Gilera 1947ca Nettuno Turismo 247 cc OHV engine # 212801 Gilera first sprang to prominence in the late 1930s when its supercharged four-cylinder racers shattered BMWs in Grands Prix and snatched the world speed record from the German marque. Throughout the early 1950s it was the racers that again grabbed the headlines, the Arcore marque taking five manufacturer’s titles and six individual championships with riders such as Duke, Liberati, and Masetti. Although racing generated valuable publicity, ...
Radior 1928 Model Tourisme 250 cc side valve JAP frame # 2073 engine # B/C 21396 R Joseph Chapolard, a smart businessman, began his endeavours in the French village of Bourg-en-Bresse, situated north of Lyon and the administrative centre of the L ‘Ain department. He started off as agent for Singer sewing machines and was one of the first inhabitants of Bourg who owned an automobile, a De Dion-Bouton vis-à-vis. In 1904 he set up his own business under the Radior name, selling and repairing variou ...
MV Agusta 1954 175 CS / “Disco Volante” CSS 175 cc OHC frame # NR400500 engine # 471401 Having commenced motorcycle production late in 1945 with a 98cc two-stroke, Meccanica Verghera (MV) introduced its first production four-strokes, the single-cylinder 175 CST and CSTL, at the Milan Show in 1952. The newcomers’ advanced overhead-cam, unitary construction engine set them apart from most of the opposition. Their cycle parts too were state-of-the-art, consisting of a duplex loop frame incorporatin ...
Gilera 1937 VTE “Quattro Bulloni” 499 cc ohv single frame # 102595 engine #12176 Founded by 22-year-old engineer, Giuseppe Gilera in 1909, this Italian manufacturer first sprang to international prominence in the late 1930s when its supercharged four-cylinder racers heavily defeated BMW in Grands Prix and snatched the world speed record away from the German marque. Throughout the early 1950s it was the racers which again grabbed the headlines, the Arcore marque’s fours taking five manufacturer’s ...
Indian 1940 Model 340 Big Chief 1204 cc side valve v-twin frame # 346 6234 engine # CAV 1128 B For model year 1940 the Indian company had thoroughly restyled their range in order to attract more customers. Streamlining was all the vogue and Indian proudly boasted that they were leaders in this respect. Notable features of the new models were the skirted fenders and the spring frame for the Four and the Big Chief. But there was much more: new cushioned saddle, lower saddle positions, new tire siz ...
Velocette 1947 KSS 348 cc OHC single frame # KDD 9064 engine # KSS10301 The firm of Veloce Ltd. was formed in 1905 by Johann Goodman. It was a family business that concentrated on sound motorcycle engineering principles. Their first machines were lightweight four strokes; after that a line of top-class 250 cc two strokes was brought out. In 1924/25 Percy Goodman designed the 350 cc overhead camshaft model K, a machine destined to win many TTs and other races, starting with the 1926 Junior TT tha ...
Rex Acme 1920 “Standard Touring” 8hp 1000 cc JAP v-twin combination frame # T202223 engine # 20/7299 Acme is best remembered for its association with the Rex concern; both firms had premises in Osborne Road, Coventry, Rex setting up there in 1899 and Acme a few years later. Unlike its close neighbour, which built motor cars and tricycles as well as motorcycles, the Coventry Acme Motor Company Limited, to give it its full name, was only ever a motorcycle manufacturer, its first machines being pow ...
Rudge 1938 “Special” 495 cc four-valve two-port single frame # 62605 engine # S5791 The Rudge-Whitworth company was an established bicycle factory that entered motorcycle production in 1911. Their first machines were 499 cc IOE singles. They developed the famous Multi gear, with a possibility of up to 21 gear positions. In 1924 the factory introduced a new range of four valve singles. In 1928 Graham Walker managed to win the Ulster Grand Prix on a Rudge, after a heroic handlebar-to handlebar bat ...
Indian 1921 “G.E. 21” Scout 596 cc side valve V-twin frame # 2961954 engine # 51 S 881 video: https://youtu.be/-IJu1XJ4lnQ After WW I the Indian factory decided it was time to market a somewhat lighter model than the 1000cc PowerPlus. The new model, christened “Scout”, was designed by Charles Franklin and it created a sensation when brought out at the end of 1919. The strong points of the new design were easy handling, lightness, ample power for the 1920s roads and unbeatable reliability. The en ...
Crypto Bantam 1895 ca. Crypto gear # 6794 The Crypto Bantam occupies a very important place in the history of cycling. Its revolutionary epicyclic hub was a superb feat of engineering, enabling the machine to bridge the gap between Penny Farthings and safety bicycles i.e. the design we know as bicycles today. The Bantam was the very last of the original style of bicycle. The Ordinary (also known as the High Wheeler or Penny Farthing) was a machine for athletic young men. It was considered danger ...
