Description

1947 James Motorcycle with a Villiers engine.

Seen at Classic Motorcycle Day May 18 2025. Here are all the pictures from Classic Motorcycle Day 2025. You can scroll through the pictures in this window or click on an image and open up a new window in Flickr to view the images.



Check out the gearing on the speedometer.





The James Cycle Co Ltd., Greet, Birmingham, England, was one of many British cycle and motorcycle makers based in the English Midlands, particularly Birmingham. Most of their light motorcycles, often with the characteristic maroon finish, used Villiers and, later, AMC two-stroke engines.

James were prolific bicycle and motorcycle manufacturers from 1884 to 1966. The company was taken over by Associated Motor Cycles in 1951 and combined with Francis-Barnett in 1957. In 1966 the company became one of the many British motorcycle companies forced out of business by Japanese competition.

In 1884, Harold "Harry" James founded The James Cycle Company in Birmingham to manufacture bicycles. The first works were at 121 Constitution Hill. In 1890, the company relocated to a new factory at Sampson Road North in Sparkbrook. James Cycle was converted to a public limited company in May 1897. Harry James retired in 1898, and his partner Charles Hyde took over. Hyde introduced a freewheel mechanism that proved very popular.

In 1902, the company introduced its first motorcycles under the leadership of Fred Kimberley. The first machine was a moped that had foot pedals and a Werner engine powering the rear wheel through a friction roller. In 1908 the first "James Safety Model" was introduced, which used an engine designed by the James company and the first saddle fuel tank on a motorcycle.