Royal Enfield 1931 499 cc Model J31 De Luxe Two-Port OHV frame # 10620 engine # J4405 video: https://youtu.be/9I5bLaz39KE “The late Twenties had proved a difficult period for the British Motor Cycle Industry, with periods of industrial unrest, which saw many manufacturers go to the wall. British motorcycle production had fallen from a peak figure of 160,000 in 1927 to 126,000 in 1930, would drop to 74,700 in 1931 and to as low as 52,200 in 1933 before the turning point of the Great Depression. T ...
Royal Enfield 1937 Model JF “Bullet” 499 cc four-valve OHV single frame # 21785 engine # JF 2514 video: https://youtu.be/Wgb7PeQ4mWQ The famous “Bullet” model name came into existence in the 1933 model range, presented in September 1932 and is still carried on nowadays by a 650 cc model built by Royal Enfield India at Chennai. The 1933 model year catalogue introduced the Bullet models in the 250, 350 and 500 cc class: “ The vogue of the high-efficiency sports motor cycle has produced nothing fin ...
Aermacchi / Harley Davidson 1974 SS 350 344 cc ohv single frame & engine # 6AH412548 Formerly known as Aeronautica Macchi, the company was founded in 1912 by Giulio Macchi at Varese in north-western Lombardy as Nieuport-Macchi, to build Nieuport monoplanes under license for the Italian military. With a factory located on the shores of Lake Varese, the firm originally manufactured a series of Nieuport designs, as well as seaplanes. After World War II, the company began producing utility three-whe ...
Hesketh 1982 “Vampire” 992cc 8-valve OHC V-twin frame # 055 engine # 0130 Brainchild of wealthy aristocrat and Formula 1 team owner Alexander Furmor-Hesketh, the Hesketh V1000 promised to be an all-new British superbike in the Vincent mould. The proposed design had all the right ingredients: 992cc 8-valve Weslake v-twin engine, nickel-plated Reynolds 531 frame, Brembo brakes, Marzocchi front forks, Dellorto carbs, Lucas Rita electronic ignition and Astralite wheels. In the spring of 1980 the fir ...
NSU 1932 501 OS 494 cc OHV two-port frame # 857234 engine # 160754 Walter Moore, responsible for the Norton racing department, had developed the 500cc Norton CS1 and the 350cc Norton CJ1. Alec Bennett won the 1927 Senior TT on such a camshaft Norton but in 1928 and 1929 Norton performed very poorly in the Isle of Man TT. Consequently, relations between Moore and Norton management soured; they already had two successors (Joe Craig and Arthur Carroll) lined up. Meanwhile, NSU had little to offer i ...
Velocette 1949/1950 KTT Mk VIII 348cc OHC frame # SF 231 engine # KTT1044 After the 1928 TT win Velocette marketed the KTT as the first British “over the counter” racer. Thus began the production of a competitive racing motorcycle that was very successful for almost 25 years. The final development of the Velocette KTT, the Mk VIII, was introduced in 1938 at that year’s Earls Court Show, and was the first motorcycle to use the now-conventional swinging-arm rear fork with a shock absorber unit. Th ...
Clément 1903 Type D Autocyclette 192 cc OHV frame # 105649 engine # 3633 In 1902 Adolphe Clément enters the field of motorized bicycles with a small engine of 126 cc capacity. This engine has an automatic inlet valve, an overhead exhaust valve and an external flywheel. The cylindrical tank with petrol and oil compartments and hand operated oil pump is fixed behind the saddle. The battery is stored in a leather case that is strapped to the horizontal frame tube and the ignition coil is fitted on ...
Harley-Davidson 1924 989 cc IOE V-twin model “FE” engine # 24FE12029 1924 is not a good year for the firm: the losses amount to almost $ 120,000 and the workforce is trimmed down from 2,500 to 1,000 employees. Sales in the USA have seriously diminished in the early twenties because of the competition of the cheap automobile. A positive thing is that export sales are still looking good. More than 6000 machines are exported oversees this year; this amounts to almost half of all Harleys manufacture ...
Harley Davidson 1942 “U” 1209 cc side valve V-twin frame & engine # 42U3509 video: https://youtu.be/yo1T_2gkly4 For 1937 the HD engineers redesigned the Big Twin range: frame and cycle parts of the newly introduced OHV ‘Knucklehead’ were used as the basis for the new 1209cc and 1303 cc models U and UH. An important new feature was the introduction (finally!) of dry sump lubrication. The “U” was the 5.0:1 low-compression type; the standard compression was 5:1. Power output of the U was 32.5 hp @ ...
Douglas 1924 “SW/24” 349 cc side valve twin frame # 75255 engine # 85099 video: https://youtu.be/p0AtcAdHB0w This Bristol-based firm develops the horizontally opposed fore-aft unit in about 1907 and continues to utilize this engine layout well into the thirties. The earliest Douglas models have direct belt drive, but in 1910 a two-speed gearbox is added, with the control handle on top of the petrol tank. Douglas machines become very popular because of their lightness, ease of starting and speed: ...
