Today, on my late afternoon walk I noticed the abovementioned 'Boat House' is for sale:

Yes, that is me. Here's the RAW front cover:

No, Warren Grant inherited the car in 1996 and before selling it in 1999 the BAD1 plate was removed. Since 1998 it has been and still is registered GGM107V. The plate BAD1 is not assigned to any vehicle presently.

How does documentation supplied by Companies House confirming Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant was a director of the company Peer Grant Ltd become an elaborate hoax? A summary of my posting history... My interest in the Led Zeppelin choppers was catalysed when I became aware of the chopper that turned up in Eastbourne. Before that I knew about the John Bonham auction chopper but at the time it was really nothing more than a vague interest although I had picked up on the discrepancies in its auction description. I then decided to see what I could find out about the history of the Eastbourne chopper which eventually led me back to this old thread in this forum. I've spoken to the fella who had the Eastbourne chopper and I saw it in his cellar. He said he bought it from Peter Grant at Horselunges Manor in the 1970s along with another Triumph motorcycle described as the bike ridden by John Bonham on one or more of his hotel rampages in the States. The chopper exists and the green logbook confirms the connection with Peter Grant. Inevitably the other three Led Zeppelin choppers are part of the story and, with the help of this forum and its contributors and various biographies, it's been fascinating finding out the history of them all. All four choppers are accounted for up to different points in time although the probable Robert Plant bike has been lost since supposedly being raffled by John Bonham in 1978, the Jimmy Page one was photographed in 1982 and may or may not now be at his Berkshire home, if it is I think it will be no more than rust and dust. By default I think the Eastbourne chopper is JPJs and John Bonhams is well known as the auction bike. I suppose that when I started out on this trail I wondered if the Eastbourne chopper was actually the TSRTS film chopper as it has the identical smaller engine but for the many reasons I have already gone into, at probably way too much length, I don't think it is. It appears that apart from John Bonhams chopper with its 650cc engine, the other three choppers had 250cc engines, so all three would superficially match the TSRTS film bike. There are people around who could add to the history. Not least Ron Hagest, the builder of the four choppers in Burbank back in 1972 or 1973. He's still around, living in Houston, Texas, I think, but doesn't answer emails. His son sells chopper parts and T- shirts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByCNuxEqlb0 In time the Eastbourne chopper is going to be returned to the road or at least to running display as I can't think it's that easy to ride for any distance. The engine is unmolested and looks to have never been apart, my guess is its mileage could be measured in tens or at most hundreds. Here's a fairly recent photo of the engine showing its number which matches the green logbook:

Here's something about Peer Grant Ltd. of 4 Grays Inn Sq who back in 1973 were recorded as the keeper of the Led Zeppelin chopper that more recently surfaced in Eastbourne. I eventually got around to searching through 280+ pages that came from Companies House about the business of Peer Grant Ltd. The directors included Peter Grant and his wife (Helen) Gloria Grant, the company conducted business from 1969 until 1978 and then appeared to go into obscurity as some kind of tax optimisation shell. Peer Grant Ltd.'s business was described as 'supplying management services for artistes and entertainers... also engaged in the activities of leasing cars and equipment and trading in commodities.' So far, I can't find anything in the 280 pages that links this chopper to a specific Led Zeppelin member but by elimination I still tend to think it's John Paul Jones chopper originally built with his sign on the back of its seat.

Good news for me. By elimination the Led Zeppelin chopper in my shed is sure to be Robert Plants, also the chopper most likely to be John Bonhams back-up bike and hence the film star. But I've written before that I think film provenance is over-rated here. To have custody of any of the four choppers, but particularly John Bonhams in its preserved state, is a privilige. My take is that $40,000 was well spent regardless of any film appearance.

