Meller brothers and early competition in Australia

[PeterShannon]

Here is an excellent photo of three of the five Meller brothers.
Edgar is on the right on the 6HP Iris.
On the 3 1/2 Precision is most likely James Edward Meller and standing is Frank Meller.
James in some reports in 1913 and early 1914 was riding a 3 1/2 Iris-Precision or 3 1/2 Iris, most probably the same bike as this photo, before he switched to his 6HP Matchless by April 1914.

Peter

[PeterShannon]

Here is a photo for Leon,
The North Sydney Members of the Sydney Bicycle and Motor Cycle club outside the 'Mosman Motor Garage', run by the St Clair Bros.

The St Clair Bros ran it from March 1911 to 1 August 1918 at 385-389 Military Rd Mosman. Business sold to Hallam and Heathcote on 1 August 1918. Now a block of Units.

The St Clair Bros were Douglas St Clair, who race cycles from 1904 to at least 1906 and in 1910 was a member of Sydney Bicycle and Motor Cycle Club. He rode a 5HP Rex and P&M 3½ HP.
Vivian St Clair rode a 5HP St Clair in 1909 and a 5HP Fairy?? in 1910. And in 1914 George St Clair was riding a BSA. There was also John St clair invoved in racing.

The BSA in the photo may well be George St Clair.

At the far end on 4025 is Edgar Meller on the 6HP Iris and next to him is James Edward Meller on the 3 1/2 Precision/Iris No 4874. Standing at the back at the far end is Frank Meller behind the 5th last bike.

The bicyclist may be James Watson Empson, the constructor of the Iris cycle and motorcycles. He appears in another photo of the Mellers.

Peter

[cardan]

Hi Peter,

Now that's a red rag to a bull! Fabulous photo, and very clear.

Left to right:

4387  6 h.p. side valve Matchless twin
678   8? h.p. overhead valve Matchless twin
4735  ? h.p. Vindec Special, fitted with Truffault spring front fork
Bicycle
3811  3 1/2 h.p. BSA
7211 is mostly obscured, but is another Matchless, possibly a 3 1/2 h.p. single
4304  3 1/2 h.p. Triumph
6842  3 1/2 h.p. Rudge Multi
4160  8? h.p. overhead valve Matchless twin
3615  3 1/2 h.p. Rudge Multi
4874  3 1/2 h.p. Iris (side valve Precision single)
4025  6 h.p. Iris (side valve JAP twin)

The newest registration number is 6842, fitted to a 1913 model Rudge Multi, so I'd date the photo to some time in late 1912 - early 1913.

Re St. Clair brothers in the photo: In 1909, V. (presumably Vivian) St. Clair was listed as riding a 5 h.p. v-twin Clair motorcycle in a Sydney event. Of the bikes present the Vindec Special could be powered by a 5 h.p. Peugeot twin, and date from 1908-9, and might just possibly have "Clair" on the tank. Now I don't suppose there is another photo of this bike? Any of the OHV Matchlesses could be called a "racing motorcycle". No Rex or P&M motorcycles to be seen.

We're on the Douglas site, but any red-blooded Douglas rider would want to know more about a "5 h.p. Fairy" - the Fairy being the predecessor of the Douglas, or something entirely different! 5 h.p. would be uncommonly large for the usual Fairy, but there was a bigger one?

Cheers

Leon

[PeterShannon]

Another photo of 4735 - Vindec Special.
Sorry photo is not scanned at a high resolution.

Peter

[cardan]

Brilliant! Are there more to come? We'll get away with this one because the first nose-out bike is a Douglas. L to R:
7487 2 3/4 Douglas
7211 Matchless sv twin
6727 3 1/2 Triumph
8045 Matchless sv twin
4735 Vindec Special (5 h.p. Peugeot twin motor)
765  3 1/2 LMC, with NSU two-speed gear
Again we're in the same period - perhaps 1913-14.
Leon

[PeterShannon]

There is one more group competition picture and this shows the scene at 9pm at Parramatta on Friday 14 November 1913at the start of the Sydney Bicycle and Motor cycle Club's 24hr Reliability trial. The Trial started at Parramatta, with the first checkpoint at Hartley, then Bathurst, Sofala, Hill End, Mudgee, Capertee, Wallerarang, and back to the finish at Parramatta.

In the photo can be seen Arthur Biden, of Biden and Roberts, in the centre with pipe, standing immediately behind him and partially obscured appears to be Edgar Meller (future campaigner of, and winner of the 1914 Grand Prix on, a 2 3/4 TT Douglas).
Standing on something in the left of the photo towards the back wearing the suit hat and bow tie appears to be William McCarthy, who for many years was an organiser of events as well as a competitor. He owned the Bennett and Barkell Agency in Wagga Wagga, from 1908 to 1916. He organised racing at the Wagga showground and attended both the 1914 TT and GP.

I hope Leon can provide some of his excellent machine identification skills.

Peter

[cardan]

These are just brilliant photos Peter!

Harder to do the ID this time because of the front-on aspect of the bikes.

Left to right:
620 Yet another over-head valve Matchless (Howard will love these!)
5677 A 3 1/2 h.p. Precision-engined bike with a Sturmey Archer 3-speed rear hub. Could be something British like Calthorpe, or could be locally-made.
5325 Something else with a Sturmey Archer three-speed rear hub - possibly New Hudson or similar. Note the fan driven from the engine pulley to cool the motor, and the long range tank mounted above the top bar. He's ready!
4689 c1913 Rudge Multi

Leon

[PeterShannon]

Another photo of James Meller on his 6HP Matchless 8045 (29). The rider on the right on No 51 (27) certainly resembles James and may well be Edgar Meller but I have no record of him riding this bike. The rider at the far end is Arthur Biden on his 8HP Matchless No 7 (30), which is certainly a number that identifies him in a number of photos. The rider on 7453 (16) is unidentified.

[PeterShannon]

Here is a photo that will be of interest to the Australian Douglas riders who are going to the Douglas Rally in November at Bathurst.
I do not think this photo has been publicly seen or been previously published in the last 100 years.
It will be interesting to see what has changed in 100 years.
This is the start of the 1914 Grand Prix



Larger view

[Dirt Track]

G'day all & Leon.
Only just spotted these photos!
Very exciting indeed for me owning a cylindrical tank Matchless of the same period originally owned by Thomas Green the Secretary of the Meeting for the 1914 TT held in Goulburn and also the Secretary of the Sydney Bicycle & Motor Club.
Leon....5325....I reckon it is a Bradbury! Check out the panel work on the tank and also the front down tube meeting with the engine.
Stephen would you be able to email me larger definition scans  please ?
Great stuff.
Howard.

[graeme]

I agree about the Bradbury Howard - I thought that initially when I saw the picture, but didn't speak up in deference to Leon's superior knowledge of veterans to mine!

[Dirt Track]

G'day all
A couple of more observations.....3 photo.
The LMC has it's own make "Auto Varia" and not an NSU gear.
The machine with front end in and behind the Douglas 7487 is an NSU....can't see if it is a single or twin.
Howard.