Collection List Page 4

NORTON

SUZUKI

YAMAHA

MISCELLANEOUS

(Click on tumbnail to see enlarged photo)

Suzuki is another member of the “Big Four” from Japan. It began manufacturing motorcycles in 1952 and has become well known around the world. Its off-road bikes and roadracers have won world titles, and its street machines range from the cruiser Boulevard series to the legendary GSX-R series of sportbikes. It, along with Honda, is unique in that the company also builds automobiles.

HISTORY OF SUZUKI

The Japanese company was well known for its musical instruments, but in 1955 it began producing motorcycles. It began with simple and inexpensive machines but has grown to its position as a powersports powerhouse, offering some of the best sportbikes, cruisers and off-road bikes on the market. It ranks second only to Honda as the leader among Japanese manufacturers.

HISTORY OF YAMAHA

HISTORY OF TRIUMPH

Triumph T100R marketed in America under the model name ‘Daytona’ with high specification, twin carburettors and the first Triumph 500 motorcycle to be able to genuinely attain 100mph. The T100T variant of the Tiger was named in honour of and benefited from the company's success in the 500cc class at Daytona in 1966. It represented the ultimate development of the unit construction 500cc Triumph. When Motor Cycle News tested an example they recorded a top speed of 111 mph and still managed to record 64 miles to the gallon! Revisions to the standard T100 engine which enabled these figures to be achieved included the use of a 9:1 compression ratio, splayed inlets for the twin carburettors and Bonneville profile camshafts.

The Triumph Vertical Twin

Triumph had made its name based on the great Edward Turner-designed vertical twin engines that made their debut in the Speed Twin of 1938. The early engines were mated to a separate gearbox, but, in 1957, Triumph updated its engine design, with a unit construction motor fitting the transmission into the same casing as the crankshaft. The result was a more reliable engine that helped further establish Triumph's reputation.

The T100T and T100R

The Daytona model was launched in 1966 as a 500cc sports model fitted with twin carburetors for maximum breathing efficiency and more horsepower. Both the T100T and T100R Daytonas were available to the US market. They were named after the Daytona Beach Speedway where Triumph had scored many a race victory.

TRIUMPH

HISTORY OF NORTON

The greatest name in British motorcycles dates from 1901, when James Lansdowne Norton began building motorcycles with French and Swiss engines. In 1907 Norton won the twin-cylinder class in the first TT race, begining a sporting tradition that went on until the 1960s. J L Norton died in 1925 aged only 56, but he saw his motorcycles win the Senior and sidecar TTs in 1924. Nortons also appealed to ordinary motorcyclists who enjoyed the reliability and performance offered by single-cylinder engines with separate gearboxes. The marque withdrew their teams from racing in 1938 but after the War (when Norton produced more than 100,000 motorcycles for the forces) they returned to the fray with notable success, the names of Geoff Duke, John Surtees and Derek Minter becoming famous. Sadly, Norton epitomised the failure of the British motor cycle industry through the 1960s and 1970s, struggling valiantly but failing to survive.

Like the majority of their contemporaries, Norton relied on the sidevalve engine until the 1920's, when the existing and well-tried 490cc unit was used as a basis for the firm's first overhead-valve design. Penned by James Lansdowne Norton himself, and first seen in prototype form in 1922, the overhead-valve Norton made little impact in that year's Senior TT, though at Brooklands D.R.O' Donovan raised the world 500cc kilometre record to over 89 mph using the new motor. A road-going-version -the Model 18- was catalogued for 1923, quickly establishing a reputation for both speed and reliability when a standard engine assembled from parts was used to set a host of records, including a new 12 hours mark. Racing continued to improve the breed -when Alec Bennet won the Senior TT for Norton- as a direct result of the works team's experiences.

In 1909, Michio Suzuki founded the Suzuki Loom Company in the small seacoast village of Hamamatsu, Japan. Business boomed as Suzuki built weaving looms for Japan's giant silk industry. Suzuki's only desire was to build better, more user-friendly looms. In 1929, Michio Suzuki invented a new type of weaving machine, which was exported overseas. Suzuki filed as many as 120 patents and utility model rights. For the first 30 years of the company's existence, its focus was on the development and production of these exceptionally complex machines.

The origins of Excelsior lay with the Bayliss Thomas partnership who originally made bicycles and then fitted Minerva engines to them at the very dawn of the motorcycle industry in this country in about 1896. By WWI, although showing interest in sporting events, they proceeded to manufacture ever larger single cylinder machines, one model being an incredible (at the time) 5.6hp.

Excelsior was also noteworthy for their early involvement in motorcycle racing, which started around 1900. In 1910 the company was renamed, The Excelsior Motor Company Co Ltd.. In 1940 Excelsior changed to war related work, manufacturing the 'Wellbike', which was a collapsible small motorcycle used by Allied Paratroopers.
Civilian motorcycle manufacturere re-commenced in 1946.