1934 Zenith LC1 250cc
No Reserve - Formerly owned by racer Basil Keys

Registration No: BPL 654
Frame No: M595
MOT: Exempt

• Formerly part of the collection of well-known racer Basil Keys
• Restored to an excellent standard since 2014
• Said to be in very good running order
• To be sold at no reserve

Freddie Barnes went into business in Weybridge in 1904 and soon started building motorcycles under the Zenith name. Pre-Kaiser War, he enjoyed great success with his patented Gradua infinitely variable belt-drive, but after that became redundant with chains supplanting belts, he turned to building machines with JAP singles and V-twins which proved formidable in competition. Though Zenith’s heyday ended with Barnes’s departure in 1930, it continued to produce well-made machines with JAP engines, such as the lightweight 250cc LC1, which was produced from 1934 to 1940.

This splendid 1934 LC1 appears in superb condition following a recent restoration. The buff logbook indicates that it was been used by Arthur Smallbone of Sompting, Sussex, between 1949 and 1955. Smallbone also owned a 1913 Zenith Gradua which participated in some early Pioneer Runs. It appears that in the 1970s both Zeniths passed to Basil Keys, who started sprinting a Rudge during the 1930s and became a prominent racer, competing in the Isle of Man TT and Brighton Speed Trials. ‘BPL 654’ was sold from the Keys Collection in 2014 needing restoration, which was performed by the present owner to an excellent standard, the tank being rechromed by Derby Plating. The Zenith is said to run well and is accompanied by the current V5C and the 1949 buff logbook. This Zenith is to be sold without reserve.

For more information, please contact:
Mike Davis
mike.davis@handh.co.uk
07718 584217