Early side valve BSA Sloper

A day of old photos finishing off with this side valve BSA Sloper from circa 1930.

BSA Sloper side valve c. 1930.

Grandad's Treader

Thanks to James Kelly for this image of his grandfather's cycle. Not a great photo of course but the details are evocative down to the ubiquitous saddle bag and style of paving on the sidewalk.

Lady Rider

Kudos to you if you can identify the bike this lady is pictured astride. Looks to be 1930s, that is the best I can come up with.

1930s lady rider.

Swallow and Sunbeam S7 combo

Family transport of the early fifties for the well-healed motorcycle enthusiast. A Sunbeam S7 fitted with a Swallow child-adult sidecar. Note the giant screen fitted to the Sunbeam.

Sunbeam S7 and Swallow sidecar.

Thirties sketches

This series of sketches was a lucky find in a small box of pre-war literature that I picked up recently. Sadly the condition is a little poor, looks like the proverbial book worm has had a good old nibble at some of the sheets.

Amazonas and Kahena motorcycles from Brazil

 A big thanks to Shalon Melo from Brazil for providing this little snippet of his homeland's motorcycling history in the form of the below Kahena brochure.

Information out there on the Kahena is very thin on the ground but from what I can see the brand was introduced in 1990. I have not managed to find out when production ceased but, for sure, the volume of machines to leave the factory was small.

As background the Kahena was a development of the Amazonas, a VW Beetle engined all Brazilian (the Beetle was made under license in Brazil) bike that was made from 1977 up until 1989.

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of all invention. Importation taxes to Brazil were prohibitively high through the seventies and eighties (and are still high to this day) so the concept of the Amazonas was as a locally made machine envisaged to replace the long-in-tooth Harleys in use by Brazilian police forces at the time.

The Amazonas was, to say the least, an unusual looking motorcycle and was hugely proportioned and heavy. The Beetle engine fitted gave a moderate amount of power but reliability was excellent. The version of the Beetle fitted to the Kahena was 1600cc and as standard provided 65 horse power. Tuned version were available which gave up to 90. Amazonas and Kahena machines enjoy a bit of a cult following in their homeland and would make a decent, unusual classic anywhere in the world. The beauty of old motorcycles is that you can nowadays value them for charm and riding experience and without direct comparison to their contemporaries. Car engined motorcycles have long been favourites of special builders and there are several VW engined BMWs, Sunbeam S7s and Douglas Dragonflys out there, think of the Amazonas or Kahena as an off the shelf version of one of these. If the subject interests you, check out for comparison the French BFG and MF Citroen engined machines of the same era as the Amazonas and Kahena.

Rather than attempt to re-write what is already out there here are some links for those interested to find out more about Amazonas and Kahena bikes:

Road test of the Kahena on the Brazilian Motoline site (in Portugese)

The Amazonas in Australian Motorcycle News

Motoplanete article in the Kahena (in French)

Oddbike blog post on the Amazonas and Kahena

Horizons Unlimited - Greg Frazier touring Brazil on an Amazonas

Enthusiast site dedicated to Amazonas motorcycles

Rider Magazine Amazonas article

Kahena brochure cover page.

Kahena ST model and tech specs.

The Kahena Custom 1600.

Kahena tech sheet.

Another flat tank mystery machine

Here's another in the ongoing series of challenges for all of you keen-eyed vintage bike enthusiasts out there. Another nineteen twenty something wotsit. The bike is fairly distinctive with its angular petrol tank and sweeping legshields but I can't for the life of me place it. Is there anyone out there recognises the make / model - if so please do get in touch be mail or just comment at the bottom of the page. Thanks. 

Sammy Miller Museum Extension Part 3

 Here's the final batch of photos taken last Autumn at Sammy Miller's. Another eclectic mix....

1967 Munch Mammoth 1177cc

The Mammoth in all its glory.

1949 Triumph Speed Twin, made by the 
factory for the 1950 Earls Court Show.

The cutaway Triumph is a piece of art in its own right.

