The James 197cc

The James Cycle Co Ltd,started life in around the 1880's in Birmingham, England and was one of many motorcycle companies around the midlands, particularly Birmingham. James post war models were the 99cc Comet,the 122cc Cadet and the 197cc Captain.
The Captain was produced from 1954 thro' 1959 with 197cc Villiers engine.

Dave Burton
www.bargain-motors.com

Velocette LE "The Everymans Bike"

The Velocette LE was made from 1948 through 1970 in Great Britain.The LE emblem stood for "little engine" of initially 150cc.One of the largest customers was the British Police force,which at one point accounted for half of the production for over 50 forces across the country,the last force to use them was the Kent Constabulary which purchased the remaining spare parts and were able to keep LE's running until 1974.
The police also gave rise to the name "Noddy" bike which came from riders acknoledging their superiors by nodding to them rather than taking their hand of the handle bars to salute.
The Velocette LE was a 150cc four-stroke, water cooled, horizontally-opposed twin cylinder engine, the LE also had a radiator and was fitted with coil ignition to help starting.The final drive was by a shaft mounted in a swing frame with adjustable suspension. Aluminium leg shields were designed to keep the rain off and footboards gave it a scooter feel.
Instruments included a speedometer and trip recorder. To reduce noise and vibration the engine was rubber mounted and the pressed steel frame was lined with soundproofing felt.Carrying capacity was boosted by quickly detachable panniers and a "glove compartment" in front of the petrol tank. All this made the MkI LE expensive, however, at £126 compared with the BSA Bantam at £76.
In 1970 the company went into voluntary liquidation.

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