1952 photo of Mom and Dad on his bike

[Xlratr]

There isn't really much motorcycle history in my family. Neither my dad or any of my grandparents had a bike, so the motorcycle bug must have somehow jumped from my great grandparents directly to me. This is my great grandmother around 1930 (I think) in northern England, with the family BSA sidecar set up. Unfortunately you can't see much of the bike, but it's the only picture I have (of her too!). Anyone recognise the model of BSA?
John

[oldbike54]

There isn't really much motorcycle history in my family. Neither my dad or any of my grandparents had a bike, so the motorcycle bug must have somehow jumped from my great grandparents directly to me. This is my great grandmother around 1930 (I think) in northern England, with the family BSA sidecar set up. Unfortunately you can't see much of the bike, but it's the only picture I have (of her too!). Anyone recognise the model of BSA?
John

 Roughly a 1925 model based on the flat gas tank and large headlight . Could be a 770 CC Vtwin , very popular as a tug .
What a great pic 

  Dusty

[Lannis]

Roughly a 1925 model based on the flat gas tank and large headlight . Could be a 770 CC Vtwin , very popular as a tug .
What a great pic 

  Dusty

That IS a great pic.   If I were playing "I can name that motorcycle in 3 notes", I'd go for a little bit earlier and I think you're right about it being a V-twin, although MOST outfits back then were 500 singles.

Here's a 1922 770cc, note the tank, logo, and shifter .....



Someone with that bike back then was doing well for themselves ....

Lannis

[Xlratr]

Thanks for the feedback guys! It makes me wonder about the year the photo was taken. For me it looks like one of those "proud of the new vehicle" pics, so my 1930 estimate may be out. Of course, my great grandfather may not have bought it new.
John

[oldbike54]

Thanks for the feedback guys! It makes me wonder about the year the photo was taken. For me it looks like one of those "proud of the new vehicle" pics, so my 1930 estimate may be out. Of course, my great grandfather may not have bought it new.
John

 It might be possible to trace the exact model through the license plate number . Maybe check with the BSA owners club in England, they keep pretty complete records of some very esoteric stuff . Lannis can probably steer you in the right direction.

  Dusty

[BigDave in PA]

Here's a picture that was taken in the mid 50s. Dad's Harley side car rig. My two brothers and I are in the chair. Looking at the pic my older brother Jim is on the left, younger brother Jeff in the center and me on the right.

[oldbike54]

Here's a picture that was taken in the mid 50s. Dad's Harley side car rig. My two brothers and I are in the chair. Looking at the pic my older brother Jim is on the left, younger brother Jeff in the center and me on the right.

 Dave , your older brother Jim seems to be expressing some sentiment with his right hand  Dang , what a great thread 

  Dusty

[BigDave in PA]

December 1972: Dad brought his brand new Eldorado home in the crate on the back of his Studebaker Champ pick up. We un-crated it and got it ready to ride. I bought this bike from him in 1975 and still have it today with 150,000 miles on

[Tobit]

Excellent pics everyone.  Here's my Grandfather, possibly sometime in the late '30s early '40s.  He didn't own a car but had Harleys, Indians, Hendersons and Excelsior at some point or all at once.  A few had hacks to carry the family to church.  I look like him, ride motorcycles and play guitar, just as he did.  Never met him, he passed away before I was born.  My grandmother, his wife, when in her '90s thought I was him more than once.  She would use her walker to come out into the yard and inspect my motorcycles when I visited.

Dapper dude out for a Sunday ride in Puerto Rico.  Can anyone identify this bike from the front?



Rest in peace old man.

Tobit

[Lannis]

It might be possible to trace the exact model through the license plate number . Maybe check with the BSA owners club in England, they keep pretty complete records of some very esoteric stuff . Lannis can probably steer you in the right direction.

  Dusty

I'll have a bit of a look-around ....

Lannis

[Xlratr]

Thanks Lannis. I also acted on Dusty's suggestion and contacted the UK BSA owner club. The national Secretary wrote back already and he's going to have a look if the bike is registered with them.
What did we ever do without the internet? 
John

[Kiwi_Roy]

A couple of photos of my Dad's first wife, she died quite young from some disease that is long since cured.



Can anyone date the two bikes?
It may even be the same bike perhaps.

[Lannis]

Thanks Lannis. I also acted on Dusty's suggestion and contacted the UK BSA owner club. The national Secretary wrote back already and he's going to have a look if the bike is registered with them.
What did we ever do without the internet? 
John

We did things a little slower then, with letters and stamps!

