GraemeC Posted March 23, 2022 Report Share Posted March 23, 2022 Hi, I’ve recently started a complete restoration of a 1969 Dalesman and am looking for some help. the bike is now completely stripped, the first issue I’m dealing with is trying to find a replacement for the front fork tubes that are measuring up as 29mm and are 525mm long. Does anyone know if there are any alternative tubes that will fit ? Doesn’t seem to be a very common size thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan wellback Posted March 24, 2022 Report Share Posted March 24, 2022 29mm is 1"1/8th in imperial, you need to be looking for british bike components. I dont suppose Dalesman made their own forks, a picture on here will help get them identified. unless they are in a really bad state, www.pittedforks.co.uk (philpots) can rebuild them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupsbetter Posted March 24, 2022 Report Share Posted March 24, 2022 Hi Graeme, as a teenager I had a dalesman with the puch engine which I think was a 1969 or 1970 model. It was road regd D?? 70 H if I remember rightly (id be interested to know if still exists if anyone has any information). As far as I know the forks on that model we’re called ‘MP’ made by a company called Metal Profile which I think was based in West or North Yorkshire. They were very much puny things & not really up to the job in my humble opinion, mine forever had oil leaks. I also have some vague memory of REH components on some of those 60’s ‘kit’ bikes, but is that forks or hubs? Hopefully someone else will come along with some more accurate & helpful info for you, but it just jogged a memory that made me want to reply. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted March 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 12 hours ago, stan wellback said: 29mm is 1"1/8th in imperial, you need to be looking for british bike components. I dont suppose Dalesman made their own forks, a picture on here will help get them identified. unless they are in a really bad state, www.pittedforks.co.uk (philpots) can rebuild them. Thanks for the information. Didn’t think a British built bike would have been metric back in 1969 but you never know where some of the components were sourced from. This thing has been hashed about over the years and has a real mix of imperial and metric fitting, including a yamaha Dt175mx engine fitted 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️. The search for the correct engine continues. Thanks again Graeme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted March 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 10 hours ago, feetupsbetter said: Hi Graeme, as a teenager I had a dalesman with the puch engine which I think was a 1969 or 1970 model. It was road regd D?? 70 H if I remember rightly (id be interested to know if still exists if anyone has any information). As far as I know the forks on that model we’re called ‘MP’ made by a company called Metal Profile which I think was based in West or North Yorkshire. They were very much puny things & not really up to the job in my humble opinion, mine forever had oil leaks. I also have some vague memory of REH components on some of those 60’s ‘kit’ bikes, but is that forks or hubs? Hopefully someone else will come along with some more accurate & helpful info for you, but it just jogged a memory that made me want to reply. Cheers. Hi, I believe the bike I bought is a 1969 model but it’s almost impossible to tell since there is no frame number and the bike has never been road registered. I’ve searched everywhere for Dalesman information but it’s fairly sparse. This bike has been heavily modified over the years even to the extent of fitting a Yamaha engine, the frame has been modified to take the engine and will have to have the correct engine mounts replaced. I’m hoping to source the correct Puch engine but it’s proving hard to find….. Think this may be a long term restoration. Good luck with tracing your old bike and thanks for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupsbetter Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Hi Graeme, nice to see the pic of your project. I have a couple of old instamatic pics of me riding mine somewhere which I will try to dig out & put up here, they’re taken from a distance if I remember so might not be much use but who knows ? The forks & front hub on yours look as I remember, the tank was the same ( I remember respraying it) but beyond that I can’t be sure if it’s the same frame. Mine definitely had a single trials type seat, and I think the same Preston petty mudguards, so maybe they were standard fitment ? They were definitely the aftermarket choice in the day. What I do remember is the twin downtube frame and my exhaust went straight up between the tubes & over the ‘porcupine’ head of the puch motor, then into a silencer which was a very ‘square’ box above the carb/under the seat. I seem to remember there being a photo of that model in ‘Mick Andrew’s book of trials’ which I had at the time (wish I still had, don’t know where that went? ), maybe another reader might be able to check ?. Good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupsbetter Posted March 25, 2022 Report Share Posted March 25, 2022 Oh, and there must be a frame number somewhere as mine, along with many others (I’m sure I’ve seen pics of them in the SSDT), was road registered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanorbust Posted March 27, 2022 Report Share Posted March 27, 2022 I believe the early Dalesmans (Dalesmen?) had Puch forks, from the M125 road bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted March 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2022 On 3/27/2022 at 7:54 AM, cleanorbust said: I believe the early Dalesmans (Dalesmen?) had Puch forks, from the M125 road bike. I think you are correct. Found some for sale in Austria, just waiting for some info, hopefully they fit. The search continues for an engine ……… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtydalesman Posted February 2, 2023 Report Share Posted February 2, 2023 Hi Graeme. Don't know if this helps you, but this is my 68 Dalesman with Puch forks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraemeC Posted May 19, 2023 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2023 Back on the Dalesman project……. Have sourced an engine Puch m125. Have decided to rebuild my own forks and have the fork tubes rechromed. Have had the correct engine brackets brazed onto the frame. Have looked over the entire frame and still can’t find a serial number, can anyone with a Dalesman let me know the format on their bike ? Not the actual number just the format and where on the frame ! Is it the same as the engine number ? How would I go about getting a dating certificate and eventually registering the bike for road use if I don’t have a number ?? I know the process once I have a dating certificate. Thanks again for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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