Doing some groundwork at the moment and yesterday exposed a hole beneath the surface containing this and a few other bits and pieces, including the other wheel…

Here’s the hole fwiw…

The hole must have been made at least 40 years ago, probably more. I’m thinking it’s an old motorcycle wheel. The other bits and bobs are what appear to be wire fencing of some sort, an old jerry can and a metal bed frame. I thought I’d stumble across a skeleton of some wartime fellow who’d come to a sticky end, what with there being an old WWII German helmet stashed in an old shed just over the way from here.

Anyway – ideas or knowledge would be appreciated. Just a bit curious as to its era.

Posted 6 years ago

Didn’t German spies use wheels like those to distribute anthrax spores before burying them and the unused spores in the ground?

Oh.

Posted 6 years ago

‘Tis the origin of 650b!

Posted 6 years ago

Didn’t German spies use wheels like those to distribute anthrax spores before burying them and the unused spores in the ground?

🙂

I almost wrote something similar but with the addition of the Super Soldier and Capt. America origins etc.

But seriously, there was an old musty smell when it first caved in…

Posted 6 years ago

I had a 1965 Triumph Tiger 90 with a wheel like that. The brake drum/sprocket is splined to the main wheel and a spindle ran through the lot so the wheel could be dropped out leaving the sprocket in place.
Bit of chrome polish will sort it!

Posted 6 years ago

The wheel could be off anything built around that time
They were a universal thing, bought in by the motorcycle manufactures.

EDIT: Difficult to be certain but looks to be a Jones rim rather than a Dunlop

Posted 6 years ago

I reckon it’s an early Mavic wheel, they’re actually still using the same hub internals.

Posted 6 years ago

Ha. I reckon it’s a Mavic wheel of the future. A 240a Fat Helium with MegaSprok™ – a kinetic energy collecting system type of set up.

Thanks for the info. Found this thing while looking for an image of the wheel…

Love it!

Posted 6 years ago

Saw a programme before where someone stripped a car down to parts and buried it during WW2 so it wouldn’t be scrapped for making tanks/planes. It was dug up years later and restored
…

Posted 6 years ago

Wow!, Time Team returns…, as jota180 said,old motorbike wheel I’d concur. a bit like steel wheels on older British cars they can be pretty generic.

Posted 6 years ago

If it was a Sturmey Archer 3-speed hub that had been buried that long, a bit of oil and it would work perfectly.

Posted 6 years ago

Time Team returns

Heh. It most certainly does. I found a ceramic lid identical to the one below in hole number two…

A brass weight was also found but I haven’t had time to buff it up yet. The toothpaste lid is immaculate, I might keep it.

Posted 6 years ago