1948 Francis
Barnett Merlin L51
Make and
Model History The
motorcycle's story Archive
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Make and
Model History
Francis Barnett was one of a wide array of small motorcycle
manufactures in the United Kingdom. These companies enjoyed their
heyday from the late teens through the early 1960s. In the 1960's
these companies were drummed out of existence by quality control
problems and the appearance of low cost high quality motorcycles from
Japan.
Francis Barnett was founded in 1919 by Gordon Francis and Arthur
Barnett. The two men, related by marriage, set out to manufacture
quality inexpensive motorcycles. Francis and Barnett started out
using engines
made by such companies as JAP, Villiers, and Blackburn. Later on
they would concentrate on Villiers engines. In 1923
the company began using frames made of many straight tubes bolted
together into a rigid
frame. This rigid straight tubed frame led to their," built like
a bridge" motto. Due to the lack of welding and bending this
frame was easy
and quick to produce, thus lowering costs.
In 1928 and 1929 the War office experimented with FB models. In
1928 they looked at a one off Model 9 FB. In 1929 the War Office
tested a set of FB Empire Model no. 12 two strokes. The war
office both times went with other manufacturers. This was mainly
due to a concern about the durability of a two stroke engine.
Through the 1930's Francis Barnett continued to produce a range of
models that went from small items such as the 98cc Powerbike (basically
a motorized bicycle) on up to Plovers and Cruisers. In
1939 Francis Barnett introduced the 122cc Snipe. Production would
be short lived as Great Britain was soon embroiled in World War II.
In 1941 the War Office purchased an unknown number of 150cc Plovers to
experiment with. They eventually chose James and Enfield to
manufacture the airborne lightweight motorcycle they were looking
for. This decision may have been due to the bombing of
the Francis Barnett factory.
After the war Francis Barnett dove back into production of their
lightweight range. There was a need for lightweight motorcycles
in the continued rationing of postwar Great Britain. The Merlin
L.51 was advertised as being able to go 250 miles per tank (about two
gallons.) The Merlin seems similar to the pre-war
Snipe. The
main advances appear to be in the Villiers 9D 125cc engine and the
folding rear fender mounted to a new carrying rack. The Merlin
L.51 began production in 1946 and ended after minor modifications in
1952(?).
In the late 1940's Francis Barnett would become part of
a London
based firm, Associated Motor Cycles Ltd. The Francis Barnett company
disappeared by 1965. INDEX
Our
motorcycle's story
Nothing is known about my motorcycle prior to its appearance on ebay
in 1999. A Canadian fellow found it among his grandfather's
possesions and put it up for sale on ebay as a James motorcycle.
I had been looking for a wartime James or Enfield due to their
use as airborne motorcycles.
To
pick up the
motorcycle I drove up to Rochester New York in an old Volvo that left a
trail of parts behind it. At one point a trucker blocked an
intersection around 2 am in a small town and marched back towards the
Volvo. All he said was," Son, you know when you turn your high
beams on?" "Yes, sir I said." "well, don't, because all your
other lights go out and we can't see you." Apparently I had
become quite a road hazard that night.
The motorcycle looked worse when I picked it up then it did in the ebay
picture to the left. The piston was pitted, the rings were
broken, an exhaust mount was snapped off along with a seat mount, and
there were no wires or cables to speak of. To top this off the
rear wheel was a pile of spokes and a rim. I spent a year
sandblasting the motorcycle, taking it apart, and trying to discover
what it
was. The serial number matched nothing produced by James.
As with the other vehicles the internet came to the rescue. I
found the British Two Stroke Club online. The President of the
British Two Stroke Club informed me that my
motorcycle was by "odd coincidence" a Francis Barnett Merlin
L.51 The coincidence is that my nickname has been "Merlin"
for years. FB did some exportation of FB Merlins to Canada in the
late 1940's. This is evidenced by a couple other FB Merlins that have
appeared recently in the Great White North. Currently there are
eight FB Merlin 51's known to exist in North America.
The internet also helped me find the wonderful folks of the Francis
Barnett Owners club, the British Two Stroke motorcycle list
on yahoo, and the
fellows who run Villiers Services. Villiers Services supplied
everything from engine parts to the seat and some cables. At one
point I was very lucky and stumbled across manuals for the Merlin on a
British museum's website. If I find that website again I will add
it to the links.
With the help of Villiers Services and such friends as Scott Roberts,
Bill Max, John Novicki, and Brian Nehri we rebuilt this motorcycle
into a working machine again. (Help also came from fellow FB
Merlin owner Gerry de Vries who would often send emails of his latest
accomplishments with his basket case. Then I would feel obliged
to catch up.) The Villers engine was completely
rebuilt. After the engine rebuild we found we had made it too
tight, and had to turn it over many times to loosen it up. When
the motorcycle finally did start at my friend Bill's home I rode it
down the dirt road in great excitement. Whizzing along leaving a
blue cloud behind me I joyfully noticed that the old speedometer still
worked. It was then I remembered that while I was going happily
25 miles per hour, I had not hooked up the brakes yet. My heavy
boots served as stopping power that day.
When I worked on the brakes I found that luckily the
bike came with new brake pads. The front brake cable was improvised
from a Sturmy Archer cable, and parts scrounged from various other
motorcycles. It was quite a puzzle trying to figure out the rear brake
installation. One major bracket was missing which I made a
replacement for. We had
to improvise many times while rebuilding this motorcycle, but we never
sacrificed the strength of 
the
parts as I want the motorcyle to be safe
and street worthy. I found tires through J.C. Whitney. The
tires are the correct size and are now made by Cheng Shin.
In 2004 the Merlin took an honorable mention at the Butler's
Orchard
motorcycle show in Maryland. In October of 2005 it took first
place in the
British Division at the Westminster Maryland Antique Motorcycle
Show. Currently the motorcycle awaits a
stand and the installation of wiring. It is Wartime Green due to
its similarity to wartime motorcycles. The Merlin is often used at WWII
Living History displays. Someday if I acquire a wartime James ML
the Merlin will be restored to proper post-war colours. INDEX
Info. and parts sources
Books:
Collecting, Restoring and
Riding Classic Motorcycles. By Tim Holmes and Rebekka
Smith.
ISBN # 1-85648-252-9
British Forces Motorcycles
1925-45. By C.J. Orchard and S.J. Madden.
ISBN # 1-84015-012-2
Informational Websites: hair extensions sale
Francis Barnett Owners Club
Francis Barnett
Online Library
1937 FB Plover restoration
British
Two Stroke Club
Villiers engine history and more
Parts: full lace wigs uk
Villiers
Services (UK 01384-265797 Calling works
better than emailing them.
Very good chaps.)
INDEX