Bradbury 1912 3½ HP 554 cc side valve single frame # 36212 engine # 4815 Bradbury & Co. is one of the pioneers of the British motor cycle industry: already in 1902 the company advertises a motorcycle driven by a Minerva clip-on engine. Before motorcycles were being produced at the Wellington Works in Oldham, the company – established in 1852 – had already earned a worldwide reputation as Britain’s and Europe’s first sewing machine manufacturer. Bradbury & Co. was active on various markets: the f ...
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 ...
DKW 1931 “Block 300” 293 cc twin port two stroke frame # 209912 engine # 296285/74 Jorgen Skafte Rasmussen, a Dane by birth, establishes his first company in Saxony after studying Engineering in Mittweida. In 1904 he sets up an apparatus engineering company in Chemnitz, three years later moving to Zschopau, in the Erzgebirge region, where he begins to experiment with steam-driven motor vehicles in 1916. After the war, Rasmussen meets engineer Hugo Ruppe, who creates a small, 2-stroke 25 cc engin ...
Zenith 1919ca “Model F” 6 HP 770cc 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 ...
Harley-Davidson 1928 “JD” 1212 cc IOE V-twin engine #29 JD 7399 For 1928, about 4300 model J machines were sold; the 1212 cc JD was much more in demand with more than 11,000 units leaving the factory. Not surprisingly perhaps, as the price difference between these models was a mere $10. 1928 was the first year of the internal expanding front brake which was a practical innovation indeed. Some more new developments for model year 1928 were the addition of an air cleaner, larger size wheel spokes ...
Scott 1915ca. Standard 3 ¾ HP Two Speed 532cc water-cooled two-stroke twin combination frame # 823/640 engine # 4129 Alfred Scott, a gifted Yorkshire engineering genius, starts experimenting with twin cylinder two-stroke power around the year 1900, when he mounts his little air-cooled twin in front of the steering head of his Premier bicycle. He keeps on refining his design and by 1910 the open-framed machine, so much different from standard motorcycle practice, is attracting more and more atten ...
Velocette 1948 KTT Mk VIII 348cc OHC frame # SF 147 engine # KTT 1018 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 250cc two strokes was brought out. In 1924/ 25 Percy Goodman designed the 350cc overhead camshaft model K, a machine destined to win many TTs and other races, starting with the 1926 Junior TT that w ...
BMW 1928 R63 734cc OHV transverse twin frame # 21327 engine # 75357 In 1928 BMW presented two new 500s, the side valve R52 and the overhead valve R57. The company also provided engines in the 750 cc class with the same cycle parts: the 745 cc side valve model R 62 with bore x stroke of 78 mm and the 734cc ohv R 63 with bore x stroke of 83×68 mm. The R63 was with its 24 hp a spirited performer on the road but it was also raced by the works alongside its 500 cc stablemates. Like the latter, it pio ...