Background
PLEASE NOTE THAT AN AUCTION PREMIUM WILL BE CHARGED, ON TOP OF THE HAMMER PRICE, OF 5% (+VAT IN UK & EU ONLY). FROM 16TH JAN'23 THIS APPLIES TO ALL AUCTIONS ON THE MARKET, AND FEES ARE MIN CHF720 / MAX CHF7,200.
In 1891 needle manufacturers George Townsend & Co were taken over by entrepreneurs Bob Walker and Albert Eadie, who had recently begun producing bicycles. The bicycles continued to be developed, with even a four-wheel unit known as the Quadricycle with a 1 ½ hp engine. However, it was in 1901 when the first two-wheel motorcycle from Royal Enfield was born, and from then on, there was no looking back as the company continued to develop engines and frames, including their famous V-twin, which used a Swiss-made 297cc Motosacoche engine. This engine successfully powered the bike in various competitions, including the John O’ Groats to Lands End Trial.
Production continued through World War One with their biggest bike to date, the 770cc V-twin, which was supplied to the British, Belgian, French, United States and Imperial Russian armies. Following the war, the company was stronger than ever, improving and releasing new models every couple of years up until 1939, when World war Two started, and the company began to produce probably one of the most iconic models of all time, The Flying Flea. A 125cc motorcycle would be released in a specially fabricated cradle with a parachute and dropped with paratroops behind enemy lines.
By the end of World War Two, things had developed further in the motorcycle world, and the introduction of telescopic forks over the old Girder design was a welcomed improvement. This was when the ‘Bullet’ was introduced, with a 498cc engine and fixed rear arm which would later develop into the swing arm rear suspension.