Yes, I see what you did there. I guess this is how the idea that the 2015 auction chopper and the TSRTS film chopper are one and the same came about. Thirty-three years ago someone said it was so and ever since it's been accepted and regurgitated as being so. No one ever really checked and someone else ended up blowing $40,000. About the present location of Jimmy Pages chopper. It may be that I'm succumbing to confirmation bias. On the other hand, to come up with the news that Jimmy Pages chopper is still in his shed is not very contentious and I tend to accept it. It is a likely outcome. In an abstract way I had already thought that one of two things could have happened to Jimmy Pages chopper. Either it was thrown out in 1985 when he left Plumpton Place and would never be found because it was landfill, or it moved with him, along with other accumulated junk. I was thinking Tower House more than Sonning but Sonning is a better fit, maybe via Windsor. What is contentious, but obvious to me, are the many differences between the 2015 auction chopper and the TSRTS chopper. For my purpose, I'm assuming the film bike is the same bike seen in the photo of John and Jason Bonham sitting on the chopper amongst the flowers, they do have the same engine. It's the best high-def photo of a 250cc smaller engined Led Zeppelin chopper I can find. The film stills don't show the finer details but the key points and most of what follows can be seen in the film stills too. 1/ Obviously the engines are very different as I've written so many times before. They are not inter-changeable without major work including cutting, welding and replating the nickel finished frame. It could be done, but why would they do that? 2/ The exhaust pipes/headers. On the auction bike they exit the engine in two places set apart by one foot or so. On the film bike they exit the engine in one place and then immediately split into two pipes. 3/ The front wheel rim. The auction bike has an alloy or aluminium rim probably made by Italian brand Borrani. Sunset Tripper were known to use this brand. The film bike has a chrome plated steel rim. The shape is different. 4/ Choke lever. This is clipped to the highest part of the right-hand side of the handlebars, but only on the auction bike. 5/ Throttle cable adjuster. On the auction chopper it's close to the throttle grip. On the film bike it's several inches down the cable. For some reason all the cables on the auction bike are red. I don't know why or how they would have done that. 6/ The electric box. Found below the front of the gas tank. On the film bike it's an off the shelf Triumph part with factory-fit orange reflectors on each side. These orange reflectors are clearly seen in the film. On the auction bike it's a custom-made unit in blue and silver, sized to fit the extra electrical components of the larger engine including two coils. These would not fit in the smaller Triumph box with the orange reflectors, hence the custom build. 7/ The horn. On the auction bike it's in front of the lower part of the engine, a round black thing. I can't see it on the film bike, it's not obviously there but it might be attached to the electric box. 8/ The air filter on the carburettor. The auction bike doesn't have one, instead it has a trumpet. 9/ The side stand. The auction bike stand has a kink in it that's not present on the film bikes stand. 10/ The extended exhaust pipes and silencers. The bends and lengths of the respective systems are entirely different from front to back. Having said that, the silencer parts on the film bike, in the film, are longer than those I see on the bike that the Bonhams are sitting on in the garden. But inspection shows that the film, film bike has had extensions bolted on. To me it looks better without the extensions, but it would be noisier. 11/ The seat and the cissy bar. On the film bike, just at the top of the black backrest part of the seat, I can see a chrome bar. It's not visible on the auction bike. Each chopper had the respective band members sign or rune on the back of the seat, this accounts for differences to the construction in that area. 12/ The rear mudguard. The auction bike mudguard is noticeably longer at the back than the film bikes. That's it. Except that in the garden photo the front brake wouldn't work as the cable is not properly connected to the levers on the front wheel hub. This makes me wonder if the photo was taken on the day the choppers were being assembled at John Bonhams place by Ron Hagest, the builder of the four choppers who flew in from Los Angeles. In this photo the chopper looks new. One more thing. Going back to post #10 on the first page of this thread by sam_webmaster - it's the 2015 auction publicity and I assume it shows what the auction house published at the time - along with several auction photos, there is just one still photo from the film, but it's cut so it doesn't show the engine of the chopper. Did someone know?

