Does anything from the Industrial Age ever get “lost”? All kinds of things get lost, including paintings from centuries ago, religious scrolls and important correspondence. But it’s hard to think of anything mass-produced disappearing. There’s always blueprints, records, or technical specs. Right?
It’s been 122 years since Royal Enfield built its very first motorized bicycle prototype. Two world wars and two depressions later, eight recessions followed by a move to India, meant that this important part of motorcycling’s history was lost.
Any company’s first prototype or production model is an obvious symbol of pride. But it also contains a company’s spiritual DNA. What is the case? A mile away from Royal Enfield North America’s Milwaukee headquarters stands another example of corporate pride, aka the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Gordon May felt Royal Enfield’s history was no different. As an author of books about Royal Enfield’s history and a member of the Royal Enfield brand team, May was recently appointed as Royal Enfield’s in-house historian. How does one go about getting this job?
“At a press event, our CEO mentioned that Royal Enfield’s heritage was so important they had an in-house historian. I realized he was talking about me.”
Royal Enfield’s upcoming 120-year anniversary sparked an idea. During a historical presentation about the upcoming 120th anniversary, May issued a challenge to the Royal Enfield engineering and design teams: Build a faithful, working replica of Royal Enfield’s first-ever motorized bicycle prototype. It was impossible to do this without blueprints or technical drawing, as the prototype had long been lost. Easy-peasy.
A corps of volunteers was formed with a few black-and white photographs, an old 1902 brochure and some illustrated articles from 1901. Enlistees of Royal Enfield UK teamed up with Indian technical center Harris Performance and various vintage motorcycling experts to recreate the oldest motorcycle made by the oldest motorcycle maker still in business.
May summarizes the mission. “For us as a brand, to be able to show our origins and share them with the community around the world is really important.”
The Stanley Cycle Show was held in London, in 1901. This is where the lost prototype made its debut. “Prototype” is a bit misleading. It was for sale, at 50 pounds sterling, or about 4,000 pounds or $5,200 in today’s money. The product was produced, but there are no records of how many units were made. May estimates 200 could have been manufactured.
It featured a 239cc single-cylinder engine that put out roughly 1.75 hp, designed by Frenchman Jules Gobiet who worked closely with Royal Enfield’s co-founder and chief designer, Bob Walker Smith. The French were early leaders in engine design, with De Dion, Peugeot, Société Buchet, and Griffon mills found in many fledgling automobile and motorcycle designs. None other than Harley’s first V-twin, the Model 5-D, was inspired by a Griffon engine.
It was time to bring history to life. Engineers armed with fragments of information began to make educated guesses regarding 120-year-old technologies.
“Our engineers understand disc brakes. They don’t understand drum brakes, let alone band brakes. They know overhead valves, not atmospheric inlets.”
Harris Performance was involved in the creation of the chassis. Some of the prototype is made up of period parts such as wheel rims or hubs. Other parts include handlebars and band brakes. The majority of the time, parts are made using CAD and only old photographs as guides. There was one positive thing about them. A rich history of bicycles meant that frame construction was a well-known process.
Every book ever written about Royal Enfields (including May’s own) assumed the engine was a Belgian Minerva engine, but it turned out to be a copy of a Ducommun of Alsace engine. They used CNC machining to create the crankcase from a single billet aluminium block, while using a De Dion donor cylinder head. The cylinder sleeve was cast iron.
Project Origin may seem to unfairly benefit from recent advancements in metallurgy. But despite the garden shed origins of many early motorcycle “manufacturers,” engine makers were often a separate enterprise. Despite CNC machining, they had access good materials. May explains that the majority of early engines were built from virgin steel and not recycled metals.
Unit construction was a distant innovation on the horizon and with its horizontally split cases, the first Royal Enfield prototype wasn’t typical. This design was designed to prevent oil from leaking out onto the front wheels, which is a safety measure. May asked me how they had hidden this amazing invention from Triumph, the rival brand for over 70-years. May is amused, but she doesn’t laugh.
“Actually, the Royal Enfield Bullet from 1931 also featured vertically split cases, so Triumph certainly wasn’t alone.”
Vertically split cases do offer more flexibility in terms of design for the transmission. Horizontally divided cases, while less prone for leakage, require designers to place the transmission and crankshaft on the same plane.
In 1901, there were few design standards or best practices. Royal Enfield made bicycles, assorted parts and accessories since 1882. The first motorized bikes were simply existing bicycle frames that had an engine attached. What was the “best” way to do this? Answers were only found through trial-and-error. Driving the rear wheel from a forward-mounted engine above the front wheel was an improvement over a front-driven wheel, which resulted in “side slip.” The original rawhide drive belt has been replaced with a modern rubber one.
Who gets to ride Project Origin then? May is the only man who gets to ride Project Origin. He says it requires a lot of operational awareness.
“That was a journey of discovery as well,” May dryly notes.
The throttle is controlled by pulling the handlebar lever, which activates valve lifters. The motor runs at maximum throttle even though the carburetor is adjustable via a lever. Squeezing on the valve-lifter will open the exhaust vents and eliminate the vacuum which draws fuel and oxygen into the combustion chamber. Basically, you just “de-power” the engine to slow your roll.
The tank is the most impressive part. The tank is made of one single piece of solid brass. There are three separate compartments for the oil, fuel, battery and tremblor, instead of a magneto. This is the only way they know because they found a 1902 ad with a simple, line-drawn tank.
For period-correct work you’ll need period tools. To build the tank, they used Victorian soldering tins from that era. The coil wiring was run through brass tubes in the oil and fuel tanks to the cylinder head. Each compartment is divided by baffles. It’s certainly a neat, tidy, and safe-ish design solution.
What are some other notable engineering achievements? The trembler coil offers excellent combustion because it generates a steady stream of spark. The carburetor is connected to a bleedpipe from the exhaust system to help warm the mixture of air and fuel. That’s assuming it starts at all. The carburetor is located beneath the engine with an upward manifold of 18 inches. It can be difficult to start on cold English and Milwaukee days.
“We’ve put towels in boiling water and wrapped them around the inlet to help start it.”
Now to address the question on everyone’s mind: Does it rip? May says it corners well and develops speed quickly.
“I’ve gone pretty fast around bends. It’s good, I feel confident in how it handles.”
So what’s the top speed?
“We had a car ahead filming my ride, and we easily hit 35 mph. I was urging him, ‘Faster, faster!’ since I didn’t know if I was going to make it up the next hill.”
Oil must be injected every 10–15 minutes, as lubrication is total loss. May explains it uses Castrol, so it has “that wonderful smell.” The glass used in the oil pump had to be hand-blown, nicely matching the hand-operated pump.
“The first half-mile, you’ve got billowing smoke. Then it starts to run really cleanly and it’s beautiful. Then, you begin to experience anxiety. There’s a tendency to over-oil things.”
The cost, risk, and complexities of early motorized bicycles clearly wasn’t much of a deterrent. They were addicted then as they are now. Even 120 years on, the thrill of minimalism and mastery over risk is still apparent. Royal Enfield’s Project Origin brings history to life in the best way possible. It’s smoke, clatter, and wide grins. Royal Enfield’s classic slogan says it all. “Pure motorcycling” indeed.
