Oldtimers

BSA 1957 “ A10 Golden Flash” 646cc ohv twin frame # EA 7970engine # CA 10 9311 In 1937 Triumph had launched its successful Speed Twin. BSA also started to develop a vertical twin in the years before the war; this model was to make its appearance in 1940 but by that time BSA got very much involved in the war effort and the launch of new models was postponed. In September 1946 the new model became available as the A7; it was to be the first of a long line of powerful and reliable parallel twins th ...

BMW 1928 R47 494 cc ohv transverse twin frame # 5631 engine # 34907 The first BMW, the 500 cc side valve tourer R32, is marketed in 1923; 3100 machines are built. Two years later an OHV sports version is brought out, the R37. This machine features the smallest production run of all commercially produced models in the company’s motorcycling history: only 175 leave the factory. The R37 is replaced by the improved R47 that is introduced alongside the sidevalve-engined R42 tourer, both models benefi ...

Lea-Francis 1920ca 3 ½ HP 496 cc M.A.G. IOE V-twin frame # A 1640 engine # 2 C10 No. 43208 In 1895 Richard Henry Lea and Graham Inglesby Francis formed a partnership to manufacture high quality pedal cycles in Coventry. Around 1910 it was decided to go into motorcycle manufacture. A prototype was built in 1911 and by August 1912 the product was thoroughly tested and ready for introduction to the press and public. Important features of the machine were the enclosed all-chain transmission, thought ...

Nimbus 1953ca 746 cc OHC four in line frame # 11664 engine # 11664 In April 1934 the “Nimbus II” was brought out. The flat steel strip frame was a feature in common with the earlier “stove pipe”, but most other features were totally new: the top half of the crankcase was cast in one piece with the ribbed air cooled cylinder block. The iron cylinder head sported an overhead camshaft. The crankshaft drove the overhead camshaft through the upright mounted dynamo via sets of bevel gears. After World ...

Magnat-Debon 1907 2 ½ HP « Rapide Légère » ca 325cc A.I.V. single frame # 6531 engine # 204 In the year 1900 Joseph Magnat and Louis Debon founded a firm in Grenoble that started to produce bicycles. In 1902 the first motorcycle was produced, equipped with a De Dion Bouton engine. In 1905 they started to use their own engines and in the years before the first world war the firm prospered: the machines had many novel features such a telescopic front suspension and some models had overhead valves. ...

Ducati 1960ca 200 Super Sports 203 cc OHC single frame # MD 10213 engine # MD 10036 In 1926 an Italian named Antonio Cavalieri Ducati and his three sons founded a company in the name of Società Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati in Bologna to produce vacuum tubes, condensers and other radio components. The family built Ducati into a reasonably successful business. Heading into the second world war, the company maintained production despite the factory being a repeated target of allied bombing. Th ...

Velocette 1949/1956 KTT Mk VIII “Dieter Busch Special” 348cc OHC engine # KTT 1035 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. The rear suspension system was designed by Veloce development engineer Harold Willis, and was inspired by the Oleo strut landing gear on the DeHavilland Hornet. Power developed was around 30hp@650 ...

Sparta 1950ca 197cc two stroke Villiers MK 6E frame # V22/80 engine # 956/217441 The company was founded in 1917 in the Dutch town of Apeldoorn as a wholesale company in bicycles and parts. By the end of the nineteen twenties the company had taken up bicycle manufacture and in 1931 the decision was taken to start the production of motorcycles. These were light machines equipped with 74 or 98cc Sachs two stroke engines. In the middle of the thirties Villiers engines of 148 or 200 cc capacity were ...

Aermacchi 1959 Ala Verde 246cc OHV frame & engine # 220019 Aermacchi originally was an Italian aircraft manufacturer. 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. After World War II, the company began producing utility three-wheelers and motorcycles as a way to fill the post-war need for cheap, efficient transportation. Aermacchi’s ...

Moto Guzzi 1949 “Albatros” 247cc OHC racer with flex sidecar engine # A563 The “Albatros” came along in 1939 and was a result of a joint effort by Carlo Guzzi and an engineer called Giulio Cesare Carcano. It was built for the races reserved for amateur riders on production bikes and was effectively the works Grand Prix machine minus the blower. After the war, when supercharging was banned, it became the marque’s top racer in the 250cc class. Mechanical performance was virtually on par with the w ...

