Royal Enfield 570cc combination

Here's a factory promotional photo of the Royal Enfield 570cc combination. I believe it dates from 1939. The pressed steel girder forks are quite a distinctive feature, there was a vogue for pressed steel forks through the thirties. Several manufacturers used them on their smaller-engined models but, as far as I know, Enfield were the only ones to use them on their heavyweights.

The 570cc side-valve model was usually known as the Model L, Yesterdays in the Netherlands offered a similar combination a while back and referred to it as a Model H (which I had thought was normally the 500cc sv?) but on the Enfield promotional photo here there is no model designation at all bar 570cc... confusing...

Royal Enfield v twin at the Rahmi Koc Museum

A couple of pictures of the 1921 Royal Enfield 6hp (770cc) Model 180 v twin at the Rami Koc Museum in Istanbul.

If you are ever in Istanbul the museum is excellent and well worth visiting. It is housed in a former Byzantine shipyard, the theme is the history of industry and the collection is eclectic and wide ranging.

The Dorway Folding Sidecar

This charming brochure is for the 'Dorway' folding sidecar. Very much a product of its  times. Back in the day you weren't allowed to park on the street overnight as streetlights were turned off at midnight.

It's hard to date the brochure exactly but it is more than likely from the early twenties. Several other sidecar manufacturers offered folding sidecars. The surviving British sidecar manufacturer Watsonian's first offering was folding model from 1912.

 

Royal enfield v twin combination

Here's a gorgeous Royal Enfield combination. It's a Model 180 v twin from 1926 or '27. A very impressive machine in either solo or sidecar form, lithe by the standards of many big twins of the time and with Enfield's excellent eight inch brakes front and rear. Really just about the perfect quintessential flat tank v twin and now highly sought after. Personally I'd love one...

What on earth is that over-inflated inner tube about though? 'The Charli Onion', is that what it says? The story behind it is surely lost in the mists of time.

Royal Enfield Model 180 combination.

Rudge celebrity endorsement

Celebrity endorsement is nothing new. Here's movie couple Ivy Duke and Guy Newall promoting a Rudge on a Rudge produced postcard.

The bike looks to be circa 1923 just when Rudge were moving away from their famous 'Multi' models with variable belt drive to conventional gearboxes. The bike appears to have a drum front brake but in fact it had dummy rim brakes front and rear. The front hub 'brake' is actually just a large flange on the hub and could be used to semi enclose the speedo drive when this was fitted as an option.

Ivy Duke and Guy Newall appeared together in several films and were married for seven years. Both were most prolific in the silent film era.

Silent movie stars Ivy Duke and Guy Newall
with c1923 Rudge outfit.

BSA Model E combination

Here's a bike made to be used. BSA v twin fitted with a tradesman's box sidecar. Heavily accessorised to be ridden every day and in all weathers

Hard to say if it is the 770 or 1000cc model but more likely the 770 as this was the bigger seller by far. Look at the enormous front mudguard, these were known as 'colonial style' to cope with the mud and dust to be found in far flung areas.

The bike has been updated with a drum brake from a later model, it would have originally had a dummy rim brake (see the mount on the forks for the lever). If it's a 770 the bike is a Model A and dates from approximately 1922 (dated on the front fork design which BSA phased out in 1923).

Avon Cling sidecar tyres 1962

A cute brochure from Avon Tyres from 1962 for their 'Cling' compound sidecar tyres. Take a look at the machine pictured in the ad - it looks like it is an original photo that has been doctored. My best guess is that the bike is a BSA Golden Flash but now there are hints of Royal Enfield in the timing cover, Velocette in the headlamp nacelle and the tank is slightly AJS-ish. Presumably Avon was original equipment on a number of different brands so they chose not to offend their big customers by favouring one marque over another in their advertising.

 

 

Unknown veteran with wicker sidecar

Another veteran machine that I'm struggling to identify. It looks to be around 1912 or 1913, at first I thought Premier but it doesn't quite look right. Right click, open in new window and then enlarge to get the full sized image. 

The motor is distinctive for having the magneto behind the engine rather than in front, forks are Druid type, other than that there are few easily identifying features. Do message or mail if you can put an id on the bike.

Some nice details in the picture though from the chap's serious riding gear to the three front headlights. There's some kind of long plunger / pump down at the front of the engine - no idea at all what that is for. On the handlebars are a mirror on the left side and a neat little cylindrical leather case on the right that seems a bit too small for a spare belt or tube.

Can you identify this veteran with wicker sidecar?

Royal Enfield Model 180 combination

Looks like three generations on one combo. And looks like grandad is a bit of a character too! The bike is Royal Enfield Model 180 from the mid to late twenties. The 180 was a long running model with a big v-twin motor that was generally used for sidecar pulling duties.

c1927 Royal Enfield Model 180 v-twin combination.

Unidentified veteran combination

Update 10/10/21 - Big thanks to Nick Smith for identifying the bike as a Humber 3.5hp of between 1909 and 1911.

A challenge for the veteran experts out there. I've personally completely failed to id this combo, best I can say is that it probably dates from 1912-1914. All images on this site are scanned to 600dpi so as a tip right click the image, open in a new tab and click on the image to enlarge. If you can put a positive id on the bike please do get in touch by mail or comment to share your knowledge.

BSA S29-18 1929 combination

A few evocative shots of a vintage BSA combo. I believe it is a S29-18 from 1929 though am happy for any experts out there to correct me!

