Author Topic: Interesting trophy for sale  (Read 4825 times)

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Offline Hutch

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Interesting trophy for sale
« on: 23 Jan 2017 at 01:02 »
Came across this on the internet - interesting!

http://www.leopardantiques.com/object/stock/detail/828


....unfortunately my pockets are not deep enough to purchase this item  :( (....regardless of what the missus would say if i bought it!) 

Cheers

Ian

Offline eddie

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #1 on: 23 Jan 2017 at 09:26 »
As it is called the 'Douglas Trophy', it's a pity the bike depicted isn't a Douglas!

  Eddie.

Offline Chris

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #2 on: 23 Jan 2017 at 13:25 »
The trophy illustrated is certainly a lovely piece of silverware in spite of the bike clearly not being a Douglas and probably has a good value as silver. The price of 20,000 Rand equates to about £1,187 pounds at the current exchange rate and like Ian my wife would object even if I could afford it.
Zurcher was a famous rider of Douglas machines and his exploits were legend. I have two cartoons of Zurcher drawn  by "Leyden" which I believe illustrate events occuring in a long distance race in  South Africa (Durban to Cape or something similar. (No doubt someone will have the correct details.)
One of the illustrations is captioned " Near Estcourt Zurcher stopped to change a tube after a concussion burst and Flook got to within fifteen metres of him before he got going again". The other is captioned " The fork links of Zurcher's Douglas broke and two riders close behind rode under the bike as it hurtled through the air". I will try to reproduce these and add to this thread. Chris.

Offline Hutch

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #3 on: 25 Jan 2017 at 01:52 »
Hi Chris and Eddie,

Thanks for the interesting information - yes the bike depicted on the trophy isn't a Dougie!. I had come across Zurcher before in internet searches for all things Douglas but have not delved into his history very deeply.

Information about the Leyden article here;

http://www.djrun.co.za/Fritz_Zurcher.html

and attached is a picture of him with the Douglas in question from "Motor Cycle" July 8th 1920

 - complete with the Douglas patent spring frame! (https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=2458.0)

cheers

Ian

Offline Hutch

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #4 on: 25 Jan 2017 at 03:03 »
But wait there is more.....

http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/261218303/1920_Johannesburg_Durban_Motor_Cycle_Race_DJ_Run_Fritz_Zurcher_Winners_Medal.html

no takers on this one - might be still avail. Estate sale of Zurcher items??

-Ian

Offline graeme

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #5 on: 26 Jan 2017 at 09:13 »
Great bit of research there Ian, thanks

Interesting to see that Zurcher rode a spring frame Douglas - I don't know how many of these were made, but I suspect very few.

Offline eddie

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #6 on: 26 Jan 2017 at 14:33 »
Graeme,
             Back in the late 90's, ex LDMCC Chairman, Malcolm Meinertzhagen came across a slightly odd 2¾ frame (well, actually the front half!). It eventually turned out to be from one of the early spring frame machines. I was then contacted to see if I was up for the challenge of trying to reproduce the missing parts. On researching the early spring frames, we found that Douglas came up with at least 4 different designs. The first was a true swinging arm type that was controlled by leaf springs. Later designs had a pivoted rear triangle with coil springs in compression - then springs in telescopic spring boxes - and finally with a system of links and springs. These later versions were more complicated, and presumably more expensive to manufacture. We came to the conclusion that the earlier versions probably suffered from inferior handling. We eventually decided that as Malcolm's frame was numbered in the 1918 range, we would rebuild it as an early version with the leaf springs. Scanning the patent documents relating to the spring frames revealed a fair amount of detail, but we still had to use a bit of 'poetic licence' to come up with a working system that looked the part. Attached is a photo of the re-created rear suspension prior to painting.
  From the photo of Zurcher and his machine, it looks as if it may have the third version of the spring frame, as it has a full rear triangle with the springs mounted horizontally in boxes.
  In our searches for details of the spring frames, we didn't find anything dated later than 1922, so Douglas probably decided it wasn't viable to carry on with the development at that time.

  Regards,
                Eddie.

Offline eddie

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #7 on: 26 Jan 2017 at 15:01 »
Another interesting point is that the bike looks like a 2¾, but is listed as being 494cc. Could this be one of the oversize 2¾'s that were under development after WW1?

  Eddie.

Offline Hutch

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #8 on: 28 Jan 2017 at 22:04 »
I might have to hijack my own thread and look more into the spring frames topic !  :D. Have not had any time to do much more research on Zurcher, but found this in The Motor Cycle. Good advertising for Douglas!

-Ian

Offline Hutch

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Re: Interesting trophy for sale
« Reply #9 on: 02 Mar 2017 at 22:52 »
Graeme - I have sent you a PM. Just to let you know in case you missed it.

-cheers

Ian