Sunbeam 500cc ohc twin S7 deluxe The Sunbeam name was always closely associated with 'quality' and when the very first motorcycle to bear the name left the Wolverhampton factory in 1912, it was to the
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Reference: When was it that? Panther
Catalogue description of 1939 Red Panther It’s hard to imagine in today's money motivated age, that the manufacturers of anything so complicated as a motorcycle, with its many moving parts and precise machining requirements could
Read moreReference: When was it that? Douglas
Sporty Douglas When Douglas released their first announcement about their post-war twin to coincide with the Bristol Engineering Exhibition in September 1945, it created quite a sensation. Although the company had remained faithful to their
Read moreReference: When was it that? OEC
1934 250cc two port OEC There was something about the word Duplex that really seemed to get them going, down in the OEC works on the South Coast of England. It was duplex with everything
Read moreReference: When was it that? Cyclemaster
Piatti scooter The austerity years in Britain, following World War II, were times when personal transport was out of the financial reach of a large part of the population. A car was a dreamed of
Read moreReference: When was it that? Norton
Norton model 19 and Roadholder forks Or re-introduced one we should say, because the 350 overhead single cylinder model 50 had been in the Bracebridge Street catalogue right up to 1939, but didn't appear again
Read moreReference: When was it that? DMW
DMW 224cc Cortina DMW started from a small shop in Wolverhampton known as Dawsons Motors. It was run by W.L. (Smokey) Dawson who, during 1942, designed a plunger-type rear suspension system for converting a rigid
Read moreReference: When was it that? Autocycle
1938 James Autocycle It was the ever elusive `everyman' market, that was to be the spur which led to the designing of an ultra-reliable, economical, capable, but viceless little motorcycle in the years before World
Read moreStepping stone
Honda had their CB range, while Kawasaki challenged them with their big Zeds, leaving two-stroke kings Suzuki and Yamaha behind. But not for long, by the middle of that decade Suzuki had come up with
Read moreOut of the woodsman
First dilemma of the day, blue or red? Thanks to a tie-in with the Indian company in the USA a whole dealership network became available to Royal Enfield. OK so the UK company had to
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