Sir, I am in the process of restoring a 1950 Excelsior Talisman 250cc motor cycle and am trying to trace its history, as there are no records of it.

I traced it to Cumbria, then to Kendal, from its registration suffix and all I have been able to find out from your local archive office is that it was first registered to a J. Walkers Motorcycles of Kendal on September 4, 1950.

Do any of your readers remember J. Walkers Motor Cycles? Where was the shop situated? Did they move premises or just close down? Is he still alive or are there any relatives of his who were connected to the shop still living locally?

It is a long shot but someone may still have some of his old records or there may be someone local who bought the bike from him who remembers the shop or the bike. The registration number is JM 9842. Any information would be a help as its early life is a mystery. All I have found out is that it hasn’t been registered since the early ‘60s and has spent a lot of its later life in a shed and that it could have spent some it its time in the Scarborough area.

Barrie Altoft 136 Tofts Road Barton-on-Humber North Lincolnshire, DN18 5ND Tel: 01652-635529