Motosacoche 1912 M5 2 ¼ HP 290cc side valve single frame # A4905 engine # MV 23819 In 1899 the brothers Henri and Armand Dufaux from Geneva, Switzerland, design a little four-stroke engine. This compact unit can be bolted into the frame of any ordinary pushbike: The “Motosacoche” -which approximately means “engine-bag”- is born! Very soon the quality and practical utility of the invention becomes known even far beyond the Swiss territory. Gradually the engines grow bigger and more powerful, twin ...
Connaught 1921 293cc two stroke single engine # 479 Connaught motorcycles were produced by the Bordesley Engineering Co. of New Bond Street, Birmingham. Their first machine was presented at the 1912 Olympia Show and The Motor Cycle of November 28, 1912 wrote: “This is an interesting little machine, which is shown on the Service Company’s stand, in that the lubrication is effected in a peculiar manner. To the present model there is no lubricating oil pump but a small measure screwed on to the oil ...
Ducati 1974 860 GT Paul Smart Replica 864 cc OHC V-twin frame # 852732 engine # 855384 Designed by the legendary Fabio Taglioni, Ducati’s first road-going v-twin – the 750 GT – arrived in 1971. Lacking the resources of larger rivals from Japan, Ducati made the most of what it already possessed to create one of the all-time great motorcycles of the post-war era. A 90-degree vee, the engine looked like two of the Bologna firm’s bevel-drive overhead-cam singles on a common crankcase (which in essen ...
Honda 1964 Benly CB92 Super Sport 124 cc OHC twin frame # CB 92 2105269 engine # CB92E-2101452 At its introduction this sporty little 125 was surely a revelation to a market used to traditional British machinery. The CB92 Super Sport took its styling and design cues from the larger-displacement C71, C76, C72 and C77 Dream series. The 360 degree overhead cam parallel twin engine generating 15 bhp at a heady 10,500 rpm must have been the most eye opening feature, but it didn’t stop there. Other un ...
Zenith 1919ca “Model D” 5 HP 654cc JAP side valve V-twin combination frame # 6300 engine # 8/81598 EX In pre W.W. 1 days Zenith machines gained many successes; driving force was chief engineer Freddy Barnes, who was responsible for the famous “Gradua” gear. The mechanics of the Gradua gear were a variable engine pulley worked by a handle, with simultaneous correction of the belt length made by sliding the rear wheel backwards or forwards in the fork slots. Its advantage showed itself most effect ...
BMW 1928 R52 487 cc side valve transverse twin frame # 12030 engine # 48538 For model year 1928 BMW presents two new 500s, the side valve R 52 and the overhead valve R 57 as successors of the R42 and R47. For the first time the company also provides models in the 750 cc class with the same cycle parts: the 745 cc side valve model R 62 and the 734 cc ohv R 63. BMW announces no less than nine important improvements for the new 1928 models, among which are a larger diameter front brake, wider mudgu ...
Velocette 1966 “Thruxton” 499cc OHV Frame # RS19078 Engine # VMT 304 Gearbox # 12-11876 The Truxton, designed in 1965 by Bertie Goodman, was almost an instant legend after a series of impressive results on various racing tracks, where its average speed often exceeded 100 mph. The name referred to the former RAF airfield north of Southampton, where since the early fifties motorcycle races were held and where in 1968 a proper racing circuit was established. The high performance production racer, w ...
Indian 1951 Chief “Roadmaster” 1340 cc side valve V-twin Frame & Engine # C2115 In 1940, 39 years after the company’s founding, Indian goes all-in on the skirted fender design, outfitting Scouts, Chief and Fours with the new tinware. After World War 2 only the Chief makes a return; supposedly a stop-gap measure until lighter, more advanced models come online. But a series of financial and engineering missteps doom the company and Chiefs are still being sold when the Springfield, Massachusetts fa ...