gerald built. |
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Nice bike! |
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That's an NOS engine from 1985. |
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Chris with Alpha in the
background. |
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I like it! |
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Look closely and you'll see the blue engine
tag. Lucky Chris, that's all I can say. |
| January 3, 2004 |
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This 1966 M1 was originally a PLA bike and
later used by the police. |
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It's on deck for restoration. |
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Here is how frame-mounted toolboxes were
attached. |
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Second time around for this old soldier? |
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Look at the M72 style sidecar frame. Gerald
says the bike is just loaded with interesting details. It
will be a great project. |
| 12/18/03 |
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During Gerald's recent buying expedition to
Nanchang he spotted only one M1M the entire time he was
there... and here it is |
| 12/2/03 |
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Solid state 6V regulator. These are of
superior quality. |
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Inside. You can idle with all your lights
switched on and see no change in their brightness. |
| 11/19/03 |
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Speedometer cable manufactured on July 30,
1970 at PLA Factory No. 7407. |
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...and here is the packing slip. |
| 11/20/03 |
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Every CJ rider needs one of thesea
genuine PLA motorcycle helmet from the mid-1980s. |
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This illustration from an old CJ manual
shows a rider wearing one. |
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And so does the cover. |
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As does this PLA propaganda photo... |
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...and this most excellent propaganda
poster. |
| 11/19/03 |
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This engine will be used in the 1967 CJ
restoration currently underway. It's a first production
run version of the Type II SV. |
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It is almost identical to the Type I engine. |
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These are bikes being built. |
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Gerald specializes in 6V M1 bikesbut
they also build M1M and M1S machines. |
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NOS M1 engine with gearbox. |
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The 1967 M1 is being built for one of
Gerald's French customers. |
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Another view of the assembly area. |
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This NOS 1985 M1 engine is for Chris
Drumgoole. |
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Quality standards were very high when this
engine was built. |
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Chris knows that Gerald is China's premier
authority on 6V engines. |
| 11/18/03 |
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Wouldn't this look great on a CJ? It's from
an old Jie Fang army truck. |
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It has a really nice vintage look and a
glass lens. |
| 11/17/03 |
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Type I headlights and lenses from
1971. |
| 11/16/03 |
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This is a high-quality PLA Type II
ignition switch which went into production in the late
sixties. |
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This one was made in Nanjing but
they were also made in Shanghai. |
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The nice thing about these assemblies is
that they can be taken apart for repairs. |
| 11/14/03 |
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This is Mr. Shen's 750 shop in Nanchang. The
sign says Huang Shan speedometer main agent supplier
and Zhan Jiang carburetor national distributor. |
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Let's browse. |
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Hmmm. |
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Gerald calls him the CJ Godfather. Without
him, all the CJ builders would be in trouble. |
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And this is why. Everyone gets their parts
from Mr. Shen. |
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Just look at all this stuff! |
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Engines from the Lanxiang factory.
The engine tag reads Chang Jiang 750 Motorcycle
Engine, Ministery of Aviation, State Owned Luohe
Machinery Factory. |
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Sidecar frames... |
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...attaching hardware... |
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...brake pedals... |
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...tires... |
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...sidecar frames... |
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...headlamps... |
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...all KINDS of stuff. |
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It's no wonder Gerald likes to visit Mr.
Shen's shop. |
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Wheels... |
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...engines... |
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...and, well, you name it. |
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Cables... |
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...exhaust pipes... |
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...fenders... |
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...uh, boxes... |
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...modern cast wheels. |
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Wouldn't it be fun to go through all the
stuff on these shelves? |
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Oh yeah, you know it. |
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One last look. |
| 11/11/03 |
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Alpha 1 Alpha 2 Alpha 3 Beta Gamma XA Tech 1 Tech 2 |
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