Indian 1907 2¼HP ca 311 cc IOE ‘CAMEL BACK’ engine # 5378 Oscar Hedstrom and George M. Hendee, both active in the cycle racing world, got together to found the Hendee Manufacturing Company as a partnership, with Hendee as President and General Manager, and Hedstrom as Chief Engineer and Designer. Their first prototype was presented in 1901 and during that year six machines were built, of which two were sold. The first machines were powered by a single-cylinder, ca 213 cc ‘F-head’ (inlet over exh ...
Raleigh 1922ca 2¾ HP 348cc side valve “2¾ HP Lightweight” frame # 11773 engine # 11340 In the beginning of the 20th century Raleigh’s main business is in the cycle trade. Company founder Frank Bowden is a firm believer in variable gear systems and from the end of 1902 the Raleigh Cycle company puts the Sturmey-Archer cycle hub gear on the market. There is some motorcycle production between 1899 and 1906, but only after the first world war serious thought is given again to motorcycle production. ...
BMW 1969 R69US 590 cc OHV transverse twin frame & engine # 665749 In 1955 BMW introduces a new line of twins with a completely redesigned frame with trailing fork rear suspension and Earles fork front suspension. The final drive shaft is no longer exposed but is enclosed in the right arm of the trailing forks. All three new models, the 500 cc R50, and the 600 cc R60 and R69 have 18 inch wheels in place of the earlier 19 inch ones, twin leading shoes in the front brake, smaller mudguards and larg ...
BMW 1957 R26 247 cc OHV single frame & engine #353439 Built to the same exemplary standards as the Bavarian company’s famous flat-twins, the single-cylinder BMW first appeared in pre-war days. Indeed, BMW’s first new post-war model was a single-cylinder design – the 250cc R24 – which arrived in 1948. By 1956, BMW’s quarter-litre luxury lightweight had evolved into the R26 that boasted a more powerful (15bhp @6,400rpm) engine, Earles-type leading-link front fork and a larger fuel tank among numer ...
Honda 1969 CA78 “Dream” 305 cc OHC twin frame # CA78-1036181 engine # CA77E-1036233 Soichiro Honda will go down in history as the man who truly changed the face of motorcycling forever. Honda founded his enterprise in 1947, using war-surplus Tohatsu generator motors clipped to bicycles. After his supply of engines dried up, he designed his own 50cc two-stroke clip-on motor, the first Honda Cub. Sales boomed, but Honda wanted more, and in 1954 he made the unheard-of plan of visiting Europe and le ...
MV Agusta 750S America Frame # MV750*2210380 DGM Engine # 221-0360 The 750S America model was introduced in 1975. It featured blockier styling and a larger engine than previous MV 750s. MV Agusta’s glorious racing background gave rise to numerous street bikes over the years, such as the 1977 MV Agusta 750S America motorcycle. The 790-cc double-overhead-cam four-cylinder engine in the 1977 MV Agusta 750S America motorcycle had its roots in a 500-cc racing powerplant. The exhaust system is a combi ...
BMW 1943 R75 748 cc transverse ohv twin military combination frame & engine # 766143 In the 1930s BMW were producing a number of popular and highly effective motorcycles. In 1938 development of the R75 started in response to a request from the German Army. The authorities had laid out specifications for a military sidecar machine that should be designed and built in cooperation between the BMW and Zündapp factories. The idea was to design a machine that was built along the lines of the sturdy Be ...
Honda 1964ca CA78 “Dream” 305 cc OHC twin frame # CA78-1008329 engine # CA77E-1006378 Soichiro Honda will go down in history as the man who truly changed the face of motorcycling forever. Honda founded his enterprise in 1947, using war-surplus Tohatsu generator motors clipped to bicycles. After his supply of engines dried up, he designed his own 50cc two-stroke clip-on motor, the first Honda Cub. Sales boomed, but Honda wanted more, and in 1954 he made the unheard-of plan of visiting Europe and ...
BMW 1928 R57 494 cc ohv transverse twin frame # 25723 Engine # 70343 The 1928 BMW range comprises four models: two in the 500 cc class, the R52 sv and the R57 ohv, and two models in the new 750 cc class, the R62 sv and R63 ohv. The new 494cc models are again further developed: the front brake diameter goes from 150 to 200 mm, and there’s a new 3-speed gearbox with oil lubrication instead of the earlier grease-filled boxes. The kick starter now works in line with the crankshaft, the earlier model ...
Harley-Davidson 1925 “JE” 989 cc IOE V-twin engine # 25 JE 12139 The 1925 Harleys look completely different from the older models: they have a new type of frame that causes the saddle position to be 3 inches lower than before, the wheels go from 28 to 26 inches and the petrol tank gets a dynamic teardrop shape. But there are many more changes as the 1925 brochure points out: there’s a list of no less than 27 big improvements. A small selection: the petrol and oil tanks get a higher capacity, the ...
