Vintage Motorcycles Archives - CARS // MOTORBIKES

Panther M100

A swift glance at the Panther M100 showed up its most striking asset. Compared with your average engine design, the M100’s looked distinctly skewed. Enter the 598cc Sloper motor. It was tilted forward 45°. If that caused technically-minded riders to be concerned about oil circulation, no worries. The M100 was eminently reliable.

The Sloper’s cylinder block was blessed with a long stroke. 100mm, to be precise. Hence an abundance of neck-twisting torque. In a good way! That was handy – since many M100s had side-cars attached. This was before automobiles were two a penny, after all. The M100’s top speed was 68mph. And if you were the one wedged in the Watsonian ‘chair’, that was probably quite quick enough!

Panther was based in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire. No surprise, then, that its bikes were solid, rugged and dependable! Panther started out as Phelon and Moore (P&M). The first Sloper-equipped bike appeared in 1904. The single-cylinder push-rod powerplant came with two air-cooled overhead valves. Sporting its dramatically-inclined mill, a parked-up Panther was guaranteed to draw a crowd. It was only made bigger by the way in which the exhausts swooped down from the steeply-banked ports. And this from a bike born and bred in Yorkshire … not a county associated with razzmatazz. As alluded to, this was a time when motorcycles and side-cars were still standard family transport. It followed that a Panther’s top priority was to get from A to B – and back again – with a minimum of fuss. The M100 accomplished that – and with style thrown in, for good measure. Connoisseurs of classic motorcycles, rejoice!

Henderson KJ

As early as 1929, the Henderson KJ was hitting 100mph. It came courtesy of a 1,301cc in-line four engine – outputting 40bhp. What made the top speed stat yet more impressive was that the KJ weighed in at a portly 495lb. The KJ’s plucky powerplant was an air-cooled eight-valve inlet-over-exhaust unit. Whatever its configuration – it clearly worked!

In its day, the KJ was a luxury motorcycle. It flaunted a long list of fancy features. For starters, electric lighting, a fully-enclosed chain and leading-link forks. State of the art stuff, in the Twenties. As was the illuminated speedo’ on the gas tank. And the KJ’s straight-line stability – thanks to its long wheelbase – would have given ample opportunity to consult said clock. Bill Henderson – the firm’s founder – must have been proud.

Mercifully – by the time of the Great Depression – Henderson had moved on. Ace was his new venture. The company which bore his name fared badly in the crash. The KJ’s finery did not come cheap. It had no chance of selling well amidst serious austerity. Henderson struggled on as best it could – but it was always a lost cause. In ’31, Schwinn – the new owners – threw in the towel. With the demise of the KJ, America lost a beautiful motorcycle. Its pinstriping, in particular, was close to perfect. And the rest of the design followed suit. In short, the Henderson KJ was class on two wheels … direct from the USA!

Harley-Davidson WL 45

These days, the Harley-Davidson WL 45 is seriously old school. That is a good thing! ’45’ referenced its engine capacity – in cubic inches. The side-valve 45° V-twin slung the WL to a top speed of 75mph. A long way from Harley’s high-tech Evo powerplant of today. Still, that was plenty enough speed, given the WL’s suspension set-up – or lack of it. Well, at the rear, at any rate. The WL was a full-on factory hard-tail … no concealed shock absorber here! The WL’s sprung saddle, though, kept it comfy. At the front, however, things were looking up – hopefully, not literally! ’49 saw the introduction of Harley’s Girdraulic damping system. It was duly fitted to the WL’s ‘springer’ front fork assembly. Friction damping was thereafter consigned to the Harley history book.

The WL’s motor made 25bhp. That was an improvement on the W model – compression having been upped a tad. 4,000rpm was now available. The 3-speed gearbox was controlled by a hand shift and foot clutch. While the roadster’s performance was not exactly earth-shattering, Harley’s WR race bike verion did what it could to redress the balance. To be fair to the road bike’s output, it did have its work cut out for it. 528lb wet was plenty of weight for the WL to heave. Saying that, it was not excessive for a bike of its size. Bearing in mind that in the Forties, carbon fibre was just a glint in some scientist’s eye!

Bikes like the WL45, then, were a bridge between Harley’s vintage crop and its current range. 45ci equated to 750cc – or middleweight, in modern money. The 45-powered bikes were hugely important to Harley. Indeed, they helped the firm weather the Great Depression. Were it not for those bikes, Milwaukee’s finest may well not have survived. Many a biker’s life would have been lessened – such is the impact Harley-Davidson has had. So, much is owed to the WL 45 … and its pioneering predecessors!

Sunbeam S8

Even in England’s ‘Black Country’, the sun does still shine. Aptly, then, Sunbeam’s factory was located there – in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. From the outset – in 1912 – the company gained a name for classy, reliable motorcycles. They were renowned as “gentlemen’s machines”. The S8 was certainly one of them. It was made between ’49 and ’56. Innovation was thrown in, too, for good measure. The first Sunbeam, for example, featured a fully-enclosed chain – keeping both bike and rider clean. Assuming the owner had oiled his chain, that is!

