Soensport or Soens Brothers Name Transfer

[biggs682]

Its a welcome guest to the 'stable' Don, along with the H.Quinns, R.J. Quinns, Fothergills, and any other Liverpool/Merseyside vintage frame I can rescue

it will look good in mine with the 2 Ian Mays already in situ

 

[biggs682]

after much heart ache @Tony Smith decided at the end of last week that his recently purchased Soens was a bit to small for him , so he kindly offered it to me first , so i said yes without hesitation .

here it is in as delivered condition , so far since pic taken rear wheel cleaned ,rear half of frame polished along with rear deraileur replaced and rear esge mudguard swapped for a Black one front will be swapped as well later in week .

considering it has all the brazes ons for a touring machine rather than an out and out racer its really light

 

[Tony Smith]

If I could find that emoticon that shows someone bawling his eyes out, I'd post it. !

 

[biggs682]

Hi. No, there will be no other marks. If there is one on the fork column then that pair of forks will not be the originals. From the photo, they look to be correct.

Bill Soens.

Hi @Bill Soens
re the above comment i have just stripped forks out to give the headset bearings a clean and some fresh grease and they also have 777 stamped on then in a vertical plane .

I also spotted the nice the nice detailing on the fork crown with a bit of recessed detailing , both as shown below

 

[sittingbull]

If I could find that emoticon that shows someone bawling his eyes out, I'd post it. !

Here you go Tony:



Understandable too!

.................. here it is in as delivered condition ......................

That's such a nice looking bike, the paint looks fresh, especially on the forks. It's been well looked after.

 

[Tony Smith]

 

[biggs682]

well 2moro will see the Soens report in for commuting duties , we have done just shy of 20 test miles so all shaken down ready to go

 

[pvcw]

Hello Steve.

Thank you for your request and sorry for the delay. Sorry to advise you that this is definitely not an Eddie Soens and there is a conflict with the two names/transfers but I note that you say that someone has fitted their own vinyl lettering on the down tube.

Both the head tube and seat tube indicate that this was built by Jim Soens of Lower Breck Rd, Liverpool 6. These are original transfers without doubt and it is not unreasonable to assume that it is an authentic "Soens" -( i.e. Jim Soens, not Eddie Soens) with certain reservations. Also I never, ever, put pump pegs under the top tube - just about the worst place you can put them.

The lugs are Nervex but not filed down that much which would have been a little unusual for Jim Soens - he did taper them in a bit more than that. Tacking the seat stays on to the seat lug without curving the top eyes is not Jim Soens style either - so it is not impossible that we have a bought-in frame in the rough and then having it badged, but this doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with it in any way. There is no proof of anything now of course. The only 100% guarantee is that it is not an Eddie Soens. I certainly didn't build this frame. Cheers. Bill Soens

Hi Billy,
I have only just spotted the above and thought you might be interested in somehistory.... perhaps your goodself Billy, whom I also knew, see below, might be amused.
I grew up (yrs 2-12) living at church house in the extensive grounds of Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool, in the 1950's. Dad was the Hospital Secretary there at that time. Only a short distance from my home (100yds) were the carpenters/polishers/upholsterers workshops for the hospital.as well as patient's property stores etc. Eddie was the expert french polisher who worked there....a wonderful , but hard, guy whom I visited and pestered frequently, particularly during school holidays. Eddie was always a joy and interesting to be around and though not very tall he was mightily strong, I now understand that he was an ex boxer, and ex military, though I didn't know at the time. How to go from Sgt Major to racing bikes and french polishing I'll never know?
I learnt a lot about racing bikes from Eddie ( I remember the French polishing shop was also full of the old type sew together racing tyres which he would fix during his work breaks). I learnt that he and his family lived in Boaler St. Liverpool and that his son Billy built racing bikes....frames etc etc. So, cutting to the chase, I managed to persuade my Dad to take me to the shop and, after a 2-3wk wait, acquired a brand new small Soens racing bike specially built (gas welded frame and all) by Billy for me. It was my pride and joy. For many years it carred me the 8miles there and 8miles back to and from school in the Mossley Hill area of Liverpool.
Sadly my father died in 1959 (only 49yrs) and my mother (an assistant matron) and elder brother and I left Walton shortly after. Though I did see Eddie (& Billy) a couple of times after that, I went off to uni in the mid 60's, and lost track of them. Though I seem to recall that Eddie moved home to the Old Swan area of Liverpool around then.

Some years later, probably the very late 60's, my super Soens bike passed to another of the Soens brothers at their shop just outside Newsham General Hospital where my mother then worked.


Eddie was a wonderful and a quite remarkable guy!!!!!!


Philip Watkins (now only 67yrs), Saffron Walden, Essex.

 

[MossCommuter]

This was, and continues to be, my favourite CC thread ever

 

[biggs682]

@pvcw do you have any pictures you could post at all , after that interesting insight

 

[pvcw]

This was, and continues to be, my favourite CC thread ever

MossCommuter. Clearly this was many many years ago. My parents, in their time, kept some photos taken at Walton which I think I, or my brother, may yet possess.
Please bear with me and I'll look.
Best Regards
Phil Watkins

 

[DonSchwann]

The stories on here make me think how wonderful it would be to collect tales of Liverpool's racing bike builders and those, like Phil Watkins, who loved their steel beauties! I bet the collection would be pretty enthralling!

 

[pvcw]

The stories on here make me think how wonderful it would be to collect tales of Liverpool's racing bike builders and those, like Phil Watkins, who loved their steel beauties! I bet the collection would be pretty enthralling!

Yes, I do wish I still had my Soens bike now, although since I'm 6'1" I could only scoot on it. But it really was a work of art!
Regards
PhlWatkins

 

[biggs682]

The stories on here make me think how wonderful it would be to collect tales of Liverpool's racing bike builders and those, like Phil Watkins, who loved their steel beauties! I bet the collection would be pretty enthralling!

must admit @DonSchwann can you imagine getting the bikes together all in one place

 

[DonSchwann]

I'd love to see all the surviving Soens, Quinns, Fothergills, Whitcombs, Tierneys, Coppells, Dave Lloyds and Ian Mays together, @biggs682

It would be fantastic to bring their stories together, too, before all their histories start to fade... This thread reminds me how great these bikes were (and still are!)