Saunders frame kit

[gray]

About 2.5 years I bought a frame advertised on Fleabay. Tubular steel, bit like a Harris magnum 2 (?)  Am making slow progress with it.

Story was that Grant Saunders was a New Zealander , came over here to learn frame building at Harris then branched out on his own with  a shop in the Durham area. He then found God , went back to NZ and was involved with the Britten WSB team.

He made  3 frame kits apparently - 1 was for a Jota and was tested by Bike magazine about 1983 . Mine apparently had a GSX1100 motor in it  and  the frame was then modified for fitting a turbocharger. Other than that I know little. Apparently  it was riding about the Borders with a GSX750 engine in it latterly.

I'll add more info and  some photos tomorrow. 

Any further info gratefully received

Gray

[DAZ]

Never cease to be amazed at what turns up ..... I sometimes wonder what treasures lay hidden in suburban garages and sheds 

[stockcar]

yes he had a place not far from here and know a couple of guy's who had a bit to do with them.......

 

thought there was more than 3x but might be wrong - was never many regardless

[imago]

It's all vague memory, but I seem to recall that the Laverda was a one off commission and there were also three Suzuki frames.

[gray]

came with a bespoke tank from the Tank Shop in Dumfries

  

and it came with the Saunders side panel/ tail unit and a nose fairing

Edited March 22 by Wee Man

[DAZ]

Looks great, that tank is a class creation ,do you have any ideas on how you'll build it ? Restomod utilizing the fairing and seat unit with more modern running gear , or a period correct style build ? Or nekid street fighter stylee ...

[clivegto]

Nice looking thing. Very similar to the Harris Magnum 2 frame and swinging arm. 

[Ragerover]

He lived next to me 

clever f@ker

tried to give me a lesson in frame geometry but he was too clever for me

spent a bit of time with him 

used to go up Saturday after the Hill or call on an evening 

quietly spoken genius

he was a bit of a bible basher when we first met but never pushed it( maybe he could see I was a lost cause)

well into it later on

he made quite a few frames ( more than 3 )

here’s the man himself in a Lewis leathers advert

And another of his projects 

 

weirdly says designed by Jacob Saunders 

[BillyR]

I rode one in my journo days, might of been a gsx11. Being some time in the 80's i cant remember too much about it other than id handled as good as any Harris/spondon/martin etc.. id ridden.

[Dezza]

Weren't the frames marketed as 'Saunders and Lewis?' Who was Lewis I wonder?

[Ragerover]

Sanders and Lewis were a London based company 

who made stuff for Kettles 

[Wagola]

19 minutes ago, Ragerover said:

Sanders and Lewis were a London based company 

who made stuff for Kettles 

I thought that was De Longhi ??

[Dezza]

6 hours ago, Wagola said:

I thought that was De Longhi ??

No, it was his best mate: Russell Hobbs

[gray]

As you can see, the fibreglass tailpiece I have is the same as the Jota's.

I've been in email contact with him ( Initially he was Grant Saunders, but now goes by Jacob) and he thinks he  only did 3 frames. I sent him a photo of my frame number ( which has a 7 on the end) and he said he definitely didn't do 7. Which was odd. 

The swingarm was damaged - looks like the chain jumped the sprocket, and got jammed between sprocket and arm and bent / dented it and cracked the braze.  

I had made a list of what I wanted from a donor bike, and picked one up - the Triumph Daytona 900 would give me good wheels for modern rubber, discs, 4 pot Nissans, multi adjustable forks, yokes would fit and swingarm was the right width ( so no issues making up spacers ) and the Saunders swingarm pivot  bolt was the same diameter as the Triumph  one.  But the Saunders swingarm mounts its shock like an LC350 so I needed to get a mounting made - I chopped a GSX-R 750 K3  up to get its brace and a local fit that does race bike stuff welded it up for me. I'll try and add a photo.

The Triumph engine wouldn't fit ( clutch cover sticks out too much) so I sold  all the Triumph stuff I didn't need and started looking for an engine/ carbs/ loom/ electrics etc  .

[gray]

frame and swingarm set up on the bench with a piece of wood that I calculate will give me a clean chain run, once sag has occurred. 

Edited April 4 by Wee Man

[gray]

I had tried a Z1000M ( air-cooled ) engine in it that I had lying about but the rear edges of the cylinder head fins  were hitting the  frame rails  so that was moved on. I knew I would need a carb'd engine as I didn't want to cut a hole in that nice tank to fit a fuel pump for fuel injection. Had to be side draft carbs  not down  draft, and that's how I arrived at the next part of the jigsaw - a donor  Mk 1 Bandit , picked up  complete and running,  and ridden home 4 hrs before the MOT ran out.

The engine fits but there are marks on the bores where the rings have sat a long time. The motor is stripped and a hollow shell engine bolted together so its easier to  move about , ready to  be taken to get brackets made up to fit it in the frame.

the Triumph forks weren't slid fully up the yokes to it looks too high at the front on this photo. 

.

Edited April 4 by Wee Man
Upside doon

[gray]

So today's job was to remove the endurance racing dual quick fillers, and show the removed filler plate to a local  engineering firm who say they can make up a plain plate to mount on the tank, so I can fit a conventional flush-fit fuel cap  that locks. Should be no problem that say .

I'll sell on the dual quick fillers - John at The Tank Shop said they were worth about £400.

Fuel tap is going to be a Z1R one which fits onto the screw fitting on the tank base, and has a single outlet for the Bandit carbs. I had one lying about fortunately. I've sourced new filters for it from an Eblag dealer  "Madmopeds" who was very helpful. 

 

 

[Swirl]

If you search Saunders on here, I'm sure that's the same kit I tried to buy, was it from Scotland, had a deal done with the fella, never answered messages very rarely answered the phone, then he said it was gone

Edited April 26 by Swirl

[BasilBrush]

On 3/22/2024 at 8:18 PM, gray said:

came with a bespoke tank from the Tank Shop in Dumfries

  

and it came with the Saunders side panel/ tail unit and a nose fairing

Is the saunders fairing a bit like an Endurance one with one headlight. Not sen one of these frames before so build is going to be interesting to follow