Humber motorcycles

Minerva sold kits to allow engines to be attached to pedal bicycles below the front down tube, making this form of motorcycle very easy to produce.

By 1902 Humber had changed to a chain-driven motorcycle, which Bert Yates rode in various events with considerable success.

These 2HP Humber motorcycles were built under licence to Phelon & Moore with a single-cylinder P&M engine and two-speed transmission.

[6] This had an upright single-cylinder side-valve engine of 83mm bore and 90mm stroke (487cc), with mechanically operated valves, and Bosch magneto ignition.

[7] By the 1911 Olympia show a further model had been added, a 2.75 hp 45 degree V-twin, with bore and stroke of 60mm (340cc), the engine being identical to that of the Humber that competed and won the 1911 Junior TT.

[11] They stuck to their promise, and the air-cooled 3.5HP in-line flat twin was the first motorcycle produced, and at the Olympia Show in November 1919 they released the more powerful 4HP (600cc) version.

[12] The flat twin was the sole model until 1923, and while principally aimed at the sidecar market, a sports version with aluminium pistons was marketed as a solo, however in 1923 they launched a 350cc side valve single, and in 1927 the overhead valve (OHV) and overhead camshaft (OHC) versions of the same machine.