DKW SB 500

DKW SB 500 left side

The DKW SB 500 was made from 1934 to 1939. About 20,000 were made. The two-cylinder, two-stroke engine produced 15 horsepower that enabled it to reach a top speed of 75 MPH.

DKW SB 500 right side

MotoGP

Martin, right, challenges Aprilia Racing teammate Marco Bezzecchi for the lead on lap 25 of the French MotoGP race at Le Mans, May 10, 2026 [Loic Venance/AFP]

Brough Superior 1924 Bert Le Vack Racer

Brough Superior 1924 Bert Le Vack Racer 1000cc

From Brough Superior:

S.S.100 and the Challenge for World Speed Records

In 1924, riding Brough Superior’s latest model, the S.S.100, le Vack attempted the motorcycle world land-speed record at Arpajon, France (later on a straight road near Montlhéry). He achieved an astonishing average speed of 119.05 mph (approx. 191.5 km/h), breaking the absolute motorcycle speed record of the time. This sensational feat was celebrated as the moment the “100-mph barrier” was shattered. In that same year alone, le Vack set a total of nine world speed records. Later in 1929, riding an improved Brough Superior machine, he pushed the record to 126.75 mph (207.33 km/h), reclaiming the title of world’s fastest. These achievements firmly established the S.S.100 as the fastest motorcycle of its era.

Bert Le Vack

Brough Superior has appeared here before.

Benelli 250 DOHC

Benelli 250 DOHC

Ask Google about the Benelli 250 DOHC, it returns a bunch of Benelli motorcycles with 4 cylinder engines, which this clearly is not. But down at the bottom of the page, I found this old Cycle World article:

The FIVE GREATEST Motorcycles of All-Time - Number Three

1939 Benelli 250

Third pick is a little obscure, but I like it because it gathered up a bunch of ideas, made them work well and glorified them with success. It’s the Benelli 250, which put together an aluminum dohc top end for cooler operation, cam drive by gears and (eventually) an oil cooler. It brought distinction to its makers and to engineer Giuseppe Benelli through the 1930s and ‘40s. When, after World War II, engineer Alfredo Drusiani suggested to Mondial that a “real” four-stroke would whip all the yapping 125cc two-strokes of the late 1940s, he was thinking of this Benelli. Subsequently, Mondial was 125cc World Champion in 1949, ‘50 and ‘51. When MV needed to up their 125′s performance, they bought a Mondial, and Soichiro Honda took one back to Japan for study. That’s quite a chain of creative disturbance for a little old 25-horsepower Benelli from the early 1930s.

DOHC - Dual Over Head Camshafts 

BSA Lightning

BSA Lightning

BSA Lightning was produced from 1965 to 1972. Originally Lightnings displaced 650 cc, but someone has increased the displacement on this one to 840 or 850 cc. 

Silk 700S

Silk classic two stroke

The Silk 700S was a two-stroke, water cooled, twin cylinder motorcycle built in England between 1975 and 1979. A high power-to-weight ratio meant it was fast with a top speed of 110 MPH.

Crazy Racing Sidecar

RYDE Sidecar Racing Chassis

Guy in the UK has built his own custom sidecar chassis along with his own four cylinder, two stroke, inline race motor.

Colin Seeley

Number 55, Seeley-Weslake 750, 1972

Colin Jordan Seeley (1936 – 2020) was a British motorcycle retailer who later became a motorcycle sidecar racer, motorcycle designer, constructor and retailer of accessories. In 1992 he was involved in running the Norton Rotary race team.

Colin got started with motorcycles when he was 16 and for 20 odd years he was a prime mover in motorcycle racing. Ask Google for a Seeley 750 and you get a bunch of Honda CB750s.

I found another picture of this bike on flickr

Two Wheel Transport

How e-Bikes are Killing Motorcycles - Aniioki A9 Pro Max Review
FortNine

I fully expect the government to weigh in on high-power electric bikes any day now.

The Janus Halcyon 250 is Dangerous and Wonderful
FortNine

Weird combination of custom throw-back and economy import. It's like a 1930's bike made with modern manufacturing techniques.

The government is legally required to drive you over this bridge*
Chris Spargo and Evan Edinger

We've got bike lanes all over Washington County, but you'll see a zillion cars before you see a bicycle, and that's good, because I hate seeing bicycles in the bike lane next to traffic flying by at 50 MPH.

1937 Model 8 350 Sports Sunbeam

1937 Model 8 350 Sports Sunbeam

More pictures of this bike here.