Jimmy Pages chopper did not look cared-for when it was at Plumpton Place back in 1982, another forty years of storage won't have been good. Even so - one owner for 50+ years, probably close to zero mileage. I wonder if he knows it's there. With Lee1111s sighting, the recent whereabouts of three of the four Led Zeppelin choppers is known now - John Bonhams was sold at auction in 2015, Jimmy Pages is still in his garage and the Eastbourne chopper is probably JPJs. Leaving a missing chopper, which I would say is the one written about in John Bonhams biography authored by brother Mick Bonham: Chapter 23, Scramble On, 5th paragraph: "At one of these events he would raffle his chopper bike he'd used in 'The Song Remains the Same' to raise even more cash." The raffle was in 1978 on behalf of a children's charity named Superkids, possibly somewhere in the West Midlands. Clearly, he didn't raffle his own chopper as that one is the 2015 auction bike. So, by elimination, I think he raffled Robert Plants bike which appears to be the one he really did ride in the TSRTS film. Going back to something I raised a while ago - of the four Led Zeppelin choppers only one, John Bonhams, appears to have the larger 650cc engine, the other three seem to have 250cc engines. Here again is Jimmy Pages chopper at Plumpton Place in 1982. Apart from a missing oil tank it looks complete. Along with two photos of John Bonham, his brother Mick (I think) on the right side in both photos and, again I think, two different choppers. The high-def photo is the 650 twin cylinder chopper sold at the 2015 auction; the 650 engine is visible. The low-def photo, going by the different cables and levers on the handlebars, is a 250 single cylinder chopper, maybe taken on the day of the Superkids raffle?

Following way too much time spent searching and cross-referencing Peter Grants companies, I've found out nothing more about the company Peer Grant Ltd in the 1970s. It's not totally wasted time as other interesting stuff comes up. SteveAJones explaining the origins of GMG Productions was great. Along with Peer Grant Ltd, several other apparently random companies shared the 115a Chancery Lane address. All of these companies were being wound up a year or so either side of 1980 by a Eugene Gomeche and in all cases it became a long drawn-out affair taking many years. One of them, F & C Osler (London) Ltd is still in the process of being dissolved right now, 40 years later. The name Eugene Gomeche appears in the winding up documents for Peer Grant Ltd attached a few posts ago. I think 115a Chancery Lane is just a shell address and doesn't have an association with the original business of Peer Grant Ltd, whatever that was. Eugene Gomeche wrote a book titled 'Business Operations in the United Kingdom (Tax Management Portfolios)' and he was the in-house accountant for Radio Caroline in the 1960s. I would think he is something of a UK taxation expert. Does he have any connection with Led Zeppelin? I wonder if Peer Grant is a play on words for Peer Gynt. Did Peter Grant have any particular interest in popular 19th century Norwegian drama or the like? Here's a list of of Peter Grants directorships, it's not exhaustive and it's from the early 1980s, I haven't found a similar list for the 1970s. That would be more useful.

Yes, I'm just going through some more stuff I've come across about Peter Grant Music:

Following Cookie0024s lead to search Companies House, I tunnelled a bit deeper and I found a Peer Grant Ltd at a different, presumably later, address in the same area of the City: Peer Grant Limited 115a Chancery Lane London WC2A 1PP Company No. 00968359 The company was registered in 1969, winding up is recorded as commencing on 19th September 1980, but nothing much seemed to happen until March 1995 and winding up was eventually completed in December 1998. So far, I don't have any information about the business of the company or anything at all really, except that Peer is not a typo for Peter. At first glance, the dates of September 1980 and March 1995 might look significant but they pre-date the tragic events of those years, by just a few days in 1980 and by eight months in 1995. Whilst searching, I came across a Peter Grant Music Limited in Eastbourne (dissolved as late as 2010), this linked Peter Grant to a company named GMG Productions in D'Arblay St W1 where another director is Malcolm McLaren along with a couple of Goldstones. A company named Hastings Estates Ltd came up too, but I can't work out the connection.

For Cookie0024 Thanks for checking the companies. Do you have a more comprehensive search facility than Companies House? I think that one goes back just 20 years: "When a limited company is dissolved, all disclosed information remains on the Companies House public register for 20 years. Dissolved company records that are over 6 years old are not available to the public on the free Companies House Service, but they can be viewed on other search services." I'm hoping SteveAJones will come up with something. To go back to a question I put up here before - I was wondering if the chopper night ride in the film was shot in Brighton, but it wasn't. I have a positive ID on Blackpool. John Bonham the rider is about to pass Blackpool Tower on his left.

