Firsts The earliest known illustration of a motorcycle Date 1818 (I will settle for the year here) Name Velocipedraisiavaporianna This print is reproduced in "Motorcycles, a technical history" by C. F. Caunter though it is doubtful if the machine was ever built. First Motorcycles just the builder and year and this one refers to prototypes. 2pts each. UK Holden 1897 France Michaux-Perreaux 1869 Germany Daimler 1885 US Roper 1869, These are the countries I have references for, there is a bonus for coming up with verifiable firsts for other countries. Manufacturers Several started by producing something else. Ignoring bicycle manufacturers name them and what they were noted for before getting into motorcycles. This one is subjective and I will trust you to mark it yourselves. I will add Douglas though, they started as iron founders making anything from shoe lasts to manhole covers. Some unexpected people produced prototypes which never made it to production. Which razor blade manufacturer did? Wilkinson Sword and on checking they did build a production model Up to WW2 a lot of firms made wide use of bought in engines. One point for each engine supplier you can come up with. This one includes tricycles. Another badly framed question, sorry. Should have been significant suppliers. And I should have excluded post WW1 trikes. Platypus listed a lot but BSA for example never supplied engines to all and sundry. Try De Dion, Minerva, MAG, Fafnir, JAP, Blackburne, Villiers, White and Poppe and Rudge (Python). Miscellaneous The sidecar replaced what? The forecar, that replaced the front wheel of the bike with twin wheels and a seat. What system was used to indicate engine size in the UK prior to WW2? The RAC system of calculating nominal horsepower. I have not looked at the web site cited yet but this system was a logical devlopment of the use of nominal HP for steam engines. What was a Snowden? The under 150cc bikes built to qualify for a reduction in roadtax in the 1930s introduced by Philip Snowden. Source Ixion as quoted in Motorcycling in the 1930s by Bob Currie. How did the Gold Star get it's name? The prototype based on the Empire Star lapped Brooklands Outer Circuit at over 100mph thus qualifying the rider for a Gold Star. Racing What was unusual about the early TT races? Any of the following. There was a limit on petrol used, twins and singles had different capacity limits and there were supposed to be separate trophys for twin and single winners. Last sidevalve to win a senior TT? Sunbeam. Note Rudge never produced a sidevalve. Only Inlet over exhaust and four valve models Which firm took 1,2,3 in a TT race with new bikes? Rudge in the 250. Which firm produced a V8 racing engine for the TT? Motor Guzzi I will leave this for a while, though I will respond to requests for clarification if any questions are ambiguous. Ken Young
