Oldtimers

Excelsior 1910 499 cc AIV belt drive single engine # 8132 Excelsior starts as a distribution business for sewing machine parts and accessories in 1876 and branches out to also handle bicycle parts in the late 1880s or early 1890s. In the early 1900s the company begins marketing several bicycles and expands its business, adding automotive parts, accessories and supplies. Their first motorcycle, the Triumph, is publicly marketed in 1907. The frame, sheet metal, drive train and controls are Excelsi ...

ARIEL 1954 Model VH 497cc “Red Hunter” frame # KS1286 engine # PD104 The basics of the “Red Hunter“ design can be traced back to a Val Page, but the name first came into use in the 1932 programme that had been designed by Edward Turner. The new sporty OHV models in 250, 350 and 500cc capacities were very good-looking, reliable and sturdy. They became great performers in off-road competition work as well as for fast touring and were further developed and produced till 1960, when Ariel management ...

Cotton 1937 “Model 29/J” 349 cc OHV JAP two-port frame # 15114 engine # IOS F3910 /SE The Gloucester-based Cotton factory was one of many small manufacturers that used proprietary engines in the years between the first en second world wars. But there was something quite special about the Cotton, that made it much more successful than most other small makes: its frame. The frame that Frank Willoughby Cotton designed around 1914 was of triangulated construction, very light and exceptionally strong ...

Indian 1916 PowerPlus 998 cc side valve V-twin In the spring of 1915 Indian’s top management decides that the Hedstrom-type of engine has by now undergone its maximum economical development. It’s a relatively expensive engine to manufacture and the company is under pressure to cut production costs. Another point of consideration is that the latest models of competitors Excelsior and Harley-Davidson have shown a higher power development. Chief designer Charles Gustafson is of the opinion that a w ...

Indian 1930 Model HEP 302 “Chief” 1200cc side valve V-twin engine # EH 659 The overwhelming enthusiasm for the new 1920 Indian Scout caused many riders, dealers and overseas agents to push the factory to design a larger, heavyweight v-twin along Scout lines with more speed and power, especially suited for sidecar work. Many factory executives supported the idea because the still popular PowerPlus began to look a bit old-fashioned. Scout-designer Franklin retired to the drawing board and came up ...

Harley-Davidson 1933 “VF” 1217 cc side valve V-twin frame # 4F59Z engine # 33VF3299 In 1930 the Model “V” came on the market to replace the F-head models J and JD. In the beginning there were serious problems with the design but once these were ironed out the new model gained a good reputation both as a solo mount and as a sidecar puller. The model range comprised no less than 23 variations, ranging from the VC “low compression commercial, nickel iron pistons” that turned out 25 hp @ 4000 rpm to ...

Vincent- H.R.D. 1938 “Comet” 498 cc OHV frame # D 1530 engine # C868 Since his schoolboy days Philip Vincent had been a great admirer of Howard Raymond Davies, who had begun manufacturing HRD machines at Wolverhampton in 1924. While studying mechanical engineering at Cambridge Vincent built his prototype Vincent Special that already incorporated the strong triangulated and braced sprung rear fork that would remain a feature of all Vincents-to-come. In 1928 Vincent acquired HRD Motors Ltd. and fo ...

Indian 1928 Scout “Series 101” 600 cc side valve V-twin frame # DGP 6777 engine # CG1505 The “Series 101” Scout is announced in the American motorcycle magazines in March 1928. Many Indian enthusiast consider this model as the best Indian ever built. Stability is such that the machine can easily be steered through a bend by applying knee pressure only, hands in your lap. Contributing to this amazing stability are a 6 cm longer wheelbase, a ca. 5 cm lower saddle position and a different fork rake ...

Harley-Davidson 1928 “JD” 1212 cc IOE V-twin engine # 28JD4046 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. Both models could be had with magneto ignition and no electric lighting as F or FD, but by 1928 electric lighting was seen as standard equipment on a HD; in that year only 141 Fs and 131 FDs found customers. 1928 ...

Terrot 1931 “ OSSE Supersport“ in JAP racing trim 246cc single port OHV frame # 132640 engine # PO/V 48144 /S After acquiring license to the Magnat-Debon name in 1928, Terrot becomes the leading French manufacturer of two wheeled vehicles. Through the thirties an extensive range of models is marketed, from a humble 100cc single speed “Velomoteur” to a sturdy 750cc side valve V-twin. The company uses elaborate four-letter model codes in which the first letter designates the cubic capacity, for ex ...

