Claud Butler?

Hi all

After trawling the net for hours with no real answers I thought my best course of action was to join here in the hope of finding an answer from the fonts of knowledge who reside here.

I bought a Claud Butler 30 years ago for a tenner, covered in yellow house paint and pretty much a mess.

I had it striped and resprayed, used it for 10 years and then moved about 5 times since then, the bike parts were pretty much stripped off by my siblings for their bikes (wheels, chain, dérailleur)!!

Any way, forgot I had what was left of the bike and I am very keen to restore it.

I was hoping somebody would be able to tell me the year it was made and what colours would of been available at the time.

The Claud, is lugless, Olympic Pin Badge, Light Holder on front forks, not many other distinguishing features. (I am hoping the forks are original, although I haven't taken them off the bike yet to confirm the frame number). Not much to go on sorry.

The number on the bottom of the frame looks like 12?563 (the question mark could be an 8 but am unsure).

I would post a picture but as it is in a pretty sorry state and not looking to original, there is probably not much point.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give and apologies if this thread is in the wrong section and for the long story

Cheers

Long Road

I had a 1950's lugless CB frame once.. Very nice looking thing it was..

Re:

Hi, piccies will help, as the serial could be 1941 ( doesn't really look like it, as it would probably be 5 digits with a '2' as the second digit, and the badge ), or 1956. I suspect 1956, which be right at the end of the original Clauds. Terry

Re:

Hi guys
Many thanks for the reply.

I will remove front forks tomorrow and hope to see another frame number.

Badge is very faded but will take some pics and post them up, forks have slight decor at the top as in the mold. (Looks kinda like an M).

Thanks again for the input, it's very much appreciated.

Cheers

Long Road

Re:

Hi All

I managed to get the forks off tonight and have attacked pictures as requested, (It looks like frame and fork numbers do match).

It would appear the frame number was longer than anticipated due to the rear brake cable housing hiding a digit.

As you can see the badge is somewhat discoloured.

I hope the pictures I have taken will help to establish the year of the bike and the style as this will help me narrow down what colours were available and how the bike should of looked. (well I hope anyway).

As always, thank you in advance for any help anybody is able to provide.

Cheers

Long_Ride

Hi All

I have been doing a bit more investigation and looks like it might be a late 1940's lugless road frame. (going by the below link).

http://hilarystone.com/frameset9.html

I don't know how accurate the information is?

I hope I am allowed to post the above link.

Cheers

Long_Road

Looks very similar to the one i had. Lucky you still have the headbadge as they are hard to get hold of when you need them!

If it was mine i would take it to mario Vaz in south east london and get him to respray it with new transfers. Normally costs just under a hundred quid plus the transfers. And if there are any defects hus brother winston can fix it.

H Lloyd will have the transfers.


How about a picture of the frame then?

Re:

Hi, without more photo's dropouts, frame angles, etc can't really tell but at a guess a 1956 buccaneer. Terry

Re:

Hi All

Many thanks for the replies

I am not sure what photo's you require but I have taken a few more, apologies for the sorry state of the bike

It does look exactly like the late 1940's road frame in the above link??

Cheers

Long Road

Re:

Hi, it is an annoying mixture, dropout, angles and seat stay shout mid - late forties. But the serial number points to 56, and so does the lever brazons, but they could of been added later, or throwing some other thoughts into the mix, the factory updated it ( new forks ? ) in 56, or it was a stock room clear out when they went bust in 56. Sorry no firm answer, but it will make a nice lightweight, if I'm not mistaken the frame weights about 4 lbs by itself. Terry