Consensus among the BSA cognoscenti so far is that it's a 1927 BSA 1000cc G14 with a Southport registration issued between 1927 and 1934.   Closer ID will come IF (as you are checking) the BSAOC has it on their registration list .....

Lannis 

[Xlratr]

Thanks very much for checking that Lannis. I appreciate it. That sounds like an expensive motorbike for the time! The mystery deepens a bit because although Southport isn't far from where my family lived, it's also not just around the corner. I wonder how the bike ended up in Bolton, where the picture was taken.
Now I'm really interested to hear if the BSA owners club can shed some light on that. Thanks again!
John

[oldbike54]

Thanks Lannis. I also acted on Dusty's suggestion and contacted the UK BSA owner club. The national Secretary wrote back already and he's going to have a look if the bike is registered with them.
What did we ever do without the internet? 
John

 I          can't          remember    Let us know what they say . With some perseverance even the location can probably be identified .

  Dusty

[oldbike54]

A couple of photos of my Dad's first wife, she died quite young from some disease that is long since cured.



Can anyone date the two bikes?
It may even be the same bike perhaps.

 Hmm , hard to tell from the pics . Probably a 1920-21 Indian .

 Dang , what fun 

  Dusty

[Lannis]

Hmm , hard to tell from the pics . Probably a 1920-21 Indian .

 Dang , what fun 

  Dusty

I think the tank cutouts for the valve gear make it a 1920 H-D "20F" 1000cc ....

[oldbike54]

I think the tank cutouts for the valve gear make it a 1920 H-D "20F" 1000cc ....

 Good catch . Funny how we use different details to focus on , I was looking at fenders , the headlight , and never noticed the cutouts . Even back then certain styling cues can help get the year correct .

  Dusty

 

[ken farr]

December 1972: Dad brought his brand new Eldorado home in the crate on the back of his Studebaker Champ pick up. We un-crated it and got it ready to ride. I bought this bike from him in 1975 and still have it today with 150,000 miles on

A Studebaker family, I see.
Very cool.

kjf

[LeRoy]

My father-in-law rode a motorcycle for his job, as you can see below. That job didn't last too long because he ended up on the wrong side of events. Or, it may have been the right side for him, as it turned out. He and a few of his cohort were rounded up in North Africa in 1942 following the defeat of his boss Field Marshall Rommel and the Afrika Korps. He spent the remainder of WWII in a prisoner-of-war camp in Indiana. Betcha didn't know we had POW camps in the US.

My father-in-law said the time spent in the POW camp was the best couple years of the war. When he was shipped home post-war, he had gained quite a few pounds compared to the lean, hungry and destitute folks left in his German home town. It was no surprise then, that he and many other former German POWs emigrated to the US and Canada in the late '40s and early '50s. That's the generation that lived up to the "hard-working Germans" stereotype.

I believe the motorcycle is a Zundapp although I don't know the type.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

I believe the motorcycle is a Zundapp although I don't know the type.

Looks like a BMW R35 to me. I had the East German version (EMW) here for a while.

[LeRoy]

Looks like a BMW R35 to me. I had the East German version (EMW) here for a while.

Thank you, Charlie. I do believe you've nailed it.

[Tobit]

He and a few of his cohort were rounded up in North Africa in 1942 following the defeat of his boss Field Marshall Rommel and the Afrika Korps. He spent the remainder of WWII in a prisoner-of-war camp in Indiana. Betcha didn't know we had POW camps in the US.

There were hospitals here for POWs too.  Before moving to our new digs six years ago, my business was headquartered in the old Admin building of the Kennedy Hospital, on what is now the south campus of the University of Memphis.  Early in it's history it was a POW hospital for German soldiers. 

Excellent photo by the way.

Tobit

[HarveyMushman]

My grandfather.

[Triple Jim]

My grandfather.

If I knew you better, I could make a joke like "Looks like a real knucklehead."   

[guzzimike]

my Mother and Father on pop's Csepel ( 250cc ) - circa 1953

[canuguzzi]

Probably the last generation that has real photos of anything. Nowadays, with digital cameras few people still take film pics. Just not the same and easily argued, not better.

[HarveyMushman]

Probably the last generation that has real photos of anything. Nowadays, with digital cameras few people still take film pics. Just not the same and easily argued, not better.

At this point digital is vastly better.  Doesn't mean the operator is any good . . .

[davevv]

My dad from sometime in the '30s.  It's the only picture I have of him with a bike, even though he was a Harley mechanic all his life and even taught motorcycle mechanics in the Army at Ft. Knox during the war.