BSA Models numbers of the late vintage / early post vintage era are slightly confusing as they are alpha numeric and the same model number prefix applies to multiple different models - ie S29 designates that it is a 500cc model from 1929 (in 1930 it was the S30). Bikes usually get identified with the prefix only but it is the suffix that gives the true id. So, for example an S29 could be any bike in the 1929 range that was 500cc, the '-18' suffix means that it was the upright-engined side-valve model (also known at the 4.93hp Light).

For more details on 1930s Beesas take a look at this site: https://www.bsa1930s.nl/

 

A rather civilised camping holiday

It's still summer so it seems like a good time to publish this charming pic of folks enjoying their holiday. I would date the era as immediately pre-WW1. The bike is a lovely Humber with wicker sidecar and at best guess is from 1914.

Veteran Humber combination on holiday.

Triumph SD combination

It rather looks like someone here has a shiny new toy. This Triumph Model SD is very imposing and very immaculate. The Triumph is fully accessorised with speedo, mirror and early electric lighting set (I would date the bike as 1923 or 24). A pity that the sidecar is slightly cut off in the picture, it seems to be both unusual and quite vast.

Triumph Model SD combination.

German Henderson combo

A picture from Germany from the late twenties or early thirties of a magnificent combo. It's a Henderson KJ from 1928 or '29. A powerful and sophisticated machine offering 100mph performance. The rider looks justifiably pleased with life, the wife and children in the sidecar significantly less so!

 

The machine in the background I cannot recognise, its lines are quite German of the period, does anyone have an idea what it is?

Henderson KJ sidecar combination.

 

Excelsior Super X Model 19

Excelsior Super X Model 19 combination on
a family outing.

 This would have been an extremely rare and imposing machine on the roads of Britain back in the day just as now. It's a Excelsior Super X Model 19 61cui ioe engine made from 1915 to 1919. Excelsior were suppliers to the American military alongside Harley Davidson during the Great War. The Excelsior Motorcycle Company sold machines under the Super X brand and from 1912 onwards were part of the Schwinn empire. Schwinn shut the brand down in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression.

Given that Super X were used by the American military it seems that there is a good chance that this example was sold military surplas after the war and hitched up to a British sidecar (they were used as solos by the military).

Excelsior Super X Model 19 on the road.

Torbay Trial 2021

UK motorsport has resumed and one of the first long distance trials off the mark was the Torbay Trial organised by the Torbay Motor Club. 

At the time of entry I didn't have a suitable bike to enter but my good friend Matt steeped in to the breech with a space in the chair of his Ariel VCH / Canterbury combo.

The day dawned with good weather forecast and off we set to the start point in Devon, just the other side of Exeter. With Covid-19 restrictions in place setting off on the trial was a cinch, just announce your name to the guy on the gate when you arrive and turn up at the start line on time, all paperwork having been filled in and checked in advance. With a 9am start, that bought another half an hour in bed on a Sunday morning, bonus. Hopefully trials organisation can continue this way after all the pandemic stuff is over.

The course of the trial was over some forty miles with 17 sections packed in. The event was very slickly organised and bikes were kept well separate from cars. When you ride an old clunker in a mixed old / new and cars / bikes trial you usually find yourself slipping further and further back as the trial goes on and getting stuck in queues of cars waiting to have a go at the sections. The sidecars were flagged off first, six of us, we the only vintage combo entered - the others soon lost us! 

There were only a handful of older bikes entered, the majority coped with the sections pretty well. There were no cleans at the end of the day in the sidecar class and the top scorers just dropped a few points so I guess that means that the sections were pitched about right. Predictably on the Ariel we had the worst score of all competitors, to be honest this is expected when you enter a trial mainly for more modern stuff on an unmodified, heavy and rigid-framed early fifties machine. We only cleared one section but at the end of the day that wasn't the point. We turned up for a day's riding, had fun and broke neither riders nor machine so all in, a success and proof of the pudding is that we'll probably be back next year.

Beautifully prepared Honda XL185 looks like it
received a lot of lockdown polishing!

This little unrestored rigid James Commando trials
was a gem and acquitted itself pretty well.

Villiers 2T twin engined Cotton is an unusual choice
for trialsing but a really pretty bike.

Triumph-Metisse aiming up for a section.

Matt on his Ariel VHA.

Checking out the next section. They
always look less steep in pictures...

Honda XL185 starts a section.

This contraption was eye-catching amongst the
four wheeled entrants.

Finally some slightly short clips shot in wobble vision... all fairly self explanatory.

Canterbury and BSA A10 combo

Good solid fifties transport for the family man. BSA A10 (a 1954 model I believe) coupled with a Canterbury sidecar and sporting an Avon screen.

1954 BSA A10 and Canterbury sidecar combination.

Douglas combo on holiday

A charming photo of an early to mid twenties Douglas combo. Presumably the couple are on holiday given that the bike is parked outside a hotel. Tamplins were a brewers in Brighton, so the location in a seaside town gives credence to the holiday theory. Tamplins were founded in 1821 and continued through to 1973, although they were taken over by London brewers Watney's in 1953.

Take a look at the angle of the saddle, the product of a pillar fitting seat and bumpy roads. I ended up putting a blob of weld on my Triumph's saddle when I got totally fed up of this happening, a nasty and very personal accident waiting to happen!

1920s Douglas combination.

AJS Model D v twin combination

1920s AJS are distinctive machines so even from this angle it's not too hard to recognise this as a Model D v twin. A bit harder to know the year but 1927 would be a fair guess. I wonder where the location is? It looks like moorland and the rider is dressed up for cold weather.

1927 AJS Model D v twin with sidecar.

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.