Douglas cavalcade 2018 v 4 Douglas

[TonyC]

Hi all,
Attached is a picture of 3 of the bikes that will be at Kingswood heritage museum tomorrow for the douglas cavalcade.
Cheers Tony

[Domas]

Nice! Number 3 has a wrong engine or?

[TonyC]

Hi,
Number 3 is the V4 Douglas engine that was displayed at the Stanley motor show in 1907 and which is fitted in the frame from a 1915 twin cylinder model as described in the Best Twin motorcycle book, or 1919 twin cylinder model as told by the M shed museum in Bristol who are the owners of this lovely machine.
Bike number 2 is the 1907  Douglas one of the earliest bikes in existence
Bike number 1 is my 1913 ladies model
Cheers Tony

[Domas]

Thank you! Just another lesson learned! Is there more information?

[cardan]

I'm not sure why Clew stated that a v-four engine was displayed at the show in late 1907, when the Motor Cycle of the day reported a complete v-four motorcycle was on the Douglas stand, and even carried a photo of it. The original cycle parts were pure Chater Lea No. 6 (from their 1907 catalogue), with a Chater Lea rigid fork.

Cheers

Leon

[TonyC]

More photos attached.
I was told at the cavalcade that a V 4 engine exists in Australia, does anyone know if this is the case?

[graeme]

Hi Tony

I wonder if the thought that a V4 engine might exist in Australia is due to confusion about the Whiting V4, and Mr Whiting having originally used Douglas components in his creation. Here is a link to an article about this fascinating machine which details its' history:

https://www.shannons.com.au/club/bike-news/old-bikes-australasia-the-whiting-an-aussie-v-4from-1919/

Cheers, Graeme

[TonyC]

Hi Graeme,

Such an interesting article, it amazes me how innovative people were in the early days of motorcycling.

Cheers Tony