13 replies to this topic

[martin 305/7]

Hi all just come back from wrighty's show and i found a cooper bantam frame in very good condition it also came with a pair of tank stickers i was told by the seller that it was a very small concern in the late 60s early seventies . Has any one got any info at all on these bikes ??? A picture would be amazing !! .I was thinking 32mm MP forks were used ?? not sure on hubs maybe the REH used on the wassell with chrome dunlop rims . Got a very neat little alloy tank painted white with it as a job lot not sure if its the original or not ??? any help with info would be amazing . Thanks in advance Martin

[wetfeet]

Here are a couple of pics of a tricked bantam they might give inspiration

[axulsuv]

Beautiful rooster you've got there .
Glenn

[Old trials fanatic]

axulsuv, on 05 February 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

Beautiful rooster you've got there .
Glenn

yep James and Cubs are sooooooo last year

[totalshell]

fantastic looking machine a credit to whom ever has done all the machining.
my question is why?.
The BSA bantam is a competitive machine and eligible for the greater majority of clubs championships and there are many clear pathways to follow or even divert slightly from to build a competitive machine.
regretably this excellent piece of engineering although welcome at most clubs events would have to be in the specials class.

as for a cooper bantam i have looked in all my contemporary literature and googled it to death but this thread is the only reference i can find to cooper bantams..

[Rockaria]

Does it look anything like this?

martin 305/7, on 05 February 2012 - 11:12 AM, said:

Hi all just come back from wrighty's show and i found a cooper bantam frame in very good condition it also came with a pair of tank stickers i was told by the seller that it was a very small concern in the late 60s early seventies . Has any one got any info at all on these bikes ??? A picture would be amazing !! .I was thinking 32mm MP forks were used ?? not sure on hubs maybe the REH used on the wassell with chrome dunlop rims . Got a very neat little alloy tank painted white with it as a job lot not sure if its the original or not ??? any help with info would be amazing . Thanks in advance Martin

[martin 305/7]

Rockaria, on 05 February 2012 - 05:46 PM, said:

Does it look anything like this?

Hi Rokaria yes it looks very similar to your pic . IT has a oval swing arm with no snail cam chain ajuster , thats at the frame end , taper roller head stock bearings and looks to have been black from original . Thanks for the photo

[Old trials fanatic]

Rockaria, on 05 February 2012 - 05:46 PM, said:

Does it look anything like this?

Very very reminiscent of the one that John Orme used to ride here in the East Midlands way back when. The only other one i knew of belonged to an old school mate of mine and sometime Speedway rider Alan Molyneux from Long Eaton. Dont know what happened to either bike though. John Orme had some great results on his

[Rockaria]

Old trials fanatic, on 05 February 2012 - 08:35 PM, said:

Very very reminiscent of the one that John Orme used to ride here in the East Midlands way back when. The only other one i knew of belonged to an old school mate of mine and sometime Speedway rider Alan Molyneux from Long Eaton. Dont know what happened to either bike though. John Orme had some great results on his

Well spotted OTF, thought you might have picked up on the Cooper reference earlier though! The bike in the pic was the second Bantam frame manufactured by Bill Cooper from Derby but I don't know how many more he built. The original frame was made for John Orme and the second one was for Rob Smith, both Derby based riders. Rob always entered his bike as an 'Orme Bantam' but I believe the rest were referred to as a 'Cooper Bantam'.
If you don't get round to doing anything with it Martin, I'm sure either myself, OTF or Darren Cooper (Bill's son) would be happy to take it off your hands to preserve the Derby heritage.

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy's.
Is that the sidecar racing Bill Cooper? you are refering to. Good with a torch I seem to remember.
Just took another look and it looks a lot like mine, I will take a photo today.
Regards Charlie.

Edited by charlie prescott, 06 February 2012 - 11:23 AM.

[charlie prescott]

Hi Guy's
This is it in the IOM.
Rider Brian Bedford.

Regards Charlie.

Attached Images

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[Rockaria]

charlie prescott, on 06 February 2012 - 11:20 AM, said:

Hi Guy's.
Is that the sidecar racing Bill Cooper? you are refering to. Good with a torch I seem to remember.
Just took another look and it looks a lot like mine, I will take a photo today.
Regards Charlie.

Yes, it's the same Bill Cooper Charlie, sadly in very poor health nowadays.

[martin 305/7]

Rockaria, on 06 February 2012 - 08:09 AM, said:

Well spotted OTF, thought you might have picked up on the Cooper reference earlier though! The bike in the pic was the second Bantam frame manufactured by Bill Cooper from Derby but I don't know how many more he built. The original frame was made for John Orme and the second one was for Rob Smith, both Derby based riders. Rob always entered his bike as an 'Orme Bantam' but I believe the rest were referred to as a 'Cooper Bantam'.
If you don't get round to doing anything with it Martin, I'm sure either myself, OTF or Darren Cooper (Bill's son) would be happy to take it off your hands to preserve the Derby heritage.

Thanks for all the reply's it looks a very tidy frame and i shall be building it up over the next few months , but if i do decide to sell it i will let you both know .Time to start collecting bits me thinks !!

[Old trials fanatic]

martin 305/7, on 06 February 2012 - 05:58 PM, said:

Thanks for all the reply's it looks a very tidy frame and i shall be building it up over the next few months , but if i do decide to sell it i will let you both know .Time to start collecting bits me thinks !!

I will hold you to that