Excuse the time lapse since my last post. Other stuff got in the way, but I did get time to read Richard Coles autobiography. On page 282 he wrote - "In 1970, my Christmas present from the band was a Triumph Chopper motorcycle." I guess that's likely to be the one in the photo of Richard Cole posted in this thread by SteveAJones. So far as the documentation for the two motorcycles sold by Peter Grant from Horselunges Manor goes - I have sight of the original green logbook for the Sunset Tripper chopper and I'm in no doubt that it connects the chopper to Led Zeppelin but it does have what might be a big typo. On the 2nd August 1973 the owner is recorded as Peer Grant Ltd, 4 Grays Inn Sq, London WC1. So, is Peer a typo for Peter? Or did Peter Grant have a company named Peer Grant at that address? Grays Inn Square is a long-standing legal profession address in the City of London. Maybe it's the address of the band's lawyers. That information will be out there somewhere. More often than not, when I come across these old hand written vehicle log books, they have one or two typos and my feeling is that a T has been dropped and the logbook should read Peter Grant Ltd. I first came across this Sunset Tripper chopper at an address in Eastbourne, just two streets and a few hundred metres away from where Peter Grant was living at the time of his death in 1995. I didn't know that at the time of my visit and I think it's just a coincidence as the owner particularly said that Peter Grant sold the chopper to him directly from Horselunges Manor back in the late seventies. The owner had no connection with or any special interest in Led Zeppelin, he was a local motorcycle trader and Peter Grant had approached him to arrange the sale of the two motorcycles. There are more details to this story but as SteveAJones suggests, it's going to sound more and more like a big fish tale. Anyway, I would say the Sunset Tripper chopper and the logbook tell their own story. Is this enough to get SteveAJones interested again? Or to get Jason Bonham to comment? When he sold it to the pizza place, he probably did think the Bonham chopper was the TSRTS film chopper, but I'm sure I've filed enough evidence on this thread to show that the two motorcycles do not match each other. If so, the film chopper is still out there somewhere. It might be the Eastbourne chopper, that one does match the film chopper, but I think it probably isn't. Here's a scan of the logbook. I've removed the registration; it has lapsed and it's not recorded on the current DVLA database.

Sorry, I'm really trying to keep the BS at a low level and the conjecture as informed as it can be. How about - the unusual z shaped handlebars seen in the photograph of your (Richard Coles) Triumph motorcycle match the handlebars of John Bonhams hotel riding Triumph motorcycle which was imported from the US and kept at Horselunges Manor for a time in the 1970s. Is it the same motorcycle? The handlebars are unusual but not unique, so it is conjecture. I would understand if he wasn't interested after 45 years. I don't know where the hotel Triumph motorcycle is, but it's very likely to still be around with an unknowing owner. Without the handlebars though as they are with the East Sussex chopper which was kept at Horselunges Manor with the hotel bike. The East Sussex chopper and the hotel Triumph were taken from Horselunges Manor as a pair by someone who kept the chopper but fixed up the hotel Triumph and sold it on in the 1970s without really thinking too much about it's history which he did know about.

Go for it!

From a search Melody Maker journalist Chris Welch interviewed John at the farm in June 1975. Part of Bonham's fantasy sequence for the 1976 film The Song Remains the Same was filmed at the farm in late 1973. The sequence features Bonham with his wife Pat Bonham, his son Jason Bonham on a miniature drum kit, and John driving a Model T Ford Ice Truck as well as a chopper motorcycle on local roads outside the New Inn (other motorcycle footage was shot in Blackpool). John and Pat were also filmed riding on a cart with their farm's horse 'Old Sam' along the poplar-lined farm road. The snooker scene was shot at the local Conservative Club in Studley. There were also brief cameo appearances of family and friends, including Mick Bonham.

