Grandad's Douglas

[terraview]

Hi,

Got a note from my father in law with this picture attached and thought you might be interested and am hoping you can help me identify the bike. My wife and I are the only offspring that ride so he sent it to us.

Motor bike racing at Brooklands started in 1908. By 1922, one of the bikers was my own father (1899- 1988). Here he is on his Douglas (photo Douglas 5) which he raced there at weekends. He told me that he used this machine to travel to the office during the week.  On Thursday nights, he would convert it to stripped-down racing configuration. He would have to drive it to work like that on Friday morning and down to Brooklands on Friday evening.

He was an interesting fellow, aircraft engineer for Hawker and lived on the Thames just up the road from Brooklands.

patrick
northern sierra foothills, CA, USA

[Doug]

Patrick,

It is either an S1 (499cc) or and S2 (733cc) model. Also known as the 3.5hp Sports and 6hp Sports respectively. These were introduced in 1921, but this looks to be a 1922 model based on the type of inlet manifold and saddle suspension fitted. These models were offered through 1923. They were Douglas' top of the line sports machine at the time.

-Doug

[eddie]

Patrick,
            This bike looks to be identical to the machine Graeme Brown raced at Brooklands in 1922. There is a photo in Eric Brockway's book "The Illustrated History of Douglas Motorcycles" showing him on the bike which is listed as a 1922 3½HP Sports. Graeme came from Godalming, Surrey and raced at Brooklands with works support for many years. His 1927 Brooklands bike is now in the Brooklands museum - on the S6 float he used for transport!
          Regards,
                        Eddie.