Henderson 1919 “Z 2” 1168 cc IOE four cylinder engine # 2Z2802 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 around the wor ...

Vincent 1955 ‘Black Prince’ 998 cc OHV V-twin frame # RD 12935 engine # :F10/AB/2/11035 Ever since the Series A’s arrival in 1937, the Vincent v-twin had been synonymous with design innovation, engineering excellence and superlative high performance. It was to be the Vincent that would usher the company into a bold new future, a ‘two-wheeled Bentley,’ in the words of Philip Vincent, who considered the design his best work. Its flowing, all-enclosing bodywork would set new standards of refinement ...

Capriolo 1955ca “75” 74.6 cc OHC face cam frame # 02587 engine # 02350 Named after the roe deer, the Capriolo marque emerges in 1948 from the ashes of the giant Caproni group, formerly one of Italy’s largest manufacturing concerns. Capriolo starts two-wheeled production with a 50 cc ultra-lightweight before moving on in 1951 to the 75 cc Capriolo 75, which is notable for its use of a pressed-steel frame and an unusual four-stroke engine of the overhead ‘face cam’ type. By 1955 the Capriolo 75 ha ...

O.K. Supreme 1935 Model GS2/35 Coeur de Lion de Luxe 348 cc OHV JAP frame # 113864 engine # I0S/R44081/SO video: https://youtu.be/QqyeTOTBXgI In 1882 Ernest Humphries and Charles Dawes started a manufacturing business in Birmingham under the “OK” name. The company produced bicycle components for the trade and later on complete bicycles under the Criterion and Perfection trade names. Experiments with powered bicycles started in 1899 but it wasn’t till 1911 that the company introduced a three mode ...

Bianchi 1948ca “Stelvio” 248 cc OHV frame & engine # 85178 video: https://youtu.be/LLMrY9nWOeQ The history of Bianchi begins in 1885, when Edoardo Bianchi opens his first shop in the Via Nirone in Milan and starts to construct bicycles. In 1888 he’s the first in Italy to move from solid tyres to the Dunlop-patent air chamber type. From 1897 till 1902 tricycles and quadricycles are produced and in 1902 comes the first motorcycle, fitted with a De Dion-Bouton engine. Car manufacture starts in 1908 ...

Ariel 1920ca 6-7 HP 795 cc side valve V-twin frame # 1536 engine # A.10469 Components Ltd., the Ariel parent company, had been involved in producing motorized vehicles since 1898. For the 1910 season a radical change occurred in the motorcycle range. All previous models were discontinued and were replaced by 3 ½ HP machines that would remain in production for the next 15 years: the T-head White & Poppe engine, in which the inlet and exhaust valves were placed an extraordinarily 4 ½ inches apart. ...

Harley-Davidson 1914 “10E” single speed 989 cc IOE V-twin combination engine # 3675H In the 1914 catalogue five models are offered, three 5hp singles and two 8hp twins. The twins are available in single speed as model “E” and with a two-speed gear in the rear hub as model “F”. Not mentioned in the motorcycle catalogue by the way is model “G,” a delivery van also equipped with a 2 speed hub. As in every new model year, the factory has improved their machines in a number of ways. A very practical ...

Ariel 1929 (model year 1930) “Model A” 557 cc side valve single frame # 2207 engine # K1808 Video: https://youtu.be/delMNu9ahew The new line of Ariels, introduced at the end of 1925 and designed by engineering genius Val Page, had been an instant success. Not so much because of its technical innovations, but mostly for its very attractive styling: lower saddle position, shortened wheel base and high saddle tank. Victor Mole was the new man in charge of sales at the Ariel works and he designed th ...

Harley Davidson 1916 “16F” 989 cc IOE V-twin frame# F20064 engine # 4263M In 1915 the company fitted for the first time a three speed countershaft gearbox and the engine power output grew from 9 HP @ 2400 rpm to 11HP @ 3000 rpm. To accommodate the larger dimensions of the new adjustable valves the engineers had to cut notches in the lower edge of the fuel tank. For 1916 the company altered their model designations to follow the calendar instead of H-D years of production from 1905. Thus machines ...

Harley-Davidson 1910 Model 6A 4HP 494cc A.I.V. single engine # 5858 Harley-Davidson’s reputation as a manufacturer of high quality motorcycles is established by the sturdy and reliable singles that the company has marketed before the v-twins become dominant. These singles are developed from the prototypes that are built in the years prior to 1905, when series production really takes off. Improvements are made year by year and by 1910 thousands are being sold. In 1909 a few dozen v-twins are buil ...