The text accompanying the video photo of Jimmy Pages chopper dates the photo to 1982. With this new (to me) information and along with some other data I've got, I think the chopper found in East Sussex would be John Paul Jones chopper and not Jimmy Pages. The same data source recollects that in the 1970s, JPJs chopper was stored at Peter Grants house, Horselunges Manor, along with the Triumph motorcycle that John Bonham rode around the lobbies and corridors of a hotel or hotels in the US. Apparently, this Triumph motorcycle was brought back from the States along with trucks, cars and the four choppers. Richard Coles Triumph motorcycle pictured in an earlier post of this thread has an unusual feature that matches the Triumph motorcycle that was stored at Peter Grants place. With a bit of luck Richard Cole will surface and he can confirm this one way or the other. In earlier posts I've referenced a biography with mentions of John Bonham giving a chopper to a children's charity and riding a chopper through a hedge during filming of TSRTS. I've tracked down the biography, it's - John Bonham, The Powerhouse of Led Zeppelin, written by his brother Mick. The Blackpool filming comes up there too: Chapter 23, Scramble On, 5th paragraph: "At one of these events he would raffle his chopper bike he'd used in 'The Song Remains the Same' to raise even more cash." The charity was Superkids, the biography timeline suggests it was 1978. Then... Chapter 16, Down on the Farm, paragraphs 7 & 8: There are mentions in these paragraphs of John Bonham riding a chopper through a hedge that was 'fortunately' not caught on film by the film crew and Blackpool being the location for a filming sequence with the police stipulating that John Bonham should wear a crash helmet.

I signed up for this thread with the hope of finding out more about the four choppers built for Led Zeppelin in 1972. Before joining up and posting I knew a bit about the choppers and I've picked up a bit from the thread. The idea that the TSRTS film chopper is not the John Bonham chopper sold at auction in 2015 is pivotal to the big picture but not of any special interest to me. What is Indisputable: John Bonhams own 650cc chopper survives and has an unbroken trail back to the builder in Burbank. There are photographs of John Bonham on a chopper that looks the same as his 650cc engined bike but on inspection has a smaller Triumph 250cc engine. The film chopper matches the 250cc engined bike. A Triumph 250cc engined Led Zeppelin chopper survives as found in East Sussex. What is Speculation: In one of the Led Zeppelin biographies it's written that John Bonham gave a chopper to a childrens charity. Clearly not his own 650cc chopper, so if this happened it was another one. Maybe it's crumbling in a shed in Kidderminster. The other three Led Zeppelin choppers had Triumph 250cc engines but they have exhausts that are dressed up to make them look superficially like 650cc engines. (Probably built to comply with learner licence legislation in the UK in the 1970s restricting unlicenced riders to motorcycles of 250cc or less). The 250cc engined chopper photographed with John Bonham is actually Robert Plants bike. This appears to be the chopper in the film, in the day-time sequences anyway. The night-time riding sequence was filmed in Blackpool. If so, the chopper is the same one as used in the day-time riding sequence. Or... The night-time riding sequence was filmed in Brighton. If so, the chopper is more likely to be local to West Sussex. It doesn't have Jimmy Pages sissy bar symbol so it would be John Paul Jones chopper. Anybody could have been riding it. Background paraphernalia seen in the night riding sequence tends to support Brighton over Blackpool and some of the other sequences were filmed around Brighton. There's no obvious connection with Blackpool. The more recently surfaced East Sussex 250cc chopper is most likely to be either Jimmy Pages or John Paul Jones chopper, or less likely to be Robert Plants chopper. Thanks to SteveAJones. Without his input the thread would have stalled.

