Yamaha FZ6 Fazer – 2004…

Yamaha FJR1300A – 2004…

Triumph 500 Speed Twin – 1948…

The Triumph Speed Twin 5T was a British motorcycle made by Triumph at their Coventry factory. Edward Turner, Triumph’s Chief Designer and Managing Director, launched the Triumph Speed Twin at the 1937 National Motorcycle Show. Costing £75, it was a 500 cc OHV vertical twin in a lightweight frame and the first truly successful British twin, setting the standard for many twins to follow. After World War II the Speed Twin was responsible for the survival of Triumph – and every major British marque offered a 500 cc twin designed on similar lines to the Speed Twin.

History…

Edward Turner’s Triumph twin was a major turning point for the British motorcycle industry, as although a 500 cc parallel twin of medium capacity was not revolutionary, the 5T Speed Twin model was lighter than many contemporary singles with significantly more power and torque. Early models were only available in ‘Amaranth red’ with hand painted gold pinstripes to set off the chrome. Initially the one piece iron cylinder was secured with six studs which led to weakness, so these were replaced by eight studs.The two cylinders were fed by a single Amal Type 6 carburettor and many features such as the transmission and clutch were straight from the Triumph single. Originally with girder forks, the sprung saddle was the only rear suspension as the Speed Twin had a rigid frame – also from the single cylinder production line. On the night of the 14th November 1940 the entire city of Coventry was destroyed by German bombs and the Triumph factory (which was working on an order of thousands of military specification 5T’s) was completely wiped out, and all of Triumph’s technical records, drawings and designs were destroyed.

Development..

After the war the recovery of Triumph at Meriden was largely due to the Speed Twin, which was developed in 1947 with telescopic forks and optional sprung rear. Further development led to a ‘unit’ engine and gearbox construction and styling changes including the ‘Bathtub’ fairings’ and continued in production through to 1959.

Suzuki RG500 Gamma – 1985…

Suzuki GSX1300R Hayabusa – 2002…

Sukuki DL650 V-Strom – 2004…

Scott Flying Squirrel – 1921…

The Scott Motorcycle Company was owned by Scott Motors (Saltaire) Limited, Shipley, West Yorkshire, England and was a well known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded by Alfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Yorkshire, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.

Development…

A gifted engineer, Alfred Scott was a pioneer of the development of the two-stroke engine and after some experiments with one of his engines fitted to a Premier bicycle, Scott designed and patented a vertical twin two stroke engine in 1904 and developed a complete motorcycle from scratch featuring a 450 cc two-stroke twin cylinder engine mounted in a triangulated frame. Innovative features included a two-speed chain transmission in which the alternative ratios were selected by clutches operated by a rocking foot pedal and a kick start, which he is credited with inventing. The first few machines to his design were produced by Bradford based car firm Jowett in 1908 and soon after he set up as a manufacturer in his own right at premises in Grosvenor Street Bradford.

Pre-War Competition Success…

While Scott’s production machines were marketed as a kind of luxury ‘wheeled horse’ for the Edwardian Gentleman,^[3] there was valuable publicity to be had in competition success and the early Scott motorcycles were so powerful that they often easily beat four stroke motorcycles of the same capacity. So event organisers deemed the Scotts to be “overly efficient” and penalised them by multiplying their cubic capacity by 1.32 for competitive purposes, which of course resulted in good (free) advertising for Scott.

Scott made several appearances at the Isle of Man TT Races between 1910 and 1914 with specially built racing machines. In 1910 a Scott was the first two-stroke motorcycle ever to complete a full TT course under race conditions and in 1911 a Scott ridden by Frank Phillip gained the TT lap record of 50.11 mph continuous average speed. This winning streak continued with Scott’s being the fastest machines in 1912,1913 & 1914 as well as winning the event in 1912 and 1913.

First World War..

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 halted production of civilian Scott motorcycles. Alfred Scott developed a three wheeled machine gun carriage which was not taken up by the military and in 1919 he left the company he had founded to develop the vehicle for civilian use as the Scott Sociable. This did not prove to be as successful as the Scott motorcycle but Scott never returned to the Scott Motorcycle Company.

Sachs 1000 Beast – 2002…

Triumph Daytona 650 – 2005…

Royal Enfield 500 – 1951…

Royal Enfield was the brand of the Enfield Cycle Company, a British engineering company. Notable for producing motorcycles, it also produced bicycles, lawnmowers, stationary engines, and even rifle parts for the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield Lock.

This legacy of weapons manufacture is reflected in the logo, a cannon, and their motto “Made like a gun, goes like a bullet”. It also enabled the use of the brand name Royal Enfield from 1890. In 1955 Enfield of India started assembling Bullet motorcycles under licence from UK components, and by 1962 were manufacturing complete bikes. The original Redditch, Worcestershire based company dissolved in 1971, but Enfield of India, based in Chennai, continued, and bought the rights to use the Royal Enfield name in 1995. Royal Enfield production continues, and now Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle company in the world still in production and Bullet is the longest production run model^…