It is fair to say that the S8’s predecessor – the Sunbeam S7 – did not exactly smother itself in glory. It was comfortable, certainly – but that was about it. The S7 was overweight, lacked manoeuvrability – and its brakes were not the best. Those deficiencies were redressed – to some extent, at least – by the S7 De Luxe version. It fell to the S8, though, to get the good ship Sunbeam fully seaworthy again.

The S8 was a sports bike. That was only to be expected. After all, development engineer George Dance set speed records on Sunbeams. And, in the early Twenties, Sunbeam won the Senior TT – twice. As far back as 1913, a single-cylinder 3.5bhp Sunbeam raced to success. The twin-cylinder S8, then, was the latest in a string of performance-based Sunbeams. Plainly, S8 stylist Erling Poppe had been inspired by BMW’s R75. Indeed, rights to the German-built bike had been passed to BSA – as part of war reparations. Then, in ’43, BSA acquired Sunbeam – from AMC. Under Poppe’s design aegis, the S8 shed the portliness of the S7. Plus, it now sported a solid set of front forks. Even the exhaust note had been modified for the S8 – to something more sonorous. Top speed was a heady 85mph. Handling had come on leaps and bounds … not literally, of course! So, all things considered, the Sunbeam S8 shone a warm ray of light on its Black Country roots.

Rudge Ulster

The Rudge Ulster was based on the Rudge Multi. The latter – launched in 1911 – came with 21 ‘infinitely variable’ gears. ‘Multi’, indeed, then! In theory, there was not a slope in the UK it could not get up. An intricate rear pulley system auto-adjusted the bike’s final drive belt. The ratios were selected via a lengthy gear-lever, located to the left of the fuel-tank. From early on, Rudges sported spring-up stands. Back mudguards were hinged – facilitating wheel removal.

A production racer Multi won the 1914 Senior TT. And – for the Rudge race team – there was more success to come. It was in ’28, though, that the firm secured its place in history. A Rudge won that year’s Ulster GP. A street-legal version duly appeared. It was named after the illustrious Irish road race. The Ulster inherited the engineering subtleties of its Rudge roadster predecessors. Unsurprisingly, it was a serious seller. Graham Walker was Rudge’s sales manager. Fittingly, it had fallen to him to pilot the Ulster to victory.

The Ulster only added to the roll-call of Rudge’s technical innovations. A 500cc single, its engine was fitted with four valves. They helped output 30bhp. That pushed a dry weight of just 290lb. The Ulster featured Rudge’s linked braking system. The foot-pedal retarded both drum brakes – while the hand lever applied added front-end bite. Ahead of the game, to say the least. On the racing front, Rudge carried on winning well into the Thirties. In ’39, however, financial problems came to a head. Rudge folded shortly thereafter. The Ulster, though, had carried the flag for one of the most forward-looking firms in motorcycling history!

Norton CS1

When it comes to ‘Brit bikes’, classic Nortons are as iconic as they come. That certainly included the CS1. Norton was based in Bracebridge Street, Birmingham. In 1913, the fledgling firm went bust. In true champion style, however, it got back on its feet, dusted itself down and came out for another round! James Norton teamed up with Bob Shelley and his brother-in-law – ace tuner Dan ‘Wizard’ O’Donovan. The chemistry must have been spot-on, if the Isle of Man TT was anything to go by. Rex Judd was among the riders to win on Nortons in that most illustrious of road races.

The CS1 arrived on ‘the island’ in ’27 – prepped for its first TT outing. The ‘CamShaft 1’ production racer boasted a bevel-driven overhead cam engine. It was a sensation from the second Stanley Woods swung a leg over the saddle. Fast-forward a year – and the CS1 roadster appeared, in supersport mode. Again, rival marques were left reeling in its wake. Sadly, James ‘Pa’ Norton – company founder – died before his bikes saw success.

Before taking on the CS1, ‘Wizard’ O’Donovan had plenty of practice. He had previously built the ‘Brooklands Special’. It was designed specifically for the unique challenges of the legendary English oval. When sold, Brooklands Specials came with a certificate – confirming they had reached 75mph. Detuned Specials were sorted for street use. The roadster’s sale certificate guaranteed 70mph – just 5mph less than the racer. So, the CS1 had a tough act to follow. It did so, though, with aplomb. Stylishly engineered, it sported silver-and-black paint – Norton’s trademark colour scheme. It was a shame ‘Pa’ Norton’s heart could not hold out a little while longer. Never really a businessman, he loved bikes to the core of his being. He would have loved to have seen – and heard – one of his company’s masterpieces, at full chat. Still, at least the Norton CS1 has been exhilarating classic bike fans for many a year since!

