The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles, originally based in Birmingham, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers.
A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd was a British automobile and motorcycle manufacturer in operation from 1909 to 1931. The company was founded by Joe Stevens in Wolverhampton, England. After the firm was sold, the name continued to be used by Matchless, Associated Motorcycles and Norton-Villiers on four-stroke motorcycles till 1969, and since the name's resale in 1974, on lightweight, two-stroke scramblers and today on small-capacity roadsters and cruisers. The company held 117 motorcycle world records.
Zündapp was a major German motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1917 in Nuremberg by Fritz Neumeyer, together with the Friedrich Krupp AG and the machine tool manufacturer Thiel under the name "Zünder- und Apparatebau G.m.b.H." as a producer of detonators. In 1919, as the demand for weapons parts declined after World War I, Neumeyer became the sole proprietor of the company, and two years later he diversified into the construction of motorcycles.
The Honda GB500 'Tourist Trophy' is an air-cooled single-cylinder solo café racer motorcycle. It was first marketed in Japan in 1985 in two 400 cc and one 500 cc versions. In 1989, Honda introduced a third 400 cc version for Japan; and in 1989 and 1990 a 500 cc version was available in the United States.
Matchless is one of the oldest marques of British motorcycles, manufactured in Plumstead, London, between 1899 and 1966. A wide range of models were produced under the Matchless name, ranging from small two-strokes to 750 cc four-stroke twins. Matchless had a long history of racing success; a Matchless ridden by Charlie Collier won the first single-cylinder race in the first Isle of Man TT in 1907.
The 1957 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the ninth F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc. It began on 19 May, with German Grand Prix and ended with Nations Grand Prix in Italy on 1 September.
The Cotton Motor Company, was a British motorcycle manufacturer of 11a Bristol Road, Gloucester, and was founded by Frank Willoughby Cotton in 1918. F.W. presided over the company until his retirement in 1953. The company was reconstituted as E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd, and traded until 1980. The marque was later resurrected in the late 1990s by a business which manufactured replicas of earlier machines.
Unit construction is the design of larger motorcycles where the engine and gearbox components share a single casing. This sometimes includes the design of automobile engines and was often loosely applied to motorcycles with rather different internal layouts such as the flat twin BMW models.
Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies. It later absorbed Francis-Barnett, James, and Norton before incorporation into Norton-Villiers. Henry Herbert Collier founded Matchless as a cycle company in 1878. His sons Henry (Harry) and Charles (Charlie) joined him and the name was changed to H. Collier & Sons.
Robert Leslie Graham was a British motorcycle road racer who competed in the 1930s and 1940s. He won the inaugural Grand Prix motorcycle racing 500 cc World Championship in 1949.
The AJS 500 cc Porcupine was a British racing motorcycle built by Associated Motor Cycles (AMC), which débuted in 1945 with a horizontal-engine designated E90S. The later E95 model was developed with an inclined-engine. AMC produced AJS and Matchless brands at the time.
The AJS 7R was a British 350 cc racing motorcycle built from 1948 to 1963 by Associated Motor Cycles. It was also commonly known as the ‘Boy Racer’, and won victories both for the factory and for privateers right from its introduction in 1948.
The Matchless G80 is a single cylinder 500 cc British motorcycle built by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) between 1946 and 1966. During the 1950s and 1960s, the main export product for AMC was the AJS/Matchless range – the road bikes were very similar, often with only the badges distinguishing one marque from the other; the equivalent AJS being the Model 18.
Richard H. Dale, known as Dickie Dale, was a Grand Prix motorcycle road racer born in Wyberton near Boston, Lincolnshire, England. In 1945 he was drafted into the RAF and served as a flight mechanic, and bought his first motorcycle, a 1939 AJS Silver Streak, while stationed at RAF Cranwell.
The AJS 500cc Model 18 and AJS Model 18S are 500 cc British motorcycles almost identical to the Matchless G80 and both were produced in the same Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) London factory from 1945 to 1966. These bikes represent the end of the era of big British singles, as when AMC merged with Norton production concentrated on twins.
The Matchless G50 is an historic racing British motorcycle made by Associated Motorcycles (AMC) at the former Matchless works in Plumstead, London. Developed in 1958 from the 350 cc AJS 7R, but with the engine capacity increased to 500 cc, 180 G50s were built in the next four years. Although less powerful than its main competitor the Norton Manx the G50 proved highly competitive at three hundred pounds and was faster round bends. If success is measured by longevity then this is the most successful Matchless motorcycle, and high specification replicas are still being produced to this day, although financial problems at AMC ended production in 1963.
The Matchless G12 is a British motorcycle made by Associated Motor Cycles at the former Matchless factory in Plumstead, London. Developed in 1958 specifically to capture the potentially lucrative US market, the last G12 was produced in 1966.
The AJS Model D is a British motorcycle made by A. J. Stevens & Co. Ltd in Wolverhampton between 1912 and 1925. With production halted by the First World War AJS managed to develop the Model D into a popular sidecar machine and it was eventually replaced by the larger capacity AJS Model E.
Piero Remor was an Italian engineer and motorcycle constructor, best known for his work for the Gilera and MV Agusta brands.