Sunbeam Cycles made by John Marston Limited of Wolverhampton was a British brand of bicycles and, from 1912 to 1956 motorcycles. - Wikipedia

1937 Sunbeam Model 8

Wolverhampton History & Heritage Website has a bunch of pages about Sunbeam Motorcycles.

1929 Dunelt 350 Majestic Twin Port Sports Motorcycle

 

Dunelt 350 Majestic Twin Port Sports

Dunelt 350 Majestic Twin Port Sports

1n 1931 Dunelt started using engines made by other companies. I suspect the engines in these bikes are overhead valve engines made by JAP (J. A. Prestwich), an English company. Which means these are probably 1934 models.

JAP 500cc Engine

Motorcycle Money Laundering

The Snowboarder, the Italian and the Motorcycle Money Laundering Scheme
FortNine

This is such a great story, it's like a mini crime thriller.

Hawala is kind of curious. Wikipedia has a page. Newsweek had a story nine years ago: 

Hawala: The Ancient Banking Practice Used to Finance Terror Groups

Italjet Dragster

Los Angeles Magazine had a story about Ryan Wedding and his motorcycles:

The MotoGP Collection No Private Collector Should Have

P. S. The Bugscuffle Gazette has a post up about Hawala.

 

1923 Dunelt 499cc Supercharged Two Stroke Motorcycle

1923 Dunelt 499cc Two Stroke Motorcycle

Everything here comes from Historic Vehicles' page about Dunelt Motorcyles and their unusual supercharged, two-stroke engine:

Dunelt two-stroke cylinder with stepped piston – Montagu Cars and Motor Cycles

The patented Dunelt 499cc engine had a cylinder barrel with different upper and lower bore diameters, in which slid a ‘stepped’ piston with two matching diameters.

The pistons were double diameter and also bi-metallic, with an iron/steel section cast in for the ring grooves – not cheap to make.

Where a standard-bore engine had 499cc-limited mixture induction and transfer ability, the Dunelt engine could suck into its crankcase and transfer into the cylinder about 770cc of charge petrol-air mixture.

A deflector piston ensured that most of that mixture remained in the combustion chamber.

This basic form of supercharging had the desired effect and, in conjunction with a heavy flywheel, earned the Dunelt a reputation for being a torquey, ‘slogging’ engine that lent itself to sidecar applications, including commercial service and delivery tasks.

That wasn't the only unusual feature of the engine. It also had a one piece, forged crankshaft and a one piece connecting rod. Go read the whole thing. 

Also, a Dunelt motorcycle was the first to cross the desert from Cairo to Siwa Oasis and back in 1924.

Siwa Oasis

Siwa Oasis is 350 miles from Cairo as the crow flies.

The oasis is in a deep depression that reaches 62 ft below sea level. . . . The depression is fertile due to both natural flowing artesian wells and irrigation. . . . The oasis supports the cultivation of thousands of date palms and olives. - Wikipedia

1938 FN Motocycle

FN racing motorcycle ridden by René Milhoux in 1938

1938 was the last year for FN before the war.

FN GP Works Machine 1938 500cc OHC

Above photo from Michel 67. He has several other photos of this machine, and a bunch of other motorcycles.

At the end of 1930, FN held 33 World Records.

Some motorcycle history sites:

• Motorcycle Timeline - 1938
• Classic Bike Hub - Reference: A to Z classic reference: FN – Fusi
• Cycle World - History of FN

URAL M62

URAL M62

Ural motorcycles are still being built. The company's headquarters are in a suburb of Seattle, the factory is in Kazakhstan. The company, Ural Motorcycles, has a history of the company along with some photos.

M-72 motorcycle engine (external view with cutout)

Ural Motorcycle Factories

Production started in Moscow in August 1941. A couple of months later the factory was moved east to Irbit. In the late 1950s, the factory was moved to west to Kiev. In 2022 the factory was moved again, this time to Kazakhastan.

Ural Motorcycles have been here before.

1936 Indian Chief

1936 Indian Chief

1936 Indian Chief

Power is from a 74 cubic inch V-twin, which is connected to a foot-operated clutch and a right-hand-shifted three-speed transmission. The bike was refinished to commemorate the Massachusetts state police with two-tone blue paint and gold accents. The tank that holds 3.7 gallons of fuel and 3 quarts of oil separately. The double-cradle, hardtail frame is brazed and lugged. Brakes are mechanically-actuated drums. A leaf-spring trailing-link fork and a seat-post spring comprise the suspension.

Information from Bring A Trailer, which has a bunch more photos.

Motorcyclist has a fine story about the 1936 Indian motorcycles.

