Introduction
Iceni CAM Magazine
This is the home of the Iceni CAM
Magazine—a free e-magazine about Cyclemotors, Autocycles,
Mopeds … and more. It was launched on 15th April 2007 and
the most recent ten issues can be downloaded
here. All the articles from all the
previous magazines are on this website. For
non-computerised folks, printed copies are available at £1.50 per
edition; we can accommodate mail order too at £2.40 for single
edition or £9.60 for a year’s subscription.
So what’s it about?
It’s an e-magazine all about cyclemotors, autocycles and mopeds
that carries road test & feature articles, rally reports, free
adverts and other assorted information. Although we are an
independent production, we have strong ties to the EACC and also to the
New Zealand Cyclaid Register.
We are based in East Anglia, but are by no means limited to that
area. Much that appears in the magazine is of universal
appeal. We welcome contributions, whereever they are from, and
are also happy to help to publicise any events for cyclemotors,
autocycles and mopeds.
When’s it published?
We publish four times a year at the beginning of January, April,
July, and October. Iceni CAM is purely an enthusiast
production, and all produced on a tiny budget. The free
downloadable version will be posted on this website on the same day
as the printed version goes on sale.
All the issues of CAM Magazine that we’ve produced have been very
well received. Thank you all for your comments; they are much
appreciated. Several of you have also made donations, which has
helped enormously in keeping Iceni CAM going.
What’s in it?
The January 2024 edition is available now on our Downloads Page.
Our ABB
Ciclo trasporto con Mosquito 49cc came to us for a feature
following its display on the EACC stand at Copdock Show on 3rd
September 2023. We didn’t get straight onto the case because
there were other pressing issues we had to deal with first, and there
was no pressure for a quick return to its owner, who was in process
of moving to a new industrial unit. The bike is a most unusual
Italian ‘oddity’, so obviously another example of ‘Tim Adams strikes
again’.
Beginning the research soon revealed there was very little
information available, although we rather expected that anyway
because we’d never seen or heard of an ABB before, and we very much
doubted that anyone else would have either. So, after all our
intensive research efforts, everything we did find is probably pretty
much everything there is to be found. Subsequently, the
collating and dating of every item we had discovered enabled us to
come to more conclusions than any of the individual information
sources had been able to conclude on their own.
Data collation and analysis is crucial in these cases.
Trawling the internet for ABB sales records found a few scraps of
Ducati Cucciolo and 307 Mosquito models from which we managed to
secure engine numbers to confirm datings; this allowed us to build up
the sequence of events where ABB switched from mainstream domestic
commuter models to specialised trade carriers. Picture
processing tricks enabled us to convert images to appear like
typically period prints for the contemporary look—but can you spot
our conversions from other originals? However, we were still
unable to identify quite when ABB started and ended. Maybe someone
might come up with further information someday?
Due to the almost complete lack of information about this obscure
manufacturer, the article had to mainly concentrate on the bike,
which also required a degree of sorting out for the road test.
All seemed to be going so well until the motor nipped up on our first
proper test run and, even though it readily freed off again and ran
just the same, it wasn’t worth repeating the obvious problem.
One consolation was that ABB’s 38-B motor still managed to clock
24mph, and certainly with more to
go before it heat seized, but still exceeded the 23mph best of the last 38-B tested back in
2019, which we never felt was a capable performer at the time.
The ABB motor obviously had more to give, but we were denied.
Maybe we’ll get another 38-B some day…
Working trade carriers are rare and fascinating machines. We’ve
worked over the years to present a number of these ‘commercial’
carrier features, and they’re characterised by being always
interesting, though always very difficult, because any examples are
so rare and obscure.
First Support feature: The Wall
This was a fairly recently generated
article as a result of John Daborn, Suffolk Section EACC checking the
Flandria 047AF-A into the workshops, primarily for ‘clutch issues’,
but worn out piston rings and rumbling bearings in the engine
bottom-end meant a full motor strip was required, plus replacement
main seals to sort it all out.
Once reassembly of the motor was completed, the check run took
care of the road test as a matter of course, then take notes, and a
quick photo-shoot completed in July 2023, so another bike in the can
for some future day—which, as it turned out, was just six months
later.
The last Flandria we covered was a 147AF-A model back in October 2003 (for another
publication), and long before we even started IceniCAM in March 2007,
so it was about time that we covered another Flandria model.
The IceniCAM website has transformed the comprehensive way that we
can produce articles now, and progressed dramatically compared to the
way we produced articles 20 years ago for a small and space
restricted, printed magazine, so, referring back on the 147 article,
we were looking to expand on the previous production.
