Triumph Rocket 111

The original model was released in 2004 as the "biggest productioon bike in the world"and has remained in production with only minor modifications other than a change of engine colour from silver to black in 2006. In England this model was awarded Motorcycle Cruiser magazine's 2004 Bike of the Year, Motorcyclist's 2004 Cruiser of the Year, and Cruising Rider magazine 2005 Bike of the Year.In 2006 a black finish to the engine was introduced and new colour choices of Graphite and 'Scorched Yellow' were added to the original colours of Jet Black and Cardinal Red. In 2007 the colour schemes were changed to Phantom Black and Mulberry Red and in 2008 to Phantom Black and Claret.

Dave Burton

www.bargain-motors.com

The BSA Goldstar DBD34

1956 BSA DBD34
The most prized model of the Gold Star range was the 500 cc DBD34 introduced in 1956,which was very popular in the 50's for their high performance,with clip-on handlebars, finned alloy engine, polished tank, 36 mm bell-mouth Amal carburettor and swept-back exhaust. The DBD34 had a 110 mph top speed. The Gold Star blitzed the Isle of Man Clubmans TT that year. Later models had a very high first Gear, enabling 60 mph plus before changing up to second.
In 1963 saw the end of production for the Gold Star and was only offered in scrambles, or Clubmans trim. In 1963 Lucas ceased to produce the magneto used in the B series, and that line of singles was ended.A sporting single was not produced again till the BSA B50 models that were produced from 1971 through 1973. Some remaindered stock were marketed in 1974 as Triumphs.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Panther 100 "Sloper"

The Panther Model 100 was a British motorcycle manufactured by Phelon & Moore between 1932 and 1963 it was a 598cc air cooled, single cylinder, overhead valve, pushrod four stroke engine
with a top speed of 70mph with a four speed gearbox.
The brakes were a 8in. front drum and a 7in. rear drum
and weighed 425 pounds.
The engine replaced part of the front downtube of the frame.Panthers were manufactured in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire, UK from 1900 to 1967,the engine and overall layout stayed essentially the same, the specifications steadily evolved over these thirty or so years.
Miss Florence Blenkiron and Miss Teresa Wallach undertook the epic journey from London to Cape Town, crossing the Sahara: the first such journey on a Panther motorcycle combination in the early thirties.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Triumph Tiger Cub

The Tiger Cub was a British motorcycle made by Triumph Motorcycles at their Meriden factory in Coventry,England.This was launched at the Earls Court show in November 1953.The Tiger Cub competed well against the other small capacity motorcycles of the time such as the Villiers two strokes.
The first Tiger Cubs were a derivative of the Triumph Terrier with the same frame and forks.An off-road version the T20C was produced in the late 50's with high level exhaust and improved suspension.The original model had a plunger frame but this was changed to the modern swinging arm and two suspension units in 1957.The later models had the ignition at the end of the crankshaft where as the earlier models were situated on top of the crankcases.The last model made was the T20B Super Cub, which was launched in November 1966, it was discontinued in 1968.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

Rudge-Whitworth History

From its foundation in 1894 the Rudge Whitworth company built a reputation for quality, reliability, sporting prowess and innovation with many patented ideas reaching the production machines.
The famous 'Multi' introduced in 1912 with its variable gear ratios quickly became a sought after machine breaking many records and providing the company with their first TT win in 1914.It also saw the introduction of an in-house manufactured 4 speed gear box and the first four valve cylinder head on a 350cc which produced more power than the 500cc it replaced!
Coupled brakes using a linking cable appeared in 1925 and remained a feature until production ceased. They were also noted for their massive 8" diameter brakes which appeared for the first time in 1928.
The famous 'Ulster', which quickly became synonmous with the Rudge name, was introduced in 1929 following the Ulster Grand Prix win by Graham Walker at over 80 mph.
The Golden year of 1930 saw the junior TT 1, 2, 3 win using the newly untried fully radial 350cc 4 valve engines and the following year saw the first road machine with the fully radial valve layout.
The 'semi-radial' aluminium bronze cylinder head appeared on a road machine in 1934 and development in this engine area continued resulting in full enclosure of the valve gear from 1937 onwards.
In the final year of manufacture in 1939, the cylinder head was cast from RR50 light alloy with iron valve seat inserts. Although production ceased in December 1939.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Sunbeam S7

