Lot details Registration No: JOK 351 Frame No: 8232 Engine No: 4978 cc: 98 MOT Expiry Date: None
Although there were Excelsior named motorcycles made in Chicago, USA, from 1907, in the UK, the Bayliss Thomas and Company run Excelsior name will be more familiar. Like so many motorcycle makers, they started off producing bicycles and, later, having added Minerva engines to motorise them - they had become motorcycle manufacturers.
R Walker was the new owner from 1919 and employed JAP engines, some of which transported racing customers round Brooklands and the Isle of Man. From the 1930s, Villiers also supplied Excelsior with engines for the 147, 196 and 247 models, and JAP powered their 245 and 300, and pre-WW2, the marque produced really racey machinery like the Excelsior Manxman with its 349cc single cylinder four-stroke engine. Following the war, though, and the firm concentrated on making Villiers two-stroke engined Consort, Talisman and Roadmaster lightweight motorcycles, a Sutabyk scooter and even more sensible Auto-bikes as exemplified by the machine being auctioned here today.
This Excelsior Auto-bike does have the advantage of some Beaulieu provenance, though, being acquired by the National Motor Museum Trust in 1976. During the past twenty years, it has spent much time in storage due to space restrictions in the exhibition areas. We understand that the 98cc capacity single-cylinder machine has fair paintwork, though some of the brightwork is pitted and, after the recent inactivity at the Museum, clients are advised that the mechanical components will require some careful recommissioning.
All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.
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