O Features archive - March 08
O The bottom line
No frills, no fancy…
…just get the owner to and from work as cheaply as possible was the lot of AMC’s James M16. The Gorgeous Biker Chick has a look at one that did just that.
Once upon a time, there was a man called James, and he decided to make a motorcycle and name it after himself. Simple stuff, eh? If only!
Still, I’m half right in my throw away supposition, because the chap in question was actually a Mr Harry James, although his Sunday name was Henry. This was back in the 1880s, when he formed the James Cycle Company, which produced Penny Farthing cycles for a number of years before swapping pedal power for petrol.
By 1897 Harry had retired and left his manager Charles Hyde running the show, but he didn’t hang around too long, and then it was down to a Mr Frederick Kimberly to develop the first motorised James around the turn of the century – some say 1900, others go for 1902. Either way, their first powered cycle was only in production for a few years, ceasing in 1904, then restarting in 1908, after the company had moved to larger premises in Greet, somewhere near Birmingham, which would eventually become synonymous with the production of James Motorcycles.
The Model A, a great name to choose for your first invention, was quite a simple beast, consisting of a 1hp four-stroke Minerva engine affixed to a bicycle frame. A twisted leather belt channelled the power to the rear wheel where it was converted into forward motion, and there you have it – a motorcycle.
Shortly after the big move to Greet, the company produced what they called a Safety model. This featured James’ own 500cc engine with a rather extraordinary set-up, comprising an inlet and exhaust valve that worked one inside the other, with a lever that adjusted the valve lift, which in turn, by using black magic and witchcraft, controlled the forward momentum. The saddle was suspended on leaf springs – great long things they were – and must have made for a comfy, if a little
bit of a bouncy ride, while
the wheels boasted internal expanding brake shoes.
This was followed a couple of years later by an updated model that sported what the company claimed to be the first saddle tank. Not bad for over 100 years ago, but it would seem that the general public weren’t quite as impressed and, sadly, there are no known surviving machines.
In the run up to WWI, James produced their first two-stroke model to go alongside their 600cc single and 500cc V twins. As the war took hold, the company turned its hand to producing lightweight machines for the Belgian and Russian armies, and supplied pedal cycles for the allied forces. Records show that afterwards, the company began turning out many different models again, and from 1928 the big 500cc V twin made its debut on the speedway tracks.
Leaping ahead to WWII, they concentrated once more on lightweights and autocycles for military purposes, as did many of the British bike manufactures. Part of the Greet factory was bombed early on in the war, meaning that full production was halted for three years, but they still managed to provide nearly 3000 motorbikes for the war effort.
In post-war Britain, times must have been hard, but the demand for sturdy, reliable motorcycles was on the increase, both on and off road. To this end, the factory went back to producing a full range of both sidevalve and overhead valve models, from 250cc right through to great big sidecar pulling 750cc beasts, as well as the sporty models which were still doing rather well on the trials and speedway scenes.
- End of online sample -
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