1912 Indian

1912 Indian Beltdrive Single 500cc IOE

1912 Indian Beltdrive Single 500cc IOE

National Motorcycle Museum:

From the beginning of production in 1902 Indian built all its motorcycles with chain final drive. But for 1911, to be more price competitive, the company experimented with selling cheaper-to-produce belt drive on its 4 horsepower single. Meanwhile, from the very beginning Harley-Davidson, and most other makers in that first decade, used belt drive.

Needing a couple of pulleys, a belt and tensioner, no sprockets, clutch or chain, the belt drive system was cheaper to produce than chain drive. Belt drive was all Harley-Davidson used until 1912 when it finally switched to chain drive. Belt drive Indians are, therefore quite rare being made only two years first in both a 2 3/4 horsepower and 4 horsepower models, then only 4 horsepower machines. Sophistication also shows in Indian’s use of shafts, universal joints and bell-cranks for ignition and carburetion controls as opposed to cables on most other brands. Colors for 1912 were the standard Indian red and optional Royal Blue.

The clutch for the belt drive is hand operated, using the large lever to the left of the fuel tank. The final tension was designed to lock in, but the rider could dial in a bit of slippage for starts, and if an extreme hill was encountered. Adjusting an idler compensated as the belt stretched. Of course the belt drive system suffered in wet conditions, and in Indian engineers’ minds was unacceptable for the power of their v-twin machines then of 61 cubic inch capacity.

1921 Raleigh 700cc Flat Twin

1921 Raleigh 700cc Flat Twin

From the other side you can better see the layout of the engine:

Raleigh 1921 Flat twin 700 cc 2 cyl sv

William Comery, Raleigh’s chief engineer and Works manager, developed a luxury machine that had many novel  features. 

It had a longitudinally placed  flat twin side valve engine with outside flywheel, fully enclosed all-chain transmission, Brampton Biflex front forks and leaf sprung rear frame. 

Between 1917 and 1919 tests were carried out with a prototype and in November 1919 the definitive model was presented to the eager  public. 

Engine capacity was increased to 698 cc (the prototype had 654 cc) and the gearbox housing was now an integral part of the frame. 

Another interesting feature of this Raleigh is  that it has  twin springs to each valve to ensure efficient cam profile following. - Yesterdays Antique Motorcycles

Jawa 500 OHV Rumpál

Jawa 500 OHV Rumpál

The Jawa 500 OHV became the very first motorcycle of the new Jawa company in 1929. It is a copy of the Wanderer 500 from the German company Wanderer. The name 'Jawa' was derived from the combination of the names “Janeček” and “Wanderer”.

Features:

• shaft drive
• front leaf spring
• single cylinder but dual exhaust
• external valve springs
• drum brake mounted on the transmission

Just over a thousand units produced between 1929 and 1931.

Jawa 500 OHV rumpal 1929
motoveteran.cz

Terrot Motorcycles

1928 Terrot Motorcycle

Wikipedia knows something about Terrot Motorcycles:

Terrot was a motorcycle manufacturer in Dijon, France.

Charles Terrot and Wilhelm Stücklen had founded a machinery factory in Cannstatt, Germany in 1862, and Terrot added a branch factory in Dijon in 1887, and in 1890 the Dijon factory added bicycles to its products.

In 1902, the Dijon factory made its first motorcycle. It was powered by a 2 bhp engine supplied by Zédel of Switzerland. After that, Terrot built motorcycles with engines from 173cc to 498cc from proprietary engine suppliers including the Swiss manufacturers MAG and Dufeaux, the English makers Chater-Lea and JAP along with Givaudan engines from Lyon, France.

Terrot produced its first twin-cylinder model in 1905. From 1915 onwards, it supplied 500cc machines to the French Army. In 1921, Terrot launched new two-stroke models: the 175cc model L and the 267cc model E. In 1925, the latter model was developed into the 250cc model F. From 1923 onwards, Terrot also produced four-stroke models. First with a 350cc JAP engine. From 1927 onwards, also with a 500cc engine. In 1926 Terrot began to make its own four-stroke engines. In 1929, the company produced its 100,000th motorcycle.

After the Great Depression a new class of vehicles, motorized bicycles, was introduced.

In 1932, Terrot entered motorcycle racing and won a triple championship, winning the French 250cc, 350cc and 500cc classes.

In the Second World War Terrot supplied the French Army with sidecars: the model GT from 350cc to 750cc and the model DT from 500cc to 750cc.

In 1951, Terrot produced its first motor scooter, called VMS. In the 1950s, the company focused on the market for mopeds and lightweight motorcycles.

In 1958, Peugeot took over the company. In 1961, production ended at the former Terrot factory.