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BSA Norton Triumph Ariel and miscellaneous motorbikes and trikes

Morturn said:
I recall was a BSA Cyclemaster too and a few other manufactures had similar ideas. I do recall one which sat on a carrier over the wheel and had a pulley rubbing on the tyre
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I remember those rolling on the front wheel. In fact an older friend had one, you pulled a lever to lift the motor off the wheel. I also remember it being very problematic if your front tire went flat!
 
Last night I read a chronology/ history and Wikipedia on the new Triumph motorcycle company. Maybe not so new anymore. I was impressed at what they have done/doing. The bikes look great and very current. Goes to show what entrepreneurs can do!
 
mw0njm. said:
The BSA suits dithered, as suits are prone to do, but late in 1951 decided to get into the motorized bicycle business, telling the boys at the New Hudson factory on Coventry Road in Birmingham to get cracking. In May of 1953 the company presented the BSA Winged Wheel to the public. It was a nifty little device, really, even if a bit rudimentary, a tiny engine with clutch and gears that fit into the middle of a bicycle wheel, and selling for a quarter the price of the Bantam; all you needed was your own bicycle. Apparently, rear bicycle wheels were all pretty much the same, and this Winged Wheel could be fit onto any number of bicycles

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Wasn't there a French engine mounted over the front wheel called a Solex?
 
On our way back from swimming lesson at Monument Road, municiple baths, I saw a large, rather heavy Father Hugh Montgomery, on his bicycle grinding up the hill from King Edwards Road to St. Peters Church, with the Solex adapted bicycle , the brim of the hat flipped up and the black gaberdine flowing.The solex screaming to make it up the hill.
 
Ladywood 2 said:
On our way back from swimming lesson at Monument Road, municiple baths, I saw a large, rather heavy Father Hugh Montgomery, on his bicycle grinding up the hill from King Edwards Road to St. Peters Church, with the Solex adapted bicycle , the brim of the hat flipped up and the black gaberdine flowing.The solex screaming to make it up the hill.
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bless him:grinning:
 
Hi everyone! Yes, the Triumph Trident is a great looking bike. So much so, that there is one on display to greet you just inside the main entrance at Coventry Transport Museum, representing the latter years of production at the Meriden factory. However, the kind of motorcycles that I find most interesting are the ones which show the early transition from bicycles to motorcycles and in particular the companies in and around Birmingham and Coventry who produced them. Not to take away from Birmingham in any way and it's amazing industrial heritage, but Coventry was the place widely regarded as the birthplace of the cycle industry and which gave rise to the motor vehicle industry in the midlands as we once knew it. It is often referred to as 'the Detroit of Britain'.
Regards, Chris.
 
Velox Chris said:
Hi everyone! Yes, the Triumph Trident is a great looking bike. So much so, that there is one on display to greet you just inside the main entrance at Coventry Transport Museum, representing the latter years of production at the Meriden factory. However, the kind of motorcycles that I find most interesting are the ones which show the early transition from bicycles to motorcycles and in particular the companies in and around Birmingham and Coventry who produced them. Not to take away from Birmingham in any way and it's amazing industrial heritage, but Coventry was the place widely regarded as the birthplace of the cycle industry and which gave rise to the motor vehicle industry in the midlands as we once knew it. It is often referred to as 'the Detroit of Britain'.
Regards, Chris.
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My Grandpa Ernie Parkes worked at the Ariel factory after he came back from the Ww1 Trenches, in the 1920s/30s and I have a bw photo of all the office staff and managers outside, perhaps some anniversary - taken in around 1937. The men are in overalls and look careworn, the ladies all dressed up! I believe the site in Bournbrook area was sold to Bham University and the halls of residence (Griffins Brook?) were then built on it.
Grandpa had a motorbike and side-car too.
 
Allotmenttoddler said:
My Grandpa Ernie Parkes worked at the Ariel factory after he came back from the Ww1 Trenches, in the 1920s/30s and I have a bw photo of all the office staff and managers outside, perhaps some anniversary - taken in around 1937. The men are in overalls and look careworn, the ladies all dressed up! I believe the site in Bournbrook area was sold to Bham University and the halls of residence (Griffins Brook?) were then built on it.
Grandpa had a motorbike and side-car too.
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please post the photo, have you pics of your Grandad on his combo
 
Yes, the manufacturer BSA did offer a promotion of
a year's free petrol with every purchase of an Ariel 3moped in an attempt to boost sales . what a strange feeling riding one of them things


:grinning::grinning::grinning:
 
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