Blackburne (motorcycles)

File:Blackburne 450 cc 1921.jpg

Blackburne 450 cc 1921

Blackburne was a trade name of Burney and Blackburne Limited a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1913 to 1922 at Tongham near Farnham, Surrey. They were also a major supplier of engines to other motor cycle and light car makers and continued to make these until 1937.

Blackburne Motorcycles

The company was founded by Cecil and Alec Burney who bought the rights to an engine designed by Geoffrey De Havilland. Blackburne motorcycles performed well in the 1913 and 1914 ACU six days trials. Two 499cc Blackburne motorcycles were entered in the ACU six days trial in 1914. In the judges summary of the event they stated that the "Blackburne machines are also worthy of very favourable notice on account of their good engine design". With the outbreak of the war in mid-1914, three directors of Burney and Blackburne Ltd volunteered as despatch riders, these were Cecil Burney, Alec Burney and C.Q. Roberts (also Q.A.Roberts his brother). Reporting back to the Motor Cycle later that year, Alec Burney had lost his machine when it was run over by the heavy artillery during the night. Reporting in November Cecil Burney stated that his Armstrong (hub gears) were standing up wonderfully well, but was adamant that a hand clutch (instead of the common foot clutch) was an absolute requirement.

Blackburne Motorcycle Engines

After the 1914-1918 war Blackburne became a major supplier of engines to motor cycle manufacturers. The following are examples :

• Cotton - 2 3/4hp Blackburne engined model launched at Olympia motorcycle show in 1921, with 2-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox with clutch and kick-start. Cotton were to continue to offer Blackburne engines until 1938 (using stock following Blackburne's cessation of engine manufacture in 1937).
• Wolf (made by Wearwell Cycle Co) - offered a 2 3/4hp Blackburne engined model in 1922, with 2-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox with clutch and kick-start.
• Coulson - offered four Blackburne engined models at the 1922 Scottish show. The 2 3/4hp T.T. with sprung frame, all chain drive and close ratio Burman gearbox less clutch and kick-starter, two and three speed standard touring version of the same bike were also available. Also a 4 1/4hp side valve tourer with optional sidecar.
• Excelsior - At the 1922 Scottish show Excelsior were offering a sporty Blackburne-engined 2 3/4hp machine, with 3-speed gearbox with clutch and kick-start.
• Hawker - From their first machine - a 2 3/4hp 2-stroke- made in 1920, Hawker added two Blackburne engined models in 1921, and made bikes at the Sopwith factory until 1924[1]. A sporty 2 3/4hp, and a 4 1/4hp model, both with 3-speed gearboxes, all chain transmission, and expanding brakes on both wheels.
• Victoria - Although this Glasgow firm preferred J.A.P. engines for the sidecar machines, their 1922 sporty middleweight used the 2 3/4hp OHV Blackburne engine.
• New Scale - This Manchester-based company also exhibited a sporty 2 3/4hp Blackburne-engined motorcycle with Burman 3-speed gearbox at the 1922 Scottish show. They continued to use the Blackburne (and Bradshaw) engines until production caesed in 1925[2].
• Verus and Sirrah - Made by Alfred Wiseman of Birmingham 1919 to 1926[3], the Verus and Sirrah named machines offered various Blackburne (and other) engines from 1920 until the end of production.
• Rex and Rex-Acme (from 1922) - Rex started using the Blackburne engines after the 1914-1918 war, shortly before merging with Acme to form Rex-Acme. They continued to offer Blackburne engines (as well as others) until the great recession caused them to fail in 1931[4]. Using the Blackburne engine they gained TT race wins[5].
• Wilkin - Wilkin Motors was an established motorcycle dealer who decided to make their own motorcycles in 1920 and 1921. They offered a 348cc or 499c side-valve Blackburne-engined model with three speed gearbox and all chain transmission[6].
• Sheffield-Henderson, made in Fitzwilliam St, Sheffield from 1920 to 1923 used initially a side-valve Blackburne engine in 1920, and rapidly moved to offering an overhead valve version[7]. In 1922 their rider Jack Thomas achieved third in the Junior TT with his 348cc Blackburne-engined bike, and L. Padley came fourth in the lightweight TT with his 248cc Blackburne-engined Sheffield-Henderson .
• Hoskinson - A Birmingham-based manufacturer from 1919 to 1922[8]. Hoskinson bikes (and not Hoskison) with Blackburne 2 3/4hp engines dating from 1920 and 1921 appear in adverts for the Motor Cycle magazine in 1922.
• Chater-Lea modified a Blackburne engined version of their 350 bike to overhead camshaft, and managed to get a speed record of 100mph in 1924 (see Dougal Marchant. The 350cc Blackburne engine then became avaialble on Chater-Lea bikes until 1936.

Burney Motorcycles

In 1923 the Burney brothers set up the Burney motorcycle company that lasted until 1925. These motorcycles used engines of Burney's own design and manufacture, which featured side-valves and outside flywheel. While the majority of the engines used were 497cc, a small number of 679cc engines were also built.

Aircraft Engines

Around 1922, Blackburne first ran the Tomtit two-cylinder light aircraft engine based on the Lympne 696 cc V-twin.

In 1924 the company produced the Blackburne Thrush a three-cylinder light aircraft engine. The first engine design was of 1098 cc, consistent with the capacity limit imposed for the 1924 light aeroplane trials at Lympne. The engine was enlarged and improved during 1925 to 1494 cc for further air trials held during 1926. In late 1925 the engine passed the severe Air Ministry 100 hours operational test. There are two known surviving engines, one of 1100 cc and the other the 1500 cc unit at the Shuttleworth museum at Old Warden, although there may be others.

Sporting achievements

Between 1923 and 1930, riders Norris, Harold Beart and Jackson achieved considerable success with Blackburne KMA, KMB racing engine and KMC sports engine powered machines.