Motorcycling 95 years ago
We’ve come a long way in the 95 years since our founders Frank and Alice Fowler first opened their cycle shop in Bristol’s Grosvenor Road. In 1926 a new motorcycle would set you back around £20, which sounds an unbelievably small price tag compared to today, but the average wage was only £2 a week at the time.
It’s hard to imagine now, but motorcycles were a relatively new concept then – Excelsior, Britain’s first manufacturer, only began production in 1896. Over the following 30 years the pace of development was dramatic, making the Roaring Twenties an exciting time for motorcyclists.
Early motorcycles were effectively bicycles fitted with petrol engines; riders pedalled to start them, there were no gears and the bicycle-type brake blocks would struggle to stop a human-powered vehicle.
By the outbreak of the First World War, technology had already bounded forward. Triumph’s Model H had no pedals, and was propelled by a 499cc single cylinder air-cooled 4-stroke motor producing 4hp, delivered through a 3-speed gearbox. The Coventry factory supplied 30,000 of them for the Allied military.
Jump forward another decade and, in 1926, Scott launched the ‘Flying Squirrel’ at the Olympia motorcycle show. A truly unique machine, it had a 596cc, water-cooled 2-stroke, twin-cylinder engine, with a three-speed hand change gearbox, and boasted a top speed of 70mph (110 km/h).
Advances in motorcycle sport were equally dramatic. The first Isle of Man TT race was held in 1907, moving to the Mountain Course, still used today, in 1911. This was won by Oliver Godfrey, riding an American-built Indian motorcycle at an average speed of 47.63 mph. To understand just how fast that must have felt at the time, imagine riding a motorised bicycle on hilly gravel tracks at speeds of up to 60 mph, wearing nothing more protective than a tweed suit!
By 1926, most of the TT course was tarmacked, allowing riders to make the most of more powerful and better-handling machines. Stanley Woods made his first TT appearance on a Norton, winning the Senior at an average speed of 67.5 mph. Jimmy Simpson broke the 70-mph barrier that year, lapping at 70.4mph on his AJS.
Women were enjoying more freedom in the 1920s, with a greater amount of economic independence, which allowed them to participate in sports that were traditionally male-only. Marjorie Cottle was the most famous female motorcycle racer, taking a Gold Medal in the 1926 International Six Days Trial on a 350cc Raleigh, and attracting considerable attention from the national newspapers. In fact, there were so many women in motorcycle sport that in 1926 the Motorcycle Manufacturers’ Union honoured them with a banquet in London.
Traffic levels were steadily rising – an impressive 646,295 motorcycles were registered in Britain in 1926 (up from 581,228 in the previous year), almost level-pegging with the 695,634 cars on the road. To help control traffic, the first electric traffic lights in Britain were installed in Piccadilly Circus in 1926 and the police were ordered by the Home Office to crack down on noisy motorcycles – some things never change!