MOTORCYCLES # 3.

 

1948 TIPPEN COVENTRY CHAIR.

 

Frank Tippen and Son`s factory was in Shakespeare street, Stoke Heath, Coventry, UK. This vehicle was made for returning soldiers injured in the second world war. It has a 147cc engine.

 

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1958 FRANCIS - BARNETT FALCON.

 

This motorcycle was made in the Francis - Barnett factory on lower Ford street in Coventry. Francis - Barnett had been naming their motorcycles after birds of prey since the 1930`s.

 

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1962 FRANCISS - BARNETT FULMAR.

 

Streamlining was popular in the 1950`s and 1960`s with many British lightweight motorcycles showing signs of Italian influence. Top speed 62mph. £138 new.

 









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BROUGH SUPERIOR `THE DREAM ` 1938.

 

The Dream was displayed at Earls Court motorcycle show in 1938. It was George Brough`s last attempt at producing a motor bike to turn heads. This bike shown here is the original prototype and features a massive Palethorpe engine. It is shaft driven and is a testimony to the skills of the Brough workers. The production model was to be painted gold in colour and was to feature an engine that Brough described as a flat vertical engine and would be very powerful as it would be in perfect balance. However before the machine could go into production the second world war broke out and Brough factories started making aircraft components. Although Brough continued as a successful high class engineering company after the war they never made any more motor bikes.

 

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THREE WHEEL LAMBRETTA.

 

 

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BROUGH SUPERIOR SS80 MODEL.

 

Brough only made a small number of bikes ( about 3,000 ) compared to many other manufacturers but it is the legacy of this marque that is so famous. The SS80 had a 998cc side valve jap engine. It was so called because it was capable of maintaining 80mph effortlessly for long periods of time. All his motorbikes were built twice. First they were assembled and tested before being taken to pieces again for painting before final assembly and retesting. Of the 3,050 motorcycles made by George Brough it is thought about a third of them still survive today.

 

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BROUGH SUPERIOR VEE FOUR 1927.

 

This was the motorcycle made for the 1927 motorcycle show at London Olympia. It was put in a glass case and guarded by a policeman. The motorcycle is unusual in having a vee four engine with four cylinders arranged in two vee shapes. It was only a prototype and never went into production.

 

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CAMPION 500cc MOTORCYCLE 1921.

 

Made by the Campion company, Robin Hood street, Nottingham, UK. Campion were one of the big local motorcycle manufacturers from the turn of the century. This bike has a Jap 500cc side valve engine made in Tottenham, London, UK. It was common for makers to use other company engines at this time. It only has a single rear brake and has an oil pump on the top of the petrol tank. In 1927 the Campion cycle company was bought by Curry`s and is now part of the Dixon/PC world group of companies.

 

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BSA M20 MOTORCYCLE.

 

The 500cc BSA was the most common motorcycle in British service during world war two. They were principally used by despatch riders on communications duties.

 

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CANADIAN CAN - AM 250cc BOMBARDIER MOTORCYCLE.

 

In 1979 the British Army abandoned its policy of buying British motorcycles and purchased a small number of Can - Am Bombardiers for solo communication duties.

 

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