Francis-Barnett
and... What?
Yesterday,afriendbrought some
Morganphotographs into the
museum to showme, alongwith
acouple of motorcycle pictures.
Oneisobviouslya‘built likea
bridge’Francis-Barnettbut the
otherI’mnot toosureabout.Isit
aHarley-Davidson oranIndian?
Thetwoleversbytheside of the
petrol tank areconfusingand
don’t lookrightfor either.
ChrisBooth,TheCMBooth
Collection,Kent.
As some readersknow, Chris
Boothisaworld-leading
authorityonMorganthree-
wheeled cars. He hasrestor ed
Morgans forthe best part of 50
years andregularly drives them
in events,includingthe annual
SMCCPioneerRunand SMCC
GrahamWalke rMemorialRun.
HispersonalcollectionofMorgan
three-wh eeledcars –ranging from
veteran modelsand incl uding
afour-wheeledthree wheeler
(confusingIknow,but th at is
what it is) –are on displayalong
with other vehiclesinclu dinga
Humber Forecar,cycles, tricycles,
acoupleofmotorcycles, models
and automobilia at
TheCMBooth Collection,63-67
High Street,Rolvenden,Kent,
TN174LP.
OpenMonday-Saturday,10am
to 17.30.
Closed Sundays.
As youwrite,Chris,the
attractive Francis-Ba rnettisa
‘builtlike abridge’ modeland in
this caseisa1927Two-Stro ke
SuperSportsModel 9. Powered
by aVillier s172cc (57.15x67mm)
SuperSportsengine mounted in
the famous triangulatedFrancis-
Barnettframe,constructed of
straight, weldlesstubes bolted
together to giveexcellentstren gth,
combined with ligh tweigh t. Due
to this constructio ndesign,which
F-Bregiste red, vintageenthu siasts
knowthemas th e‘builtlike a
brid ge’models.
In 1924 ,Villier slaunche dtheir
first172cc Sports engineswith cast
one pieceironcylinder head and
barrel identified by the prefixT
(Sportswith petroi l–mix of petrol
and oil–fuel/lubrication) or TL
(SportsAutolube with Villiers
patentedautomatic oilingsystem).
Theseengines were builtuntil
1932.This enginewas desi gned
to givebetter performancethan
similar capacity engines and
wassoondevelopedto gi ve even
moreperformancebyahandful
of sportsmen,includingTommy
Meeten whoracedwith successat
Brooklan ds in the 1920 sand was
an accomplishedrelia bilityand
longdistance trialsrider, often
riding 147ccand172cc Francis-
Barnettmachines,preparedin
hisSurrey motorcycle shop,first
in hishome town ofDorkin gand
later at NewMalden.Significantly,
Meeten wasamongthefirstracing
engineerstof ully appreciate the
value of usinganexpansion
chamber aspart of the exhaust
system ofhisracingmachines to
enhance performance.
Meeten wasclosely as sociated
with theFrancis-Barnett factory
of BirminghamandVillier sof
Wolverhampton,who almost
certainly basedtheir development
of the 172cc engineon Tommy’s
work to produce theBrooklands
andSuperSports en gines. Fi rst
came theBrooklandsengine
(1925-34) andthenthe TT,or,
as it is oftenknown, theSuper
Sports ,unit (1926-32).Both have
adetac hablealumini um cylinder
head and whilethe Brooklands
engine has theengine number
prefixYandthe SuperSportsis
accepted tohavethe prefixBZ,
some units have surfacedwith
theprefixXY. Confusing, but
this occurredonone such engine
passingthrou gh my hands a
couple ofyearsago,which,by
enginenumber,dated to 1926.
Francis-Barnet publicity
material descri bedtheir Model
9as: “A real sp ortsman’smount,
this model is capable of 55mph.
Of handsome appearance,its
performancein recent trials
andcompetitio ns,athome and
abro ad,haveplace dthis machine
at the headofits class.Attention
is drawntothe World Records
obtained at Brooklands in August
and September1926.”
We allknowpublicitymaterial
tends to‘enhance’situations,
but, on this occasion,they
underplayedtheir hand,as
earlierin1926 JimmyHallhad
posted ahat fullofBrooklands
records with 99cc and124ccAza
(JAP) poweredFrancis-Barnetts
and14world records including
5kmat37.56mph to 3hours at
35.18mph.
In theirpublicitymaterial,F-B
claimedtheir six175cc world
records for1926 butthen omitted
the six125cc class world records
setbyTommy Meeten from
5kmat53.24mph to 10 0kmat
51.23mph riding abuiltlikea
brid ge F-B, with a147cc Villiers
engine sleeved down to 125cc.An
ideallightweight jockey fortiny
machines, Meetenwas also toug h,
winningsilverand gold medals in
the SixDay ScottishTrial aboard
Francis-Barnettlightweights,
usually solobutoccasionally
with sidecarattached.And
to underlinehis toughness, in
1927 he circulatedthe rough
Brooklandsouter circuitat ov er
54mph forsix hours,covering
over 325 miles onhistiny172cc
Francis-Barnett. Although
nothingtodowith theF-Bstory,
TommyMeeten’s shoptookover
manufactureofSOS machines in
the mid-1930s fromLenVale-
Onslow.
Thelargermachine, bearing
the c1922Hastingsregistration
markDY 1655,is amystery.
While the frontfork is similar to
Harley-Davidso ndesignasyou
writeChris, thetwo lever sbeside
the petrol tank are n’tappropriate
foraH-D.Some Hendersons from
the periodhavethisstyle of front
fork andtwolever sonthe left side
of thetank but the transfer to the
fron toft he tank appears to bear
eitheran MorK.Other thoughts
includelarge capacit yBelgian
motorcycles. Butonthisoccasion
I’mstumped and hopeyou the
reader will helpout.
Thisisunquestionably a‘builtlikeabridge’ Francis-Barnett –inf act,
a1927Super Spor ts Model9.
What this motorcycle and sidecar is ,issomethingofamyste ry.
American?Mainland European?Aspecial? Anyideas?
88 THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019
Youwereasking |Expert advice
You were asking