Recalling some distant conversations with our Dutch colleague, Ben
Teuben, there was a dim memory of him telling a curious though
unlikely sounding story about a Flandria family feud, and dividing
their factory in half by building a wall down the middle. Out
of interest we had to look into this old legend for the sake of our
new article, and intensive research confirmed that this was actually
a factual account, after which it absolutely had to become the title
of the article.
We do wonder if the Steptoe & Son episode ‘Divided We Stand’ might
have been based upon the Flandria ‘wall’ story?
Comparing the road test aspects of the older article on the
147AF-A from 2003 with the new test 047AF-A of 20 years later, we
were satisfied that the results proved remarkably similar.
Second Support feature: In The Post
This was another nearly forgotten
article from the mothballed archives and, when pulling up the photo
shoot file, we found it was dated 15 March 2017, so we really ought
to be getting this out in one form or another.
A Post Office RM8 in 1970
Production mainly got delayed because we were originally intending
to couple the presentation with one of the Puch MS50 two-speed Post
Office models, but never got round to testing that bike (maybe
another day).
When digging out the road test notes and drafting the text file
got underway, it was quickly appreciated that there was going to be
more than enough material to complete a full article on the RM8
alone.
Starting from the invention of the telegraph system in 1830, the
text sewed the article together using the telegram service as a
thread running right through to 2003, and covering a span of 173
years.
Research for this production led to some unexpected spin-off
discoveries. Initially figuring out our red RM8 was a Post
Office moped was a surprise in itself at the time, then assembling
the model chronology, and further noting the registration date was
well after the RM8 posted discontinuance date seemed somewhat
odd? Frame serial cross-referencing subsequently led to
confirmation that the PO versions
were indeed special batches built after the RM8 had been officially
de-listed. There were ‘special features’ on the PO frame too,
which must have been specified in their build, with a reinforced
steering headstock and sprung pedal chain tensioner.
A further thought to try and figure out how many RM8’s the Post
Office might have purchased initiated our frame number
analysis. The new Raleigh frame numeration series suggested two
batch sizes, the first of 500, then a later lot of 250, and confirmed
that all were specially built for the PO after the RM8’s official
discontinuance notification as September 1969!
Since we were looking at frame numbers, we got involved in
Raleigh’s ‘new’ 6-digit frame serialisation system, which replaced
the previous ‘model number + R + serial number’ method (eg:
5R12345). The new 6-digit series would have been ‘officially
notified’ at introduction of the Wisp on 14 April 1967. The
first new Wisp serial number indicated by Glass’s was 002536, however
RM6 ‘Pop’ serials seemed to have actually been the first using the
six-digit number system (presumably starting at 002000 or 002001),
with our lowest recorded example at 002052.
We’ve produced some articles on ‘services’ bikes before, with an
RAF James J11 Comet, and Police Norman Nippy Mk4, so now our
PO Raleigh RM8 joins the family.
What’s Next?
The next magazine is scheduled for publication at the beginning of
April 2024.
Next Main Feature: We try a top-of-the-range sports moped
in original continental specification. This is ‘The Flagship’ …
but will the performance stand up to its promotional billing?
Next Support: Our next article has been ‘maturing like a
fine wine’ in the road test archives since 2017, and we figure it
should be just about ripe for publication around about now. The
first of these models appeared in 1953, and continued through various
evolutions until the last versions were finished in October 1964, not
because they wanted to stop building them, but because they ran out
of engines after Villiers discontinued making the motors.
This isn’t the first model, but it’s also not the last. So
it’s a ‘Muddled Model in the Middle’—but there were a great many … so
which one?)
Next Second Support: Looking back a bit, we produced a
couple of articles called Fifty
Quid (Jan 2016), and Fifty
Quid-2 (Sept 2016), which presented features on a total of eight
‘bargain’ vehicles which were all bought for under £50, but we’ve not
produced any more under this theme since.
Why is this? Has it become impossible to buy anything for
under £50 due to moped price increases? Have such bargains just
dried up? Just to disprove these theories, we bring you
‘Freebies’ … yes, they really came for free, but they might cost more
to fix up than they’re going to be worth…
What else?
Well, there’s this Website … we’ve put a lot of useful
information here, and we’re alwas adding to it. We have a
directory of useful people to know.
Information on local events and, after each run, we put photos of the event on this website.