Norton 1948 Model M30 “Manx” 499 cc OHC single frame & engine # C11M 14566 After five years of meticulous work, Dutch self-employed mechanical engineer and 3D-artist, Niels Schoen, has completed a unique document. Counting 164 pages and narrated in English, this book entirely reveals his 1948 Norton racer down to the very last nuts and bolts in a series of 3D illustrations that are unseen before. It took him nine months to execute the main task: have each item taken from the motorcycle, measure ...
Rudge 1937 “Sports Special” 495 cc four-valve OHV single frame # 61107 engine # S3394 The Rudge-Whitworth company is already an established bicycle factory when the firm starts to manufacture motorcycles in 1911. Their first machines are 499 cc IOE singles. They develop the famous Multi Gear, with a possibility of up to 21 gear positions. In 1924 the factory introduces a new range of four valve singles and in 1928 Graham Walker manages to win the Ulster Grand Prix on a Rudge, after a heroic hand ...
Clément 1903 ca 1 ¾ HP 143 cc OHV Autocyclette frame # 18463 engine # LM 1815 Clément is one of the true French motorcycle pioneers and this particular model was produced around 1903. The big outside flywheel acts as a pulley for the direct round rubber belt transmission to the rear wheel. The seat tube is fitted with an adjustable belt tensioner. A spray carburettor takes care of the correct mixture and there is a throttle valve in the intake tube. Ignition is by trembler coil and battery, neat ...
BSA 1934 J34-11 498 cc ohv V-twin frame # B11 634 engine # B 11.624 At the 1933 Olympia show BSA displayed a 14-model range; more than 60 machines were showed an one of the newcomers was a handsome 498 cc (63×80 mm) 45 degree OHV V-twin, the model J 34-11. The machine was actually not a complete newcomer: it was based on a design specially prepared for the War Office a year or so earlier. After extensive tests the military authorities were satisfied with its performance and between 1933 and 1936 ...
Henderson 1919 “K” 1301 cc four cylinder side valve frame & engine # 2Z4261 One of the most charismatic names in American motorcycling history, Henderson produced nothing but four-cylinder motorcycles in the course of its 20-year existence. The company was founded by Tom and William Henderson in Detroit in 1911 and with the phrase “a new one from Detroit” the Henderson factory introduced its first production model in November 1911. To underline its qualities Carl Stevens Clancy made a journey ar ...
Ascot-Pullin 1929 “ Sports Utility” 496 cc OHV frame # 184 Engine # AP 184 Cyril Pullin was a rare bird among the many fascinating motorcycle inventors of the early 20th century; while there were many rider-designer-manufacturers during the era, he was in very rare company of men who not only designed, built, and raced motorcycles, but also won an Isle of Man TT race, a distinction he shares only with Howard R. Davies (HRD) and Charlie and Harry Collier (Matchless). Pullin had an extremely inven ...
Royal Enfield 1925 2 ¾ HP “Standard Model 350” 346cc side valve single frame # 2455 engine # A4343 The Redditch-based Royal Enfield firm enters the motorcycle business as early as 1898: in the early days engines from De Dion power their tricycles and quadricycles; Minerva supplies the power for the first motorized cycles. In the years before WW I the company is very successful with light Motosacoche-engined V twins. These machines are equipped with the famous Enfield two-speed gear, involving tw ...
Phébus 1899 “Berceuse” 2 ¼ HP 269 cc De Dion Bouton quadricycle frame # 1368 engine # 10618 In 1895 De Dion Bouton begins to market motorized tricycles and from the start they are very successful. Year after year the design is improved and soon many manufacturers, big and small, introduce three wheelers, often with De Dion engines. A well-known make at the turn of the century is the Phébus motor tricycle. The marque takes its name from the Greek and Roman sun god, Phoebus (Apollo). The vehicles ...
Triumph 1973 X-75 Hurricane 740 cc ohv triple frame & engine # TRX75 XH 01920 When, in 1968, the new BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident triples were shown to the American BSA-Triumph management, they were not impressed. They knew Honda had the CB750 coming along and they felt the triple’s price of $1800 was too high and that technical details (like vertically split crankcases and pushrod ohv valve train) were far from “cutting edge”. However, they acknowledged that the bike was fast, and a sales team ...
Norton 1927 Model 18 490 cc OHV single frame # 26580 engine # 37082 Like the majority of their contemporaries, Norton relied on the side valve engine until the 1920s, when the existing and well-tried 490cc unit was used as the basis for the firm’s first overhead-valve design. Penned by James Lansdowne Norton himself and first seen in prototype form in 1922, the overhead-valve Norton made little impact in that year’s Senior TT, though at Brooklands D R O’Donovan raised the world 500cc kilometre r ...