I missed the post made by swann, thanks to SteveAJones for saving the photo. The Jimmy Page chopper has a Triumph 250cc engine matching the day-time film chopper but there are some differences, the big one being the metalwork sprouting out of the top of the seat. If its not something stuck on the wall I would say its the Zoso symbol. Each of the four choppers had the symbol of the owner on the back of the sissy bar. The gas tank has a chrome finish although supposedly all four chopper tanks were painted as Union Jacks. It has a UK registration number on the front but I can't read it, the last letter might be M. The number plate looks yellow but should be white. I wondered if it could be the night- time film chopper but the sissy bar can be seen in the sequence and it doesn't look like a Zoso symbol. As I said, I didn't see swanns post and I can't find the youtube clip. Is there any dating information? The chopper frame is not in good shape, not at all shiny compared to the two John Bonham choppers, they all have a nickel plate finish. It looks as though it's been parked up for a while. I'm attaching a photo of the frame and the Triumph 250cc engine of the chopper found in East Sussex a while back. Speculatively and geographically it could be Jimmy Pages, it could also be John Paul Jones chopper for the same geographic reason. I have no doubt that it's one or the other. Using the same geographic speculation, the second John Bonham chopper could be Robert Plants as they were approximate neighbours.

John Bonham, house, car and chopper. c1972.

Entirely coincidentally having just inadvertantly posted the photo of the aircraft above, I then went to an aviation forum on other business and found this looking at me: https://simpleflying.com/led-zeppelin-boeing-720/

For some reason the two photos above, the aircraft and the chopper come as a package. I don't know why. Richard Coles motorcycle looks like a slightly modified Triumph 650cc twin from the late 1960s with extended forks and what I think are called Z handlebars. It's not a Sunset Tripper.

Richard Cole is credited with the sequence of photos of John Bonham sitting on the chopper in his front yard in West Hagley. The 250cc chopper that is. The credit says back garden but it is the front garden.

Yes, I have more. A Led Zeppelin chopper with a Triumph 250cc engine is still around and I'm surprised that hasn't come up before on this thread. It turned up in East Sussex on the south coast of England a while ago, not complete but with the main constituents there - a numbered frame, a numbered Triumph T25 250cc engine, some parts and an original green UK log book with a Led Zeppelin name in it. A few days ago when I made my first post on this thread I had forgotten about the night-time riding sequence in the film. After watching it again I found a SteveAJones post on this forum from 2007 mentioning that the riding was filmed near Blackpool so I pm'd him to ask if it was definitely Blackpool or if that was just assumed due to the background illuminations. Steve kindly pm'd me to say that Blackpool is not confirmed, although he didn't say why not. He did mention that a fair amount of the filming for the other sequences was done in and around East and West Sussex on the south coast of England. By now I was wondering if the night riding sequence was filmed somewhere such as Brighton in West Sussex on the south coast, well known for its seafront lighting. This is circumstantial although the bus seen in the film sequence does look a lot like a '70s Brighton bus and not at all like a Blackpool bus. The rider is wearing a full-face helmet and his face isn't visible, he could be anyone. Would John Bonham have made a night trip to either Blackpool or Brighton for 15 seconds of anonymous film? I can see that Led Zeppelin performed at Brighton in December 1972. The closest they got to Blackpool was Liverpool and Preston in January 1973 on the same tour. I think the chopper sequence was filmed in late 1973. As before, I have no doubt that John Bonham had two choppers, his own 650cc with his symbol on the sissy bar and another unidentified 250cc chopper. The 2015 auction chopper still doesn't match the 1976 film chopper and I don't see that changing anytime soon. It's documented in the 2015 auction promotion pasted by sam_webmaster on the first page of this thread that there were four choppers built for Led Zeppelin, mind you it's documented in the same place that the pizza bike is the film bike. Two choppers are accounted for, two are not. Maybe there were only ever two choppers?

It turns out the engine of the film chopper was being talked about on the internet way back in 2008. https://www.imcdb.org/v159408.html They were discussing what the engine was with no pre-conceived ideas about what it might be. They decided it was either a BSA B50 500cc or more likely a BSA B25 250cc, both single cylinder engines. They also spotted the siamesed exhaust pipe (one in two). BSA and Triumph were the same company and used the same 250cc engine in various road and off-road bikes. BSA also made a 500cc version of the engine which looked pretty much identical to the 250. A tape measure would be needed to tell the difference. The Triumph version - which the John Bonham chopper likely has as it was built by Triumph of Burbank - is designated Triumph T25 250cc. Apart from the engine # it's indistinguishable from the BSA B25 250cc version. I think it's called badge engineering. They nailed it.