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) ...
Ben Maltha 125 cc Eysink and DMF-Puch racemotoren Ben Maltha (1916-1994) begon eind jaren dertig een motorzaak in Rotterdam. Al snel ging hij deelnemen aan motorraces en op 22-jarige leeftijd won hij in Assen de 500cc klasse bij de junioren op een Triumph twin. Na de oorlog breidde hij zijn bedrijf uit tot een succesvolle onderneming waar motorfietsen, bromfietsen, lichte auto’s en een groot assortiment aan onderdelen en accessoires werden verkocht. Hij nam op zijn Triumph met succes deel aan na ...
Moto Guzzi 1951 “Dondolino” 498 cc OHV production racer frame # 22456 engine # 70954 The Dondolino was developed from the prewar Condor production racer. The air-cooled 500cc horizontal single has exposed hairpin valve springs and alloy head and barrel. Designed to run on the low octane fuel available in post-war Italy, claimed maximum output was 33 horsepower at 5,500 rpm. A distinguishing feature of the Dondolino is Guzzi’s trademark external “bacon slicer” flywheel, which has an almost mesmer ...
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 ...
Indian 1941 Model 441 “De Luxe Four” 1265cc inline IOE Four frame & engine # DDA 384 Early in 1927 Indian bought the entire assets of the famous ACE motorcycle corporation. Indian proceeded to manufacture the Indian–ACE until 1928 when the Indian Four took its place. The 1265 cc engine had overhead inlet valves and side exhaust valves and delivered in its late twenties form around 30hp. About ten years later this had grown to about 40hp and tuned examples were known to put out some 50hp! But wit ...
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 ...
HARLEY-DAVIDSON 1966 XLB “SPORTSTER” 883cc OHV V-twin frame # E 4440 engine # 66XLB 10118 When it was introduced in 1952, the Model K was as radical a machine for Harley-Davidson as the Knucklehead had been in 1936, and the company presented it as a fully modern motorcycle. With full suspension front and rear, a unit-construction engine, modest weight, foot shift/hand controls and clean styling, the K was clearly intended to address foreign competition in the U.S. market. Unfortunately the K’s s ...
Saroléa 1929 “24 T” 494cc side valve frame & engine # 100633 After having used Sturmey-Archer gearboxes for many years Saroléa starts to produce its own in 1927 and early in 1929 the factory is extended to some 6000 m2. Nearly all components of the bikes are made in-house now and the production capacity grows to 50 machines per day. Later in 1929 a brand new state-of–the-art production facility is commissioned which brings the production capacity to 75 machines per day. Saroléa is all ready for ...
Indian 1919 “ N-19 ” PowerPlus 998 cc side valve V- twin engine # 82M971 By 1915 the Indian Board started to have worries about the financial situation of the company, because the IOE engine and Hedstrom-designed carburettor were costly to produce. The inlet-over-exhaust configuration was adopted by most American manufacturers and was basically a good design, but it had one weakness: the inlet valve pushrods and rockers were external to the engine and thus exposed to the elements. This could giv ...
Indian 1923 “PowerPlus Standard” 998cc side valve V- twin engine # 71V183 The hugely popular PowerPlus enjoyed a nine year production run. Its side-valve engine proved utterly reliable and almost unbreakable. However, by the early twenties the Chief and Big Chief had taken up the top position of the PowerPlus in the Indian range. In the 1922 catalogue the PowerPlus was referred to as the “Special” and in 1923 the model got wider and more modern looking mudguards. It was then christened “Standard ...