From Big Bang to suck-squeeze-bang-blow and beyond
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…
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.
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.
Another beach, another country. The British bikes might be less glamorous but this group seems to be enjoying themselves.
The bike’s a Laurin & Klement ‘Type TB’ which was in production from 1901-3.
…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).
Laon is in Picardy, where the Tommies thought the roses bloomed.
According to the contemporary caption this young man is one B Shaw.
This garage is in Hampshire.
…this couple and their sporty combo are in Margate. Check out those disc wheels.
These riders are preparing for action at Porthmarnock beach, Dublin.
This young lady is pictured, presumably by the combo pilot, in the Massif De La Sainte Baume. (Right) Muddy roads demand grown-up legshields.
This rather sweet studio pic dates from 1904.
Three jolly Aussies share a big twin.
Judging by their armbands these clubmen are off on a trial. They’re pictured in Doncaster.
This four-pot FN looks to date from about 1910.
…also in 1910 these chaps were about to start a race in the Aussie state of Victoria.
So you thought serious geezers in leather were a new phenomenon?
And now some dated snaps, starting with 1911
This charming shot was taken in Les Sables d’Olonne a seaside town in Western France.
1912
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.
Also riding in the Lamberjack Cup was DeVay aboard a New Hudson.
These chaps rode with the MC Mandalieu in the Côte d’Azur.
This is the start of a hillclimb up the main drag of Montanglaust in Île-de-France.
1913
This group is on a spree in Nebraska. It doesn’t look like they’re having a very nice time.
This is the Inverness MCC and someone clearly has a smokey exhaust.
These combos are competing in the Paris-Nice rally.
1914
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.
In the ‘long hot summer’ before the war a chap named Dubost won a hillclimb at Argenteuil aboard a 750cc outfit.
1915
This twin’s a 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
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.
‘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.
From LA to Clacton; no further detail to hand about this formal gathering.
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
1918
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?
This New York motorcycle cop is armed with a Browning M1897 machine gun for ‘riot control’.
1919
This woman bestrides a Motosacoche.
1920
This chap seems to have uniformed twins and a pond yacht in his sidecar. The bike’s a Royal Enfield.
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.
These skaters are towing the combo line on Big Bear Lake, California.
This family’s enjoying a spree with their Terrot.
After their success in the Great War…
…Triumphs were…
…ubiquitous…
…and many of them were exported.
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!
This snap, evidently from the start of a competition, is simply marked ‘Amiens’.
The bike’s a Gillet.
No, not a hearse, this is a St John Ambulance combo. It must have been an interesting experience for casualties.
We’re in Italy for this one.
It’s 1925 and these charioteers seem to have their cornering technique well sorted.
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.
Motorcycle Timeline 