The Sunbeam S7 was a British motorcycle designed by Erling Poppe.Built in Redditch, the engine layout was an unusual in-line 500 cc twin which drove a shaft drive to the rear wheel. The inline engine made this technologically feasible - horizontally-opposed ("flat") twin engine. The early S7 was expensive and over engineered, which is why it is now the most sought after and commands a premium over the S7 Deluxe and the S8, which were produced with less features to reduce costs while retaining many of the innovative parts of the early Sunbeam and updating some ideas.
Three models were produced, the S7, S7 'Deluxe' and the S8. The original S7 (the 'Tourer') (2,104 produced from 1946 to 1948) was expensive and did not sell well. In 1949 the S7 was updated to become the S7 deluxe (5,554 produced) and the S8 (8,530 produced). Both had new cylinder linings, redesigned frames and increased oil capacity.S9 and S10 models were planned but never made as BSA decided to concentrate on the more traditional twins.
Some early models of the original S7 were produced in black but most in the now familiar 'Mist Green'. The S7 Deluxe came in either 'Mist Green' or black and for export abroad BSA supplied Sunbeams in any colour.
Erling Poppe’s design was originally based on a captured BMW R75 but Sunbeam didn’t want the S series to look too ‘German’ so an in-line OHC, parallel twin was designed instead of a flat twin ‘across the frame’. Serious problems with vibration made the new Sunbeams bikes uncomfortable to ride and all production originally sent to South Africa was recalled. The excessive vibration was cured by mounting the engine on two bonded rubber engine mounts.Another problem area was the shaft drive, which had a 'worm drive' in place of the BMW bevels and tended to strip under power. Sunbeam's solution to this was to reduce the power to 24 bhp which did nothing to help post war sales.
The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club is one of the longest established in the UK and was founded in July 1924 at the London showrooms of John Marston Ltd in Holborn Viaduct who made the Sunbeam motorcycles in their factory at Wolverhampton.The Sunbeam Motor Cycle Club is, however, a sporting motorcycle club that organises trials and vintage bike rallies and runs and the 'owners section' was just a small part of it. When Sunbeam production ended BSA sold the remaining stock of parts to Stewart Engineering. Bob and Chines Stewart were long time fans of the Sunbeam and for a time members of the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club. In 1963 they, along with other enthusiasts, broke away from the Sunbeam Motorcycle Club and formed the Sunbeam Owners Fellowship (SOF) to support owners of an S7 or S8 with any problems. A good number of Sunbeams motorcycles survive in perfect working order and many owners have been fellows of the SOF since its inception, having owned their Sunbeam since bought new or second hand in the 1960’s.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

The Scott Flying Squirrel

The Scott Flying Squirrel was a British motorcycle made by The Scott Motorcycle Company between 1926 and the outbreak of WW2.
The Squirrel name was used for Scott motorcycles since 1921 but with the death of the founder Alfred Angas Scott in 1923 the unorthodox Scott two-stroke motorcycles began to become more conventional. Development of the three speed Scott Flying Squirrel began in 1922 as the company was in severe debt and faced receivership. Launched at the 1926 Earls Court motorcycle show, the Flying Squirrel was expensive - nearly twice the cost of a sporting four-stroke motorcycle of the time.The unique water cooled circulation used a convection method known as the thermosyphon system. The bottom end block was painted either green or red for racing or road respectively and featured a centrally positioned flywheel, twin inboard main bearings, overhung crankpins and doors to enable ease of access to the engine. The redesigned three speed gearbox, multi-plate clutch and the repositioned magneto were all significant improvements.
In 1929 Scott achieved third place in the Isle of Man TT and launched a road going TT Replica Flying Squirrel. Following cost cutting the factory also launched a basic touring model in 1929 for under £70. Financial problems continued, however, and in 1931 Scott were unable to ennter the TT or the earls Court show. A three cylinder prototype was developed but Scotts lacked the resources to develop it and on the outbreak of WW2 production ended.
Between 1935 and 1938 the factory at Shipley in Yorkshire produced the B2592 air-cooled Aero engine, based on the Scott Flying Squirrel motorcycle unit.[3] A 25 hp (19 kW) version was also specifically developed to power the notoriously dangerous Flying Flea aircraft.
In 1950 the rights were bought by the Birmingham based Aerco Company and in 1956 they produced what are known as the Birimingham Scotts.