The Arrival

I don't place much stock in omens, but it was absolutely pouring down with rain when I got the call the from Matthew the Truckie that he would be dropping the bikes off today. It was Monday, 9th of June at about 8am and I was on the bus to work, so I jumped off at the next stop into a veritable thunderstorm, got absolutely drenched and caught the next bus home. Matthew said he would be there at 10am and he damn well arrived spot on the dot. It was big rig and the bikes were packed in the middle so it took a lot of shuffling and reshuffling by his packing crew to unload the bikes. Well, not exactly bikes, more boxes of bits and things really. One of the guys asked me, "what the hell are you gonna do with all this junk?" (sounds a lot like something my wife would say). "I'm planning on restoring them.", I replied. He looked dubious. I guess I looked dubious too.

The Heinkel and boxes - rain-spatted and fresh from the truck assembled on the porch

The Heinkel came in 8 boxes (including the chassis and panels). Of course I knew what I was getting when I bought it, but it was still a bit of a shock to see it right there in pieces on my front lawn. The Troll was shipped whole of course, and Matthew hopped on it and coasted it down the ramp. I was really excited as I wheeled it down the driveway but it wasn't long before the full realization of what was ahead caught up with me. A quick once over of the Troll revealed numerous "challenges" to be resolved before it has any chance of getting on the road. While parts of the body are in very good nick, other parts are very badly worn. It needs a damn good panel beating. The body however is the least of the bike's problems. The throttle was broken, it's missing its indicators, the front brake is partly seized I think and new cables are required. I suddenly felt completely daunted by the prospect of all the work ahead.

Fortunately, the thunderstorm had passed just long enough to unload the bikes. The Heinkel boxes were packed under my porch and the Troll was parked in the driveway. I took a couple of photos and then I headed off to work. My wife messaged me on the way to hear how it all went. I sent her a couple of photos. I was expecting Shelly to be extremely dubious, but she said the Troll looked really cool - whether it was running or not. That was a relief.


After the rush was over I began to think clearly again began planning out all the activities that I needed to do. I had originally hoped to have the Heinkel ready by November - six months! Clearly that was unrealistic. I now don't expect to have the Heinkel ready before the middle of 2009. The Troll will be priority for now.

Unfortunately rain and work commitments during the week prevented me from carrying out a proper appraisal of the Troll, nevertheless, I spent the rest of the week searching the internet for IWL parts. There seems to be is a surprising amount of spares available from German scooter/motorcycle retailers. I ordered a complete set of new cables, new wiring, indicators and rubber seals (the seals on the engine covers are perished in several places. It will be two or three weeks before they arrive.



Saturday turned out to be a stunning autumn day - sunshine, blue skies and pleasant warm humidity so I began my first official survey of the bikes. Firstly the Troll:- apart from the problems with the front end, the vehicle seems to be in fairly good condition. The engine seems clean (not really a gauge of how well it runs I know). Some of the wiring looks a bit old and frayed, but I'm going to get all that replaced.

I unpacked all of the Heinkel boxes and - just to get a picture of what is and isn't there - did a bit of a dry reassemble on the lawn. When the Heinkel was delivered I was surprised not to see any wheels. There was only one single wheel packed among the boxes and that turned out to be the Troll's spare. I couldn't see how the Heinkel's wheels could have fitted into the boxes. But they did. Two 8inch wheels and four tyres. They look so diminutive and it immediately made me wonder. Was this really a 103A?? Turns out no. It's actually a 102A-1, confirmed by the ID plate - chassis no 134084 built in Stuttgart in 1955. 17,500 102A-1's were built between 1953 and 1955. Mine was obviously built towards the end of the run. The main difference between the 102 and 103 was the move to 10inch wheels to improve road handling.

As promised, there were two engines in the boxes, both dismantled. Some of the parts looked quite new, others were frighteningly bad condition - the clutch for example. There is a lot of work to do. Things I've identified as missing so far - exhaust, rear shock absorbers, suspension, axle and mudguard, gear change and throttle controls and probably a lot more. After the review I packed all the boxes up again and have stored the Heinkel for now. I've sent my membership off to the Heinkel Club Deutschland and am awaiting the parts and price list. Once I have that I'll begin sourcing the parts.

It's clear the old Heinkel has had quite a varied life. It was originally black but was hand-painted it's current gaudy red and blue. Its original seat has gone and been replaced by a sheet foam glued to marine ply. That'll need to go too.

Ups Downs and Roundabouts

Well, it has been an interesting week.

We finally came to an arrangement over the transport and the Heinkel and Troll have finally been shipped as of Friday 22 May. It will take approximately two weeks for them to arrive. I'm very excited.

So that was the good news. But on all other fronts it's been a terrible week. Firstly - and of course this has nothing to do with scooters - but work has been a real mess. There is a pall of gloom hanging over my work at the moment as the main project I am on continues to descend in disaster. Political forces are preventing me and my co-project manager taking the steps we need to resolve the problems and get back on track. It's all very disheartening.

To add to my woes I dropped my bike during a lesson for my motorcycle license. How embarrasing! As soon as we hit the road it started to belt down with rain - the first time I'd even ridden in the wet and as we came to a roundabout I locked the front wheel and stacked it big time. Fortunately the most damage was done to my pride. I walked away with a scrape on the knee. The bike was okay too. But it shook my confidence a little driving on the wet roads. Oh well, could have been much worse.

And to add to my sense of gloom - the Vespa is f-cked again. The indicators haven't worked since I got the bike back from Sam. Following his advice I replaced the dodgy old battery and replaced all the globes - three were broken. But as soon as the bulbs were fitted, suddenly the wiring went. Only the right hand turn signals would work and they did not pulsate at all. Occasionally when I turned the handlebars hard left the left lights would come on which indicates to me the wiring was compromised when the front end was replaced. Sam and I had had a conversation about that after I picked up the bike and he'd indicated quite clearly this was not a job he was keen to take on so I'd already been planning to do it myself. Today (Sunday) I began taking apart the indicator switch and looking at the wiring. To be frank, it's pretty f-cking rubbish. As soon as the wires disappear inside the tubing the nice new wiring is superceded by what is clearly worn out old sh-t wiring, amateurishly twisted together. It'll undoubtedly all have to be replaced.

But that's the least of my worries.... no sooner had I started work today than the bloody engine failed. I don't know what's wrong with it now. It seems to be the same problem as before. It simply won't turnover. Given that the bike has done only one very short trip to the petrol station and back since I got it and has been turned over every three or four days while I tried to track down the wiring fault, you can understand I'm not very happy.

The German bikes were always intended to replace the Vespa eventually. The question is, what the hell am I going to do with the bike? The electrics are just an inconvenience. I can fix that myself, but if the engine is going to break down every couple of months I'm never going to be able to sell it. You live and learn maybe.