One melange good…

Two melanges better? If you’ve been looking at the pics in the melange you’ll have noticed that the page takes some time to open. No surprise there—I just checked and it contains more than 700 images. That notional box of old motorbike pics you’ve come across is full so it’s time to fill another. There are, as I write this, 524 items awaiting publication (most of them courtesy of my esteemed ami Francois). As before I’ll upload them in (a highly approximate) chronological order. Enjoy…

1930ish BEACH BELLES
First pic out of the box dates from about 1930. These enthusiasts are posing on a 350cc Harley Model D. However, there are a lot of earlier pics that need uploading so the hell with chronological order; let’s get back to opening years of the last century.
1920ish BABES
In case you thought that mixing bathing belles and bikes was a new pastime…But it has to be said, a smile would be nice.
1920s BEACH BELLES
Another beach, another country. The British bikes might be less glamorous but this group seems to be enjoying themselves.
1901 Laurin & Klement T.B. 1901-3
The bike’s a Laurin & Klement ‘Type TB’ which was in production from 1901-3.
1903 LA FERTE BERNARD
…and further back—the Bollée tricar hit the streets in 1895 with a 3hp lump and claimed top speed of 27mph. It was allegedly dubbed ‘torpille parisienne’ (the Paris torpedo).
1900s FRENCH SCENE
Laon is in Picardy, where the Tommies thought the roses bloomed.
1900s DE DION TRIKE
1900s LONG-STROKE ENGINE
1900s 'B SHAW'
According to the contemporary caption this young man is one B Shaw.
1900s RACE PIC
1900s VAL-SUZON COTE D'OR DEPART DE COURSE
1900s WOMAN IN HAT
1900s MARSEILLES-MOTO TRIPORTEUR
1910 ? LOOKS LATER HAMPSHIRE
This garage is in Hampshire.
1920s MARGATE
…this couple and their sporty combo are in Margate. Check out those disc wheels.
1900s REVERSE NIPPER
1900s TRAILER
1900s TRIKE WHITE WOOLY
1910s PORTHMARNOCK BEACH DUBLIN
These riders are preparing for action at Porthmarnock beach, Dublin.
1920ish FAMILY ONNA COMBO
1920s COMBO GIRL AND LEGSHIELDS
This young lady is pictured, presumably by the combo pilot, in the Massif De La Sainte Baume. (Right) Muddy roads demand grown-up legshields.
1900s WCOOLED
1920ish MILITARY?
1904 POSED COUPLE
This rather sweet studio pic dates from 1904.
1910ish HARIES CHAMP
1910ish ANDRE RACER
1910ish GILLET BOATER
1910ish GIRL TADPOLE TRICAR
1910ish MINERVA
1910ish PACER CONTANT
1910s AUSSIES 3UP
Three jolly Aussies share a big twin.
1910s BACK YARD
1910s A GAUTHIER CONSTRUCTEUR A VESLY
1910s BOATER
1910s CLUB LINE-UP
1910s COMBO IN FETE
1910s COMBO IN FETE
1910s DONCASTER GROUP
Judging by their armbands these clubmen are off on a trial. They’re pictured in Doncaster.
1910s FN
This four-pot FN looks to date from about 1910.
1910 VICTORIA OZ
…also in 1910 these chaps were about to start a race in the Aussie state of Victoria.
1910s LOTS LEATHER
So you thought serious geezers in leather were a new phenomenon?
1910s MAP READING
1910s RUDGE MULTI GRANDDAD
1910s SCAR RACE START
1910s SILLY HAT COMBO
1910s SOLO TADPOLE
1910s ST MATURIN
1910s STRADA DEL TONALE
1910s SUNNY POSE
1910s TRELLIS POSE
1910s WOMAN BONNET SCAR
1910s WOMEN PIER COMBO
1910s ZUNDAPP TWO UP

And now some dated snaps, starting with 1911

1911 COMBO
1911 ITALIAN CARD
1911 LES SABLES D'OLONNE
This charming shot was taken in Les Sables d’Olonne a seaside town in Western France.
1911 who?

1912

1912 BIKE+TRAILER
1912 CHALLENGE LAMBERJACK RENET GILLET TWIN
This pic’s contemporary caption (in rather fine copperplate) reads: “Coupe Challenge Lamberjack—Blanchon, amateur sur moto-tandem Rene Gillet 80×100 2 cylindres.” No doubt the ‘Lamberjack Challenge Cup’ was named after Lamberjack, who was a Griffon factory rider in 1904/5.
1912 Coupe Challenge Lamberjack - De Vay sur New Hudson
Also riding in the Lamberjack Cup was DeVay aboard a New Hudson.
1912 MC Mandelieu
These chaps rode with the MC Mandalieu in the Côte d’Azur.
1912 Montanglaust Hill Climb START
This is the start of a hillclimb up the main drag of Montanglaust in Île-de-France.

