Oldtimers

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 ...

BSA 1955 DB 34 GS “Gold Star” 499cc OHV frame # CB32.2881 engine # DB34.GS.302 Top model for 1939 in the BSA range was the M24 Gold Star, the ultimate sportsman’s dream. It had bore x stroke dimensions of 82×94 mm, a foot-controlled 4-speed gearbox and a specially tuned engine, individually built and bench tested. It was fitted with an aluminium cylinder and head and Amal TT carburetter. The Gold Star name was derived from the award won on 30th June 1937 by the great Wall Handley who achieved a ...

BMW 1975 R90S 898cc OHV transverse twin frame & engine #4081747 With its twin front disc brakes, racing-style seat, megaphone-shaped silencers and cockpit fairing, the R90S looks like no BMW before it, and the air-brushed ‘smoke’ custom finish to tank, seat and fairing means that no two examples leave the factory exactly alike. The first R90S models have two-tone paintwork scheme of “Smoke Black/Silver” with adhesive gold pinstripes. Feedback from unimpressed customers prompts BMW to return to h ...

Indian 1923ca PowerPlus “Big Valve” racing style special 998 cc side valve V- twin engine # 71V409 The Indian PowerPlus engine is a design of Charles Gustafson, who had already earned fame as an engine designer at the Reading Standard company. His task was to design a powerful, robust, reliable and production friendly engine to replace the old F-head V-twin design of Oscar Hedstrom. The resulting 61” side valve PowerPlus introduced in 1916 was an immediate success and this model is still one of ...

Indian 1919 “ N-19 ” PowerPlus 998 cc side valve V- twin engine # 82M971 By 1915 the Indian Board starts to have worries about the financial situation of the company, because the IOE engine and Hedstrom-designed carburettor are 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 give ...

FN 1920 “285 T” 285 cc side valve frame # 60056 engine # 35 The first FN single with shaft drive came on the market at the end of 1909. It was quite an innovative little machine with bore and stroke dimensions of 65×75 mm giving a capacity of 247 cc. The specifications included a multiple plate clutch and a two speed gearbox. Weight of the machine was 65 kg and the fuel consumption was less than 3 litres per 100 km. This light single became a popular seller next to the FN four cylinder model. In ...

Harley-Davidson 1914 “10E” single speed 989 cc IOE V-twin engine # 1580EH The first V-twin Harley prototype is displayed at the Chicago Motorcycle Show in February 1907, but it isn’t until 1909 that the first twins are for sale; officially they are still considered prototypes and only 27 are sold. The engine has a capacity of 880cc and has atmospheric intake valves. The standard colour of these machines is Renault Gray with carmine striping. The engines are not as good as the company expects so ...

Moto Guzzi 1972 ”V7 Sport” 748cc OHV V-twin frame # VK12879 engine # VK32041 The Moto Guzzi V7 Sport is introduced in 1971 as a new and improved version of the standard V7. For their new superbike the engineers at Moto Guzzi install the alternator on the crankshaft nose which allows the engine to be fitted lower in a new frame, thus improving the centre of gravity. The new frame is a significant improvement over its forbear and when combined with the revised 5-speed gearbox and large-diameter dr ...

Bianchi 1934 “Frecchia Azzurra Gran Sport” 496 cc OHV frame & engine # 65631 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. Most models from ...

Fick-Honda 1963 CB 77 500 cc OHC twin Classic racer frame # CB77-62-20282 engine # CB72E-210071 The famous Dutch bitza wizard Cees Fick astounded the Dutch motorcycle scene in the 1960s and 70s with a number of fabulous projects, all completely figured out and built by himself. For the first one, Cees Fick used an Ariel 1000 Square Four powerplant and installed it in a Norton frame, a combination that is commonly called Noriel. The second one was more exotic as the engine came from a car: a 1000 ...

Peugeot 1912ca Motocyclette Légère 2 ½ HP Type “MD” 333 cc AIV V-twin frame # 16287 engine # 24484 In 1910 Peugeot brings out a light V- twin motorcycle that will become an enormous success. The “Moto Légère MD” is equipped with a 333 cc (55 x 70) 45 degree V-twin engine with automatic inlet valves, direct belt transmission, Bosch magneto, single lever Claudel carburettor and Truffault front forks. The little machine proves easy to start, easy to handle and is very reliable. Moreover, it weighs ...

Motosacoche 1912 M5 2 ¼ HP 290cc side valve single frame # A4905 engine # MV 23819 In 1899 the brothers Henri and Armand Dufaux from Geneva, Switzerland, design a little four-stroke engine. This compact unit can be bolted into the frame of any ordinary pushbike: The “Motosacoche” -which approximately means “engine-bag”- is born! Very soon the quality and practical utility of the invention becomes known even far beyond the Swiss territory. Gradually the engines grow bigger and more powerful, twin ...

BSA 1954 BB 34 GS “Gold Star” 499cc OHV frame # CB32.796 engine # BB34.GS.1142 The Gold Star name was derived from the award won on 30th June 1937 by the great Wall Handley who achieved a 100mph lap of the Brooklands circuit on a specially prepared 500cc Empire Star model. The super sports Gold Star model would become one of the most successful production racing motorcycles ever and the post-war Gold Star formed the mainstay of clubman’s racing in the 1950s. The Gold Star returned as a 350cc mod ...

Connaught 1921 293cc two stroke single engine # 479 Connaught motorcycles were produced by the Bordesley Engineering Co. of New Bond Street, Birmingham. Their first machine was presented at the 1912 Olympia Show and The Motor Cycle of November 28, 1912 wrote: “This is an interesting little machine, which is shown on the Service Company’s stand, in that the lubrication is effected in a peculiar manner. To the present model there is no lubricating oil pump but a small measure screwed on to the oil ...

Coventry-Eagle 1924 Model “ C35” 348 cc side valve frame # 34316 engine # 1Y/M 24994/M The Coventry-Eagle Cycle and Motor Co. produced motorcycles between 1899 and 1940. Production began with the building of bicycles and tricycles assembled from bought-in parts. These cycles were well-built and popular, which accounted for the continued success of the firm. Already before 1900 the company started to produce motorcycles and over the years various brands of engines, both two strokes and four strok ...

Honda 1962 “Benly” CB92 Super Sport 124 cc OHC twin frame # CB 92 2103457 engine # CB92E-2102845 “Benly” comes from the Japanese word “benri”, meaning “convenient”. At its introduction in 1959 this sporty little 125 was surely a revelation to a European 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, ...

Ariel 1914 5-6 HP 670cc V-twin combination frame # 5595 engine # A5515 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. Bec ...