The cutaway Triumph is a great resource for restorers
too. Note the position of the factory-fitted Vokes air
filter between the oil tank and battery.

1920 Hawker 292cc two stroke. An ungainly looking
machine. The wheel size seems a bit small, I wonder
if they are correct? The Hawker engine carried it's
oil in a sump under the motor.

1923 Hawker 550cc Blackburne engine. The Hawker
bike brand is the same as the better known aeroplanes.

1911 Humber 2 3/4hp lightweight TT model.

1937 Douglas CL38 150cc. Made for the 1937
Motorcycle Show but not put in to production.

1905 Ariel Model 2 owned by Don Rickman. 2hp
Minerva engine. The oldest known Ariel.

1916 Ariel 500 sv with White and Poppe motor.

1949 Cucciolo. The first Ducati.

Plenty of Japanese classics in the new hall.

1968 Bridgestone 175cc.

1953 Hoffmann 250cc ohv opposed twin. Chain
driven gearbox, shaft drive.

Maico Typhoon 350cc two stroke twin.

1938 Zundapp K800 800cc flat four.

Full view of the freshly restored Zundapp.

IFA two stroke flat twin. A lovely and interesting
machine from the MZ factory.

1963 Honda CR110 DOHC 50cc production racer.
Top speed 95mph from 8.5hp.

Moto Villa square four two stoke 1969. 250cc. 

Full view of the Moto Villa square four.

1952 EMC 125cc production racer.

Mondial 125cc DOHC works racer.
ex Maurice Cann.

Morgan Three Wheelers 1946

The Morgan 3 Wheeler brochure for 1946. Morgan had a production hiatus for the war and re-introduced their three and four wheelers in 1946. The Ford-engined F Type continued until 1952 by which time it was distincly old-fashioned and the company concentrated production on their four wheelers.

Morgan 3 wheeler brochure 1946
front cover.

Morgan 3 wheeler brochure 1946 centre spread
including fold down.

Morgan 3 wheeler brochure 1946
rear cover.

Morgan 3 wheeler brochure 1946 rear fold down.

Racecourse Garage Doncaster London Edinburgh Trial

I wonder if anyone out there can recognise the location? Doncaster is a fair bet given that The Earl Doncaster Arms is next door offering 'Hotel, Motor Garage, Cyclists Retreat, Good Stabling and Loose Boxes'. There is an Earl of Doncaster Hotel still extant but it looks nothing like the building in the picture. Could just be though that it is just an advert on the side of a house... Also, of course, Doncaster does have a racecourse so it figures that Racecourse Garage next to The Earl Doncaster might be in Doncaster!

It looks rather like an event is taking place, the Motor Cycling Club's London Edinburgh trial went through Doncaster so that is a fair bet as to what is happening.

Taking a close look at the bikes round about 1912 is a good guess for the year and marques to be seen include Douglas, Rex, CCR and Triumph.

Interesting to note that the most prominent service of the garage is tyre repairs.

Sammy Miller Museum Extension Part 2

Here's the second lot of snaps from last Autumn's visit to Sammy's to eyeball the newly opened extension. No theme to the photos, just some interesting machines that tickled my fancy.

BSA Beaver 50cc Morini engine 1980.

c1953 Norton 500ohc featherbed framed trials outfit
Campaigned by Arthur and Harry Humphries.

1977 CCM 350cc based on BSA engine.

1969 Cotton Trials Villiers 37A. Never used, bought
and stored in a front room.

1960 DMW Trials 32A Villiers.

1923 Cedos Model 16 two stroke 2 1/2 hp.

1924 Packman and Poppe fitted with a 1000cc JAP.

1921 Wooler Semi TT Model B.

1926 OK Bradshaw.

Matchless Silver Hawk-engined OEC in the oldtime
workshop mock-up.

Spondon Phanton 500cc - two Greeves Silverstone motors.

1953 MV Augusta 125cc production racer.

The MV 125 is a sublimely beautiful
motorcycle.