Birth Of An Industry
Many manufacturers began making their own engines, rather than buying them in or producing them under licence. As the first decades of the 20th century progressed, design stabilized around the crossbar-mounted fuel tank with the engine mounted vertically below it, and an optional gearbox behind. Foot pedals disappeared as engines became more powerful and other ways to start them were devised.
Triumph 3½ HP Roadster, 1908
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 474 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 48 mph (77 km/h) |
The affordable two-stoke lightweight, nicknamed the “Baby Triumph”, had a two-speed gearbox and dispensed with pedals. Uprated after WWI, it sold until 1925.
Humber 3½ HP Touring, 1910
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 500 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 57 mph (92 km/h) |
Humber returned to motorcycle production in 1909 with this conventional machine featuring sprung front forks and an optional two-speed rear axle.
Triumph 2¼ HP Junior “Baby”, 1913
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 225 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 35 mph (56 km/h) |
Launched just before WWI, Triumph’s affordable machine had a two-speed gearbox and dispensed with pedals; it could be started on its stand.
Rudge Multi, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 499 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 65 mph (105 km/h) |
A year after launching its first motorcycle, Rudge produced the Multigear, using variable groove-depth pulleys to give 21 wide-ranging forward speeds.
Rudge 3½ HP, 1911
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 499 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 50 mph (80 km/h) |
Long-established bicycle-maker Rudge Whitworth started selling Werner motorcycles in 1909, then in 1911 produced this inlet-over-exhaust HP machine.
Rover 500 TT, 1913
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 500 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 63 mph (101 km/h) |
Rover built over 10,000 motorcycles from 1902 to 1924, introducing a new 3½ HP in 1910, from which this shorter TT model was derived. It won the 1913 Isle of Man TT team prize.
Motosacoche 2½ HR, 1913
| Origin | Switzerland |
| Engine | 293 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 30 mph (48 km/h) |
From 1900 Henri and Armand Dufaux sold an “engine in a bag” (“motosacoche”) to attach to a bicycle such as this one; later, their MAG engines were used around the world.
TD Cross TDC 3½ HP, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 300 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 35 mph (56 km/h) |
Bicycle component-maker TD Cross & Sons built engines for numerous brands, and from 1914 to 1915 made complete machines using its own make or Precision engines.
Ariel 3½ HP Roadster, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 499 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 60 mph (97 km/h) |
In 1911 Ariel began building the White & Poppe engines for its own use and offered an optional three-speed gearbox (as here) on this quality low-built bike.
BSA 4½ HP, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 556 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 62 mph (100 km/h) |
Long-established armaments-maker BSA made motorcycle components, then complete 3½ HP bikes from 1910, moving up to this powerful model as WWI broke out.
Sun 2½ HP, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 269 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 40 mph (64 km/h) |
Sun made bicycle parts in Birmingham from 1885 and its own motorcycles from 1911. In 1919 this two-stroke Villiers engine was offered, also available with two-speed gears.
Sunbeam Single, 1914
| Origin | UK |
| Engine | 500 cc, single-cylinder |
| Top speed | 55 mph (89 km/h) |
Sunbeam made high-quality bicycles, then cars, then motorcycles, starting with this 3½ HP single-cylinder in 1914 and quickly adding a twin to the range.
Yale 6½ HP Model 37, 1914
| Origin | USA |
| Engine | 1,000 cc, V-twin |
| Top speed | 72 mph (115 km/h) |
The Consolidated Manufacturing Co. added one of the first V-twins to its established 500 cc singles in 1910. The bike was given a racier frame in 1913.
It is a quote. The Motorbike Book – The Definitive Visual History 2012