Moto Guzzi 1947 “Airone Turismo” 247cc OHV single frame # 12202 engine # 72678 In 1932 Moto Guzzi had decided to move into the lightweight market. At first this was the 175cc class that enjoyed various advantages in taxation and driving licence regulation, but when these were abolished the public interest in the 175cc class waned and Guzzi decided to increase the displacement of its little P175. At first the step was made to a 232cc machine but in 1937 the PL was introduced with 247cc capacity a ...

FN 1924 M 50 748 cc four cylinder overhead inlet valve frame # 563 engine # 1369 To many enthusiasts the FN four has always been one of the most appealing machines of veteran and vintage times. Its production runs from 1905 till 1926. The earliest type has a 362 cc engine with automatic overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves. The machine is single geared, has shaft drive and the top speed is about 60 km/hour. The FN four is an immediate success and finds customers all over the world; FN s ...

Norton 1930 490cc OHC “CS1” frame # S 42286 engine # 5A 30585 A Norton had enjoyed considerable success with their OHV racing versions of the famous Model 18 from 1922. Stanley Woods won the 1926 Senior TT, there were numerous wins in the European Grand Prix and, of course, the remarkable feat of Albert Denly averaging over 100mph for one hour at Montlhery in June 1927. The opposition were however developing overhead camshaft engines and Norton’s Walter Moore responded with the CS1 (Cam Shaft 1) ...

Moto Guzzi 1939 498 cc OHV “Condor” production racer frame # 23281 engine # C107 Carlo Guzzi’s first prototype motorcycle of 1919 was unconventional in so far as its single-cylinder engine was installed horizontally and by the end of the 1930s the ‘flat single’ had established itself as a Guzzi hallmark. Guzzi knew the importance of racing as a means of publicising, however it would take several years before the firm offered versions of its works racers for sale to the public. First seen in 1939 ...

FN 1903 2 ½ HP 320 cc two stroke special frame # 12750 engine # 9438 FN (Fabrique Nationale d‘Armes de Guerre) was a Belgian company established in 1889 to make arms and ammunition for hunting and warfare. Soon it was decided that diversification of production was a good strategy to reduce the risk of peaceful times. In the late 1800’s the production of bicycle parts was taken up; soon complete bicycles were added to the programme, followed in 1900 by motorcars. At that time FN was already a maj ...

Scott 1926 Super Squirrel three speed 598 cc water-cooled two-stroke twin frame # 553 engine # Y9477 Alfred Scott, a gifted Yorkshire engineering genius, started experimenting with twin cylinder two-stroke power around the year 1900, when he mounted his little air-cooled twin in front of the steering head of his Premier bicycle. He kept on refining his design and by 1910 the open-framed machine, so much different from standard motorcycle practice, was attracting more and more attention. In 1912 ...

Indian 1925 Scout 600cc side valve V-twin engine # 55Y628 After WW I the Indian factory decides it is time to add a lighter model to the range that complements the successful 1000cc PowerPlus. The new machine is labelled “Scout” and it creates a sensation when brought out in 1920. The strong points of the new design are easy handling, lightness, ample power for the 1920s roads and unbeatable reliability. The new middleweight is also appealing to the prospective motorcyclists who are put off by t ...

Excelsior 1919 “Series 19” combination 974cc IOE V-twin frame # 17025 9 engine # 101612 The famous American Excelsior motorcycle was produced by the Excelsior Motor Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois from 1907 until 1931, latterly under the ‘Super-X’ brand name. The first Excelsior was a belt-driven single cylinder machine, the engine of which formed part of the frame. The engine itself was an inlet-over-exhaust ‘F-head’, a design then much in vogue because, whatever its limitations, it ...

Humber 1914 3½ HP 499 cc side valve single frame # H 2828 engine # F 2856 A Coventry firm with its roots in the Victorian bicycle industry, Humber began experimenting with powered transport in the closing years of the 19th century, introducing its first successful motorcycle -a built-under-license P&M – in 1902. Because of the need to increase car production motorcycles were discontinued after 1905. For the 1909 model year Humber came on the market again with a 3½ HP motorcycle, now fully of the ...

Mondial 1952 “Stampato” 198 cc OHV frame & engine # 590 Few marques have achieved so fine a competition record in so short a time as FB Mondial. FB Mondial was founded in the aftermath of WW2 by the Boselli family, whose first venture into powered transport had been with the FB (Fratelli Boselli) three-wheeled delivery van in the 1930s. The name ‘Mondial’ first appeared on a motorcycle in 1948, when the Boselli brothers introduced a revolutionary double-overhead-camshaft 125 cc racer. Mondial’s ...