FN Four

It was not known at the time, but the FN Four was to signal a seismic shift in motorcycling. Technically, there cannot have been many two-wheeled breakthroughs to match the introduction of the inline-four engine! Belgium was the birthplace of that landmark layout. And FN was the much-to-be-congratulated manufacturer.

The first FN Four hit the highway in 1911. It produced 4bhp. From 491cc. At the time, such figures described state of the art technology. Top speed for the FN Four was 40mph. Not too shabby – for an 8-valve inlet-over-exhaust configuration. It rather went without saying that it was air-cooled!

The FN Four was light – tipping the scales at just 165lb dry. Not only its motor – but its chassis, too – was avant-garde. It featured a rudimentary form of telescopic forks. And FN added a new-fangled ‘clutch’ – and 2-speed gearbox – to the Four’s slick set of tricks. A solid shaft-drive set-up output the power. So, who designed this visionary vintage machine? You will not hear the name Paul Kelekom shouted from motorcycling’s rooftops … at least, not very often. But, you should – for it was he who fashioned the FN Four. And, in so doing, he kick-started a craze for fast, four-cylinder two-wheelers. Last time I looked, the fad was still alive and kicking!

Triumph Speed Twin

On the face of it, the Triumph Speed Twin was the quintessence of Englishness. But, it had Germany to thank for its existence. In 1902, two Germans – Siegfried Bettman and Mauritz Schulte – grafted a Belgian-made Minerva motor onto a bicycle. Believe it or not, Triumph was in business! Three years later, the Coventry-based company produced its own engine. It obviously ran well. Before too long, ‘Trusty Triumph’ had entered the biker vocabulary.

The Speed Twin was launched in ’37. Its parallel-twin motor made it faster and smoother than its single-cylinder rivals. The 498cc motor made 29bhp. Top speed was 90mph – heady stuff, at the time. The new bike was the brainchild of Edward Turner. It displayed commercial courage – as well as styling skill. The motorcycle industry is inherently conservative. In other words, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Single-cylinder ‘thumpers’ had monopolized the market for years. Turner’s Speed Twin, then, broke the engine layout mould.

Mr. Turner did double-duty at Triumph. He was both head of design and general manager. His administrative tasks clearly did not impinge upon his creativity. The Speed Twin looked great standing still. And – with a dry weight of just 365lb – it looked even better, swinging through corners. Edward Turner – visionary that he was – had dreamed up a bike ahead of its time. The Triumph Speed Twin was a blueprint for many a motorcycle to come. ‘Brit bikes’ were on the march … and coming to a showroom near you!

Indian Four

The Indian story started in 1901 – in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. It continued until ’42 – and the outbreak of the Second World War. Originally called Hendee, the Indian Motocycle Company came into being in ’23. And, no, that is not a typo! One of Indian’s most iconic machines was the succinctly-named Four. As the name suggests, its engine sported four cylinders. They were arranged in a longitudinal inline-four configuration.

Top speed for the Four was 90mph. Pretty quick, in the early Forties. The Four’s side-valve set-up – 2 per cylinder – gave 40bhp, at 5,000rpm. The longitudinal layout meant overheating could be an issue, though. Cooling air struggled to find its way to the rear pots.

The Four looked every inch the classic American motorcycle. The fenders’ rakish lines were pure Indian. Certainly, the bike had nailed down the laid-back custom look. Styling-wise, the solo saddle, front forks and straight exhaust perfectly complemented the downward diagonal of the top frame rail. Comparisons cannot help but be made with arch-rival Harley-Davidson. But – complete with its in-line motor – the Indian Four was every bit as glamorous as a motorbike from Milwaukee. V-twin fans may conceivably disagree, of course!

Scott Squirrel

Scott may not be the most famous manufacturer in motorcycling history – but it certainly has its place. As, indeed, does Scott’s most celebrated bike, the Squirrel. The British marque won the Senior TT – in both 1912 and ’13. And the Scott trial – which began in ’14 – and became a bastion of off-road motorsport – was named after the Yorkshire firm. Founded in ’08, Scott went on to produce finely-crafted motorbikes for decades to come.

Engineering excellence – forged in competition’s crucible – flowed down into Scott roadsters. The Squirrel was the prime beneficiary. Squirrels came in several flavours. There were Super Squirrels, Sports Squirrels and Flying Squirrels. All came with a 596cc motor – mated to a 3-speed hand-change ‘box. Squirrels handled well, looked and sounded good – and merrily skipped up to 70mph. In the Twenties, that was quick!

Squirrels were apt to be temperamental, though. Mechanically, they played up a bit, from time to time. And – with their hefty price-tags – that did not go down well with owners. As the model aged – and its cutting edge blunted – sales declined. To this day, though, there is many a motorcyclist who is nuts about Squirrels. With luck – over the years – a few of them were horded away. So, you never know … Scott Squirrels may again be a common sight, on the highways and byways of Britain.