Francis Barnett Falcon

1950s Britain. Posing on a Francis Barnett Falcon. Typical dependable ride to work bike of the era for many folks in the era before cheap cars. The photo is annotated '1957. Garden at 25'. Presumably 25 is the address, pity we don't know the town or street.

Playing to the camera on a Francis Barnett.

Modern British Motorcycles

This little album of collectors cards was published in 1953 by ROSPA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents). Obviously enough the aim of the album was to impart hints and tips for safe riding; it's a cute little publication though and gives a nice cross-section of the products of the British motorcycle industry at the time.

Click on each page to get a larger, better resolution image. 

Built like a bridge Francis Barnett

Pair of lads on a 'built like a bridge' Francis Barnett from the mid twenties. For those that don't know, the built like a bridge triangulated frame Francis Barnetts were ingeniously designed for cheap manufacture: the frame was made up entirely from straight sections of tubes bolted together. The forks were the same design too with a big rubber buffer for the springing. A sound piece of design and in practice very strong and durable. The boast was that broken down the frame would easily fit in to a golf bag but woe betide the restorer who doesn't make drawings before dismantling! Most of the earlier bikes were fitted with 148cc Villiers motors with later ones up to 344cc two stroke twins. Francis Barnett even had success at Brooklands in the hands of British Two Stroke Club founder Tommy Meeten. A testament to their strength is that folks have even built home-brewed specials with engines as big as 750cc v-twins fitted. A proper design classic.

Do these lads know they are astride a
design classic? Mid twenties Francis
Barnett 'built like a bridge'.

Francis Barnett family snap

This isn't a quality photo by any stretch of the imagination but I like these images of regular folks and their bikes. The everyman's camera wasn't a precision instrument back then and in the pre-digital age you had to take a picture and then hope it came out well. If it didn't you probably kept the photo anyway as it had cost you. Very few are the photos taken by the common man of the era that are fine in artistic quality but they all tell a story and are snapshots of a lost time.  

Mid thirties 'built like a bridge' Francis Barnett.

Francis Barnett 1954

Here's the 'abridged list' catalogue of Francis Barnetts for 1954. 

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 front cover. 

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 page 1.

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 page 2.

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 rear cover. 

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 insert page 1. 

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 insert page 2. 

Francis Barnett brochure 1954 insert price list. 

Vintage Francis Barnett

Sweet photo of a sweet little bike. 'Built like a bridge' triangulated frame Francis Barnett from around 1925. Note the rubber block front suspension, flexible hose exhaust downpipe and slightly clumsy positioning of the acetylene headlight generator. 148cc of joy!

c1925 Francis Barnett

Francis Barnett period snap

Period snap of a Francis Barnett Falcon late fifties all packed up and ready to go touring.

Ideal touring machine?! Francis Barnett Falcon.

Francis Barnett Falcon loaded up

A late fifties Francis Barnett (model Falcon 74?) all loaded up and ready to travel. The rider and pillion have the jackets and helmets but the footwear leaves something to be desired! From a modern perspective it seems like the little Francis Barnett would have been overloaded and underpowered but you've got to remember that the roads of the time were fairly quiet and mostly populated by other small bikes and low powered cars like sidevalve Ford Pops that would cruise at 40mph.

Francis Barnett Falcon gets a touch of glamour.

Handsome couple all loaded up ready for their holiday.

Brand New Francis Barnett Motorcycles

Last weekend saw the official re-launch of Francis Barnett. at Coventry's Motofest. There is currently one model, the Merlin. Details aren't given but from spec and appearance the Merlin seems to use the Chinese HMC 125cc platform, the same as used by Boneshaker Choppers for their Mutt.

The Mutt has a more contemporary brat / flat track style whilst the Merlin goes for late fifties off road styling which to my eyes they've got bang on. Looks-wise the bike does have the feel of the original FBs, quite an achievement given that they are using a generic platform. It's easy to be a hater and dismiss the bike as just another re-badged Chinese job but this is the modern world and it's simply impossible to launch a new model small bike without huge investment. 

The performance of the running gear is already long-proven and the style is right, let's hope we see a few of them out and about in the near future.  

New model Francis Barnett Merlin.

Three Francis Barnetts ascend Snowdon in 1926

Here's the triumphal advertising booklet heralding the successful ascent of Snowdon by three Francis Barnetts in 1926. An achievement no doubt though when I first read it I found it slightly less wonderous than expected as there seems to be a gravel track that runs up all the way up along the mountain railway line. From the modern perspective though keeping three vintage two strokes running sweetly for 22 minutes seems like quite some achievement in itself, let alone riding them up a long steep gravel hill. I love the vintage reliability stunts, such a pity that modern manufacturers don't see the need for these undertakings anymore. Maybe we just take it for granted that the machines will work faultlessly. Anyone for riding their Street Triple up Ben Nevis...

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon front cover.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 1 & 2.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 3 & 4.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 5 & 6.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 7 & 8.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 9 & 10.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 11 & 12.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon pages 13 & 14.

Francis Barnett ascent of Snowdon rear cover.