There’s also a market place where you can
buy and sell mopeds, autocycles, cyclemotors and other related
items
As each edition of the magazine is published, we add to our
collection of articles. From
Edition 3 of the magazine, we introduced another
evolution. Previously, features in the articles section had reflected what appeared in
the magazine, but you may now discover a bit of extra content has
crept into some items as they’ve transferred to the website—you might
call it ‘The Directors Cut’. The problem with printed magazines
is editing everything to fit page sizes and space, and there can
sometimes be bits you’d like to include, but they have to be left out
to fit the available space. The web articles don’t need to be
constrained by the same limitations so, although the text will remain
the same, the ‘Directors Cut’ graphic in the header indicates the
item carries extra pictures and bits that didn’t make it to the
magazine.
We also have an Information Service—if you
want to know more about your moped, we can help.
What we do
Iceni CAM Magazine is committed to
celebrating all that’s good about the Cyclemotor, Moped and Autocycle
scene; researching toward the advancement of the pool of knowledge
about cyclemotors, autocycles, old mopeds, and other oddities; and
the publication of original material. We are a declared
non-profit making production, though we still need to fund everything
somehow to keep the show on the road.
The magazine is free on line, and the nominal price of supplying
hard copies to non-computerised folks is pitched only to cover
printing and postage. All advertising is free since we believe
that the few people left out there providing
parts & service for these obsolete machines do so as a hobby and
an interest. This involves far more effort than reward, and
they should be appreciated for the assistance they provide. Our
Information Service is there to help anyone
needing manuals to help with restoration of a machine. We make
a small charge for this but, again, we have set our prices so the
just cover postage and material costs. However, we are trying
to make this free too! We are setting up an on-line library where you can download
manuals at no charge.
Overheads involve operation of the website, and particularly the
generation of features. Articles like Last Flight of the Eagle can
cost as little as £20 to complete, while others have cost up to £150
to generate, eg: Top
Cat on the Leopard Bobby. With these overheads, you may be
wondering how we get the money to keep it all going. So do
we! But, somehow, it works, helped by a number of generous
people who have sponsored articles or made donations to keep the show on the
road.
How long does it take to research, produce, and get these feature
articles to press? Well, up to two years of preparatory
research in some cases, where little is known about the machine or
its makers, and where nothing has been published before. Then,
collating all the information and interviews, drafting and
re-drafting the text, travel and photoshoots typically account for up
to 40 to 50 hours to deliver the package to editing.
There are many examples where these articles have become the
definitive reference material for previously unpublished machines
like Mercury Mercette & Hermes, Leopard Bobby, Ostler Mini-Auto, Dunkley Whippet & Popular, Stella Minibike, Ambassador Moped, Elswick Hopper Lynx, and many others.
We’re committed to continuing to produce these articles, because
we believe it needs to be done, and we’ve got a proven track record
for achieving it. Nobody else has done it in 50 odd years, so
if we don’t do it—who will?
To whet your appetite for what’s ahead, here’s an
updated list of machines with developing articles for future
features: Ariel Pixie, Beretta–Mosquito, Capriolo 75 Turismo Veloce, Cyc-Auto (Wallington Butt),
Cyc-Auto (Villiers), Dot ViVi, Dunkley S65, Dunkley Whippet
Super Sports, Elswick–Hopper VAP MIRA test prototype, Gilera RS50,
Hercules Her-cu-motor, Honda Gyro Canopy, Honda Model A, Honda
CD50, Honda SS50, James Comet 1F, MV Agusta Liberty, Norman
Nippy Mark 2, Norman Nippy Mark 3, NVT Ranger, Powell Joybike, Rabeneick
Binetta, Raleigh Ireland ‘Super’, Simson SR2E, Solifer Speed,
Sun Autocycle, Sun Motorette, Vincent Firefly, Yamaha FS1-E.
The working list changes all the time as articles are completed
and published, and further new machines become added—so as you see,
there’s certainly no shortage of material.
Readers have probably noticed a number of the articles collecting
sponsorship credits, and we’re very grateful for the donations people
have made toward IceniCAM, which certainly assures we’re going
forward into another year. We don’t need a lot of money since
IceniCAM is a declared non-profit making organisation, and operates
on a shoestring (and we’d like to keep it that way)—run by
enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.
It’s easy to sponsor an article by either picking a machine from
the forward list, and we’ll attach your credit to it, or simply
making a donation. There is no fixed amount, it’s entirely up
to you, and however large or small, we’re grateful for any
contribution to keep the show on the road.
If a vehicle you’re interested in seeing an article about isn’t in
the list, then let us know and we’ll see about trying to add it in
the programme, but we do need access to examples—perhaps you have a
machine you’d like to offer for a feature?
See the Contact Page for how to:
Sponsor an article–Enter a free advert–Submit an article yourself–Write a letter to us–Propose a machine for feature–Offer your machine for test feature …