Can you help me identify this bike? Famous James maybe?

[don]

Tracys gpa 001.jpg I think the photo negative was developed backwards, I could be wrong the closest bike I can find to this bike is a James, but every thing is backwards. All I know of the photo that it was my wives great Granddad in the late 50's. Can anyone identify this bike?

[c.o.]

I can't say for sure and positive but it does look like a James. It would have been a super easy deal if that bike were on just a little bit more of an angle.

[AFJ]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11914[/ATTACH] I think the photo negative was developed backwards, I could be wrong the closest bike I can find to this bike is a James, but every thing is backwards. All I know of the photo that it was my wives great Granddad in the late 50's. Can anyone identify this bike?

It's a James ML with a 122cc Villiers 9D 2-stroke engine. Made 1946-1948. The picture is printed backwards as the gearshift is on the right side.
ML stands for "Military Lightweight" and the 1946-48 commercial version shipped in large numbers to the USA during that time was based on the wartime ML which was a version of the 1939 K17 model James Lightweight motorcycle.

Military versions were used by glider and airborne (parachute) British and Canadian troops and some MLs were landed on their Normandy beaches early on D-Day , June 6, 1944 for use in carrying messages to and from the Beachmasters who were directing troops and equipment under fire. The story goes that at some time that afternoon, a dispatch rider, more used to a full-size and much heavier motorcycle, was asked what he thought of the little James. "Oh! (he replied) "You wind it up and it goes - just like a 'Clockwork Mouse'". And ever since, the James ML has been nick-named, "The Clockwork Mouse".

AFJ

[don]

Thanks, just as I thought.

[frichie68]

It's a James ML with a 122cc Villiers 9D 2-stroke engine. Made 1946-1948. The picture is printed backwards as the gearshift is on the right side.
ML stands for "Military Lightweight" and the 1946-48 commercial version shipped in large numbers to the USA during that time was based on the wartime ML which was a version of the 1939 K17 model James Lightweight motorcycle.

Military versions were used by glider and airborne (parachute) British and Canadian troops and some MLs were landed on their Normandy beaches early on D-Day , June 6, 1944 for use in carrying messages to and from the Beachmasters who were directing troops and equipment under fire. The story goes that at some time that afternoon, a dispatch rider, more used to a full-size and much heavier motorcycle, was asked what he thought of the little James. "Oh! (he replied) "You wind it up and it goes - just like a 'Clockwork Mouse'". And ever since, the James ML has been nick-named, "The Clockwork Mouse".

AFJ

Amazing amount of info from just a photo! Thanks for posting.
Rich

[AFJ]

It's a James ML with a 122cc Villiers 9D 2-stroke engine. Made 1946-1948. The picture is printed backwards as the gearshift is on the right side.
ML stands for "Military Lightweight" and the 1946-48 commercial version shipped in large numbers to the USA during that time was based on the wartime ML which was a version of the 1939 K17 model James Lightweight motorcycle.

Military versions were used by glider and airborne (parachute) British and Canadian troops and some MLs were landed on their Normandy beaches early on D-Day , June 6, 1944 for use in carrying messages to and from the Beachmasters who were directing troops and equipment under fire. The story goes that at some time that afternoon, a dispatch rider, more used to a full-size and much heavier motorcycle, was asked what he thought of the little James. "Oh! (he replied) "You wind it up and it goes - just like a 'Clockwork Mouse'". And ever since, the James ML has been nick-named, "The Clockwork Mouse".

AFJ

A picture of a James ML
AFJ

[rwm]

if they were shipped in large numbers to the usa where are they now? not trying to sound arrogant. i just dont see them at swap meets. it looks like a cheap fun bike to ride.

[T. Cotten]

Rob!

I have had a rusty one in the front window of my shop as a plant stand for eighteen years.

Last summer, the widow of the fellow who gave it to me showed up with a bizarre boyfriend who demanded it. He even left threatening messages on my phone machine.

If they want to pay eighteen years of storage, they can have it!

....Cotten

[Robert Luland]

With or with out the plants?

[T. Cotten]

Robert!

I would gladly toss in the bracken ferns and Virginia Creeper if the clinical 'boyfriend' insisted.
And frankly, I would cut the monthly industry-standard storage fee in half!

It would still be four times what it is worth, plus.

Somebody watches too much "pickers".

....Cotten

[don]

Cotton, do you still have it? If so is it for sale? I seen one at Barber that's why I figured it was a James.