REH, Robin Humphries went on to design, patent and build a prototype reciprocating engine which has no con rods, I think he calls it the Shane engine.

http://www.volvoforu...hp/t-50440.html

There used to be a lot of info on the web about this but it seems to have vanished for some reason?

Edited November 9, 201312 yr by trialsrfun

Heres a pic of dad on his Cheetah in the 1967 Dick Farqueson trial.

This is the bike he had supplied by Bob Gollner and John Jackson had another which they both ran together.

He did say the disc brake was useless!!!

One of those 350 REH barrel/head combinations came along with my Cheetah (which is currently fitted with the 250 REH barrel)

I think the cases have to be machined out to accept the bigger 350 barrel. Is that correct?

Regards

David

Hi,

Another delve into the offroadarchives revealed this 'Letter', which I published, from Peter Pilbeam, one of the team that produced the Cheetah trials machines.

"I would like to make a few observations on Don Morley's article.......the first ever trials disc brake was designed by Robin Humphries and built by his father's engineering company, R E H Precision, who also built the forks and hubs designed by Robin. The disc brake was not a conventional hydraulic device but was operated by a cable moving a pair of wedges running on rollers behind the pads.

The massive alloy barrel and head used on the Cheetah were also designed by Robin. I was involved with this project and I remember measuring the porting on every type of engine I could lay my hands on, then we sat at the kitchen table for hours trying to work out the best average of them for our barrel. The aim was to produce more mid-range and top-end power than the iron barrelled Villiers, which ran out of steam on a lot of the steep climbs used in those days.

We bought a 'Baby Belling' electric oven for heating the barrel for fitting and removal of the sleeve, the barrel only just fitted in the Baby Belling. A machined barrel was heated in the oven, the Hepolite sleeve was dropped in and the barrel allowed to cool. The inlet and exhaust port shapes were scribed on the sleeve but the transfers, being inaccessible, were filled with copper sulphate solution and left overnight. The barrel was reheated and the sleeve was removed to be mounted on a spigot fixture on the milling machine. I then milled out the ports by eye, the copper sulphate leaving well marked areas on the sleeve. Finally the barrel was reheated, the sleeve dropped in and the port shapes finished off with Swiss files. Quite a long process and I can't remember how many we did, but I had notes on number 11 and number 14. Reference is made in the article to a larger capacity barrel. The barrels made for Cheetahs were all 250s, but a larger capacity one was made later for a 360 engine unit for a sidecar outfit - not a Cheetah - ridden successfully by Denny Brown. This used an Alpha bottom end with full flywheels and an 80mm piston. The gearbox contained BSA Victor gears in cases drawn up by Dennis Evans, cast and then machined by R E H. The case and covers were based on the BSA ones and used the Victor gearchange and kickstart components.

I can't remember if the BSA clutch was used. We first tried a C15 gearbox fitted to a Villiers. We cut off the gearbox part and had it argon-arc welded, now called tig welding, to a plate which fitted the back of the Villiers engine."

Yes, folks, that was the way quite a lot of the British trials machines manufacturers worked - the backs of fag packets being an overworked part of the Drawing Office stage....

Enjoy

Incidentally, for those not in the know, 'Hepolite' was a well known brand of pistons, piston rings and sleeves used by many British manufacturers. They were produced in the Bradford area by specialist engineers, Hepworth and Grandage Ltd., whose factory I was lucky enough to visit on a regular basis in later years.

hi As there has been a lot of interest in cheetahs I will be showing one of my cheetahs at Alan wrights show at Telford It is the one with a disc brake the disc brake was made by R E H as cast in the alloy brake calliper it also has the R E H barrel fitted it has R E H forks as standard for any one who does not know they look just like cerianis are 35m but without the bottom pinch bolt and slot to clamp the wheel spindle All cheetah have the frame number in the centre of the head stock at the front all numbers start 1500 upwards two off my others cheetahs are in C D Bike issue seventeen The forth one I ride it has the cub engine been modified a little A great bike to ride regard brian

Edited January 21, 201412 yr by dalespathfinder

Lovely bikes Brian.

Are any of your bikes fitted with a side stand? I'd like to put one on mine and need some guidance.

Regards

David