1913

1913 BIG LAMPS
1913 MARSEILLES SCARS
1913 TRAILER
1913 US NEBRASKA GROUP
This group is on a spree in Nebraska. It doesn’t look like they’re having a very nice time.
1913 INVERNESS MCC
This is the Inverness MCC and someone clearly has a smokey exhaust.
1913 PARIS-NICE
These combos are competing in the Paris-Nice rally.
1913 V-TWIN

1914

1914 COLMAR
This pic bears the caption ‘Colmar’, which is a town in Alsace, so we’re in France, but with the outbreak of the Great War Colmar fell into German hands. What’s in those packages? I have no idea.
1914 DUBOST HILLCLIMB
In the ‘long hot summer’ before the war a chap named Dubost won a hillclimb at Argenteuil aboard a 750cc outfit.
1914 KIDS 2 UP

1915

1915 BSA 3 UP
1915 DOUGLAS
1915 MOTOSACOCHE
This twin’s a Motosacoche.
1915 ROBERT MOTOSACOCHE
The contemporary caption tells us that the rider’s name is Robert (French surname rather than British first name, I suspect); the bike’s a 500cc Motosacoche and the road he’s scorching along is near Geneva.

1916

1916 DUGGIE KARNER
Another pic with a contemporary caption; this time the bike’s a 4hp Douglas, the rider is one Rupert Karner and he’s clearly being scrutinised for sort of test.

1916 CHURCH INDIAN
‘Wild Bill’ Church is pictured at the Los Angeles Ascott Park Speedway aboard the newly launched 1,000cc Indian Powerplus. Church later won acclaim for riding a Powerplus up and over a roller coaster at the Venice Beach amusement park with his chum ‘Gasoline’ Gus Martin on the pillion.
1916 CAB AND COMBOS
From LA to Clacton; no further detail to hand about this formal gathering.
1916 INTREPIDE ANGLAIS
The heading needs no translation; the French newspaper caption (usual apology for mon français d’écolier): “Carrying a dispatch and anxious to deliver it to its destination, he increased the speed of his motorcycle and on a slope, at the risk of breaking his neck, he proceeds literally by leaps and bounds; it is not yet the flying motorcycle, but it is not far from it.”

1917

1917 CHAP WITH PIPE

1918

1918 WOMAN IN COOL HAT
The front end is clearly ‘Baby’ Triumph and the engine looks right (a 225cc two-stroke) but there are some puzzling anomalies. In any case, a cool pic, don’t you think?
1918 COP MG SCAR
This New York motorcycle cop is armed with a Browning M1897 machine gun for ‘riot control’.

1919

1919 MOTOSACOCHE WOMAN
This woman bestrides a Motosacoche.
1919 MOTO-REVUE

1920

1920 ENFIELD SCAR + KIDS
This chap seems to have uniformed twins and a pond yacht in his sidecar. The bike’s a Royal Enfield.
1920 POLISH ARMY SCAR
This Harley combo was in service with the Polish army.

No more dated pics to hand at present so here are a batch to rummage through that are in no sort of order but serve as a reminder that motor cycling, that magnificent obsession, does back a long, long way. Enjoy.

1920ish COMPETITION RIDER
1920s FAMILY COMBO
1920ish 2 SUBURBAN BRITS
1920ish NIPPER RACER
1920ish OUTFIT GROUP
1920ish RPPC DISABLED COMBO + DOG
1920ish RUDGE MULTI
1920ish SCAR
1920ish SCAR SALONIKA
1920ish SKATING@BIG BEAR LAKE CA
These skaters are towing the combo line on Big Bear Lake, California.
1920ish SMART SCAR PILOT
1920ish TAXI
1920ish TERROT FAMILY SCAR
This family’s enjoying a spree with their Terrot.
1920ish 3BIKES4CHAPS
1920ish THREE CHAPS ROADSIDE
1920ish AMBO SCAR
1920ish TRIUMPH AVEC BEARD
After their success in the Great War…
1920ish TRIUMPH FADED
…Triumphs were…
1920ish TRIUMPH RIDER
…ubiquitous…
1923 TRIUMPH OSEAS
…and many of them were exported.
1920s ROVIN
The French-made Rovin wasn’t in the Triumph’s league, but they produced some cool ads. C’est un singe rouge sur une moto!
1920ish AMIENS
This snap, evidently from the start of a competition, is simply marked ‘Amiens’.
1920ish TWO UP IN WINTER
1920ish BEEZA 2 GIRLS
1920ish BEEZA SCAR 3UP
1920ish BSA HACKING JACKET
1920ish COMB ON COBBLES
1920ish CONTINENTAL COMBO
1920isH COOL BOARD RACER
1920ish CUMERBUND
1920ish DISABLED VETERAN
1920ish FAMILY ONNACOMBO
1920ish GILLET ARMBAND
The bike’s a Gillet.
1920s ST JOHN AMBULANCE SCAR
No, not a hearse, this is a St John Ambulance combo. It must have been an interesting experience for casualties.
1920ish HARLEY MIXED GROUP
1920ish ITALY COMBOS
We’re in Italy for this one.
1925 CHARIOT RACERS
It’s 1925 and these charioteers seem to have their cornering technique well sorted.
1927 FRANCONI
1927, this is a rider named Franconi, cornering his Motosacoche on his way to setting best time on the Course de Cote du Mont Agel.