‘Calcott-pattern’ 1892 ca. safety bicycle frame # 4155 This early safety has a cross frame with steel rod bracing and solid rubber tyres that are somewhat perished. Both wheels are 30-inch diameter with opposed radial spokes. The handlebars have turned pear-shaped grips; the rod brake is not present. Chain and chainwheels have one inch pitch and the pedals are adjustable, with perished rubber blocks. The curved seat bracket is fitted with a spring seat pad that lacks the leather cover. Both fron ...
George Townsend 1889ca “The Ecossais” frame # 644 The safety bicycle was the successor to the legendary high bicycle: the penny farthing. This early model of a cross-frame safety bicycle was made around 1889. It has 30 inch wheels and solid rubber tyres. The bicycle still has all kinds of features that are reminiscent of the high bicycle, such as the direct spokes, the simple pedals and the steering. The bicycle, with frame number 644, was made by George Townsend in Redditch (UK), in the same fa ...
Indian 1913 7 HP T.T. Two-Speed Model 988 cc IOE V-twin frame & engine # 70E691 By 1913 Indian becomes the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world; the 1913 production amounts to almost 32,000 machines. There are 2,000 dealers all over the world and Indian controls some 42% of the domestic American motorcycle market, as the factory claims. Four models are catalogued, a single speed single and twin and a two speed single and twin. The Indian engineers have done their best to make the machine ...
Norton 1945 “16H” 490cc side valve frame # W92993 engine # W93345 In 1911 James Lansdowne Norton entered a side valve 490cc single in the new 500cc Senior Class race of the Isle of Man TT. He was unplaced but the following year the motorcycle had been improved and won the Brooklands TT and set three world records. A drive chain was developed to replace the belt drive and although production was delayed by the First World War the Model 16 as it became known gained a Sturmey Archer gearbox and had ...
Abingdon King Dick 1912ca 3 ½ HP Standard Model 499 cc side valve single frame # 1346 engine # 2447 Founded in 1856, Abingdon King Dick is to this day an established manufacturer of quality engineering tools, see https://www.kingdicktools.co.uk/info/index.asp?page=history-of-abingdon-king-dick-100 Originally called Abingdon Engineering, the company made a variety of goods, such as gear boxes, chains, tools, cycles and motorcycles. The latter were produced from 1903 to 1925 under the Abingdon nam ...
Terrot 1913ca 2 ¾ HP “Motorette No. 3” 317 cc side valve single engine # 23525 The foreman of a French-owned textile machine factory based at Cannstatt, Germany, Charles Terrot left to go into partnership with merchant Wilhelm Stücklen in 1862, founding ‘Stücklen & Terrot’. The firm made machinery for the textile industry and in 1887 opened a plant at Dijon in France. When this venture proved unsuccessful, Charles turned the factory over to making bicycles, which at that time were an increasingl ...
VeloSolex 1962ca “2200” 49cc two-stroke single frame # 2692423 engine # 1975196 video: https://youtu.be/I6etJf5DvcM In 1906, Maurice Goudard and Marcel Mennesson start their own company to produce radiators for buses. Mennesson is the technician, Goudard the salesman. Major growth begins in the 1910s when the company starts developing and manufacturing carburettors for automobiles, which are sold under the Solex name. In the 1920s the company grows into a global player. It is unknown what inspir ...
NSU 1907ca 5PS 662 cc IOE V-twin frame # 159434 engine # 10558 The company started as a knitting machine manufacturer ( Neckarsulmer Strickmaschinen Union) and went into the bicycle trade in 1886. It was a logic step to move into motorcycle production and in 1901 the first motorised NSU bicycle with Zédel clip on engine was produced. Soon the development and production of the company’s own engines were taken up and within a few years NSU was making its own power units and was one of the first ma ...
New Crescent 1912 4 ¼ HP 598 cc Precision with wicker sidecar frame # 281 engine # 4421 This New Crescent combination, a rare survivor from Britain’s pioneering motorcycling days, was manufactured by Arthur Richardson of 185, Shaftesbury Crescent, Derby, from whence the name ‘New Crescent’ derives. Richardson’s career neatly illustrates the transition from cycle building to the motor trade: recorded in the 1901 Census as a cycle builder (aged 23), by 1911 he was listed as a motor and cycle mecha ...
Sunbeam 1918 4hp French Military Model 545cc side valve single frame # 7444 engine # 134 7291 gearbox # 8777 A Sunbeam with a difference! Over the years we have handled over 80 Sunbeam motorcycles, but this is the first to enter our premises that is fitted with belt drive. She’s a pretty rare bird, the Marston Sunbeam Register knows of only six survivors, including this one. When WWI broke out, some civilian 3½hp Sunbeams were used by the British Army but the biggest user of military machines on ...