After the First World War Alfred Wiseman began manufacturing motorcycles in his Glover Street works in Birmingham under the Sirrah name (the name came from reversing the surname of the designer, a Mr Harris), motorcycles which used a number of proprietary engines and were aimed at the budget market. However, to complement the various Sirrah models, Wiseman offered the Verus range, which were pitched as the premium range of the company.
For the most part, the Verus models used Blackburne engines (unlike the Sirrahs which used Bradshaw, Blackburne, Jap and Union units, as well as engines of Wiseman’s own manufacture). The first Verus machines were lightweights, one a 21cc and the other 269cc, which appeared in 1919.
The following year the initial pair was joined by a Blackburne 348cc four-strike and 499c sidevalve with two- and three-speed Burman gearboxes respectively. In 1920, a report from the Olympia Show comments: ‘Very rapid has been the rise of the Verus. A trust in the value and lessons of reliability trials probably accounts for this in no small degree. Anyhow, whatever the cause, the Verus now ranks among the aristocracy of the pastime, and careful examination proves that the position has been well earned’.
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In 1921 a Blackburne V-twin outfit was advertised although whether this was actually ever sold is debatable. By 1923, the lightweights were gone and the Blackburne-engined machines had been augmented by models with JAP engines.
Like the Sirrah, the Verus range all used the same Wiseman tubular frame – in fact, the same frame was used by all of the company’s motorcycles. The final year of production was 1926 after which Alfred Wiseman returned to producing railway components.
Original article appeared in Old Bike Mart. To subscribe, click here: https://www.classicmagazines.co.uk/old-bike-mart
