From The Archive

It was on the 1st April 1947 that Bert Hopwood joined Norton Motors Ltd, in the capacity of Chief Designer. His immediate priority was to design a vertical twin that would help revitalise the company's range of products. All they had to offer at the time of his appointment were six elderly models; two side…

Continue reading »

Norton ES2 Of all the British motorcycle manufacturers, Norton Motors must surely have held the record for keeping what was basically the same model in production for the longest period. Their side valve models were discontinued in 1955 after 45 years of manufacture, and the overhead valve singles soldiered on in similar fashion. Even the…

Continue reading »

1947 Matchless, with a little more brightwork than on earlier versions It was the only way the government could conserve this country's precious fuel supplies, which had to be shipped either from the USA or the Middle East. Motorcycling had, for the duration of the war, to become little more than a cherished memory. A…

Continue reading »

Francis-Barnett Light Cruiser classic motorcycle  It was with their 1960 range that, for the first time in over 45 years, the Coventry-based makers of lightweight motorcycles failed to include a Villiers engined bike in their line-up. The culmination of a four year programme, which saw the Villiers Engineering Company lose a monopoly position as suppliers…

Continue reading »

3.4hp OCS Sports Humber Maybe you didn't know that Humber had made motorcycles at all? Car firm Humber, a one time part of the badge engineered Rootes Group. Well, if so, you're quite wrong, as Humber were one of the earliest constructors of motorcycles in Great Britain; a natural progression from the reputation and skills…

Continue reading »

Now when was it that? Book 3 Now when was it that? to give it its true print title, is a compilation of milestone snippets from the motorcycle history books. Originally written by Old Bike Mart founder Ken Hallworth and re-crafted by Jeff Clew for this series, Now when was it that? answers all those…

Continue reading »

Greeves model 25R Unheard of as a motorcycle manufacturer until the early 50s, Greeves Motor valid carriages stemmed from Invacar Limited, a company that specialised in making invalid varriages for the disabled. Founded by Bert Greeves, himself a keen motorcyclist, it was whilst experimenting with rubber in torsion suspension systems for invalid carriage use that…

Continue reading »

Excelsior 250cc Model STT4 Excelsior had the honour of being Britain's oldest motorcycle manufacturer, having sold their first machine in 1896. The company had been formed in 1874 as Bayliss Thomas & Co, to make bicycles under the Excelsior trade mark, and by fitting a 144hp Minerva engine into one of their bicycles as a…

Continue reading »

Popular Ariel Leader When, during 1943, Jack Sangster decided to sell Ariel Motors to the BSA Group, there was concern at Selly Oak lest the company should lose its identity. This concern heightened in March 1951, when the Triumph Engineering Company also became part of BSA. Fortunately, it was not until many years later that…

Continue reading »

Velocette advertisement It was not until 1909 that Veloce Limited had their first own-designed motorcycle on the market, an unorthodox but ingenious unit-construction four-stroke single that failed to attract much attention. As a result they had to diversify by introducing another, more simple four-stroke, not unlike the contemporary Triumph of that period. It too was…

Continue reading »