Sunbeam 1926 “Light Solo” Model 5 499cc side valve frame # 09205 engine # 294/16545/ S video: https://youtu.be/acFRGyNwxUU Although vintage Sunbeam side valve machines look very much the same to many people, there are actually three different 500cc models in the mid-twenties: the standard 85x88mm Model 3 machine is marketed as an all-purpose machine and is suitable for sidecar work. The Model 5 “Light Solo” has the same engine dimensions but sports handlebars and footrests instead of footboards. ...
Matchless 1969 P11A Street Scrambler 745 cc OHV twin frame # 125913 engine # P11/125913 “Big, chunky-tyred wheels support a frame and power plant that really mean business. The tank clings leech-like to the frame and glows in Candy Apple Red. Below it run some of the most sensually curved exhaust pipes ever bent, feeding into skimpy, sawn-off barrel silencers. And the briefest of saddles offers seating at handlebars that pull back like the ears of a startled hare. The Norton P11 street scrambler ...
Harley-Davidson 1934 Model B 346 cc side valve single engine # 34B1104 In the mid-twenties the H-D management decided that, especially in the European and Australasian markets, a small-capacity HD would be a selling point, if only to act as a “starter model”. So in 1926 some 350 cc class models were brought out; the OHV versions were rather exotic machines mainly meant for competition use, but the side valve models 26A and B (the B had an electrical lighting system) were good sellers: more than ...
Capriolo 1956ca “Cento 50” 149 cc face-cam transverse twin frame # 00274 engine # 00302 Video: https://youtu.be/G_0EGZcLPVA Named after the roe deer, the Capriolo marque emerges in 1948 from the ashes of the giant Caproni group, formerly one of Italy’s largest manufacturing concerns. Capriolo starts two-wheeled production with a 50 cc ultra-lightweight before swiftly moving on to the 75 cc Capriolo 75, which is notable for its use of a pressed-steel frame and an unusual four-stroke engine of the ...
Gilera 1936ca racer based on VTGS “Otto Bulloni” 499 cc ohv single frame # 214547 engine # 1003 In 1935 Gilera presented its “VT” series, in which the VT stood for “Valvole in Testo”, or overhead valves. These ‘VT’ overhead-valve 500cc singles were among the best fast touring bikes that money could buy. They are commonly known as either ‘Quattro Bulloni’ or in GS form as ‘ Otto Bulloni’ (4 bolt or 8 bolt) depending on the engine’s top-end fixing arrangements. Power outputs for the roadster model ...
Excelsior 1919 Series 19 in Board track racer trim 974cc IOE V-twin frame # 20579/9 engine # 101848 1911 was a landmark year in Excelsior’s history, for the firm was acquired by bicycle maker Ignaz Schwinn and it introduced its first v-twin model that year. In 1913 the 61ci (974cc) twin was offered with all-chain drive, while two-speed planetary transmission and a leaf-sprung, Indian-style front fork were two of the following season’s innovations. Alongside rivals Harley-Davidson and Indian, Exc ...
Henderson 1929 “ KJ” 1305cc four cylinder engine # KJ31180 Founded by Tom and William Henderson in Detroit in 1912, Henderson built nothing but four-cylinder motorcycles in its 19-year existence. Numerous detail improvements were made throughout the 1920s to ensure that the Henderson remained ‘the finest motorcycle in the world’. Nevertheless, by the decade’s end it had become obvious some thorough design changes would be needed to stay ahead of the pack. The result was the ‘KJ’, designed by ex- ...
Henderson 1924 “DeLuxe” 1305 cc side valve four cylinder combination frame # D12108A video: https://youtu.be/0pPzYCkw4Uo Although the brothers Tom and Will Henderson had made excellent motorcycles from 1911 on, they didn’t manage to get the company financially sound. In the course of 1917 Ignaz Schwinn, who had already taken over the Excelsior Supply Company by the end of 1911, showed an interest to take over the production of the famous Henderson Four. Towards the end of the year the deal was s ...
Excelsior 1910 499 cc AIV belt drive single engine # 8132 Excelsior starts as a distribution business for sewing machine parts and accessories in 1876 and branches out to also handle bicycle parts in the late 1880s or early 1890s. In the early 1900s the company begins marketing several bicycles and expands its business, adding automotive parts, accessories and supplies. Their first motorcycle, the Triumph, is publicly marketed in 1907. The frame, sheet metal, drive train and controls are Excelsi ...
ARIEL 1954 Model VH 497cc “Red Hunter” frame # KS1286 engine # PD104 video: https://youtu.be/mczHRcLdGV4 The basics of the “Red Hunter“ design can be traced back to a Val Page, but the name first came into use in the 1932 programme that had been designed by Edward Turner. The new sporty OHV models in 250, 350 and 500cc capacities were very good-looking, reliable and sturdy. They became great performers in off-road competition work as well as for fast touring and were further developed and produc ...