Description
By: Roy Bacon, Ken Hallworth .
It is quite remarkable that one country alone should have produced around one-third of the 3,000 or so different makes of motorcycle reputed to have existed; for the best part of a century the British motorcycle industry was the most important in the world. This tribute to a great industry now almost disappeared features them all, from A&A to Zephyr, via the better remembered names of AJS, Ariel, BSA, Cotton, Douglas, Excelsior, Francis-Barnett, Greeves, Hesketh, James, Matchless, Norton, Panther, Royal Enfield, Scott, Triumph, Velocette and Zenith. With them are all the rest; some quite well known, some occupying a niche during a period of time, and many totally obscure. However, all represented someone's faith, dreams, hopes and enterprise, and so deserve their inclusion in these pages.
Each marque and machine had its place and time in the rich pattern of the history of British motorcycling; some highly innovative but short- lived, others less exciting but steady performers. Among them were the many marques that took the flag to foreign lands, often to return with prizes and, with them, orders for British machines. In their heyday they covered the roads of the world but then the sun set, to rise again on the classic era and a new-found lease of life. Old or new, large or small, exciting or not, their names and times are recorded here in a new and comprehensive form.
Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth have been involved in the old bike hobby for decades and have been collecting information on every British marque over all that time. This book is the culmination of their efforts, and it is the most comprehensive directory of British motorcycle manufacturers and their products ever compiled. Each entry contains a summary history of the manufacturer and its most important machines, and where possible entries are illustrated. There are over 850 illustrations in total.
