rear wheel springing

[dillyman]

I have tried for ages to identify a motorcycle which I once saw in France about twentyfive years ago! It had a very singular rear wheel suspension which included a rearwards extension of the frame and a single large coil apring mounted vertically behind the rear wheel. Anyone got any ideas?

[george_the_second]

hello Dillyman after reading your discribtion I realized that I have seen  a bike like that on zolder in belgium in 2007
I was standing next to it before the start of the our classic race and it looked hugh and long.
A friend of mine took the picture and I can't remember seeing a more weird construction apart from a bohmerland maybe.
As you can see it is a rene gillet that is all I know about it,I hope this will help, regards george the second
ps I have more pictures but need your private e-mail to send them (better resolution)

[cardan]

What a design! I wonder if it was a Rene Gillet original or someone's home-built dream machine. Around WW1 there was a flurry of designs for rear springing, and suspending the rear to a frame behind the back wheel was tried by a few designers including Australians Saville Whiting http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/australian/html/whiting.htm and Bill Tanner http://users.senet.com.au/~mitchell/australian/html/mostyn.htm , but until this thread I had though the idea died a natural death in the 1920s. Clearly not! Leon

[RichP]

Isn't it a Type K ? Built in the early 1930s as a military sidecar outfit. At the same time René Gillet was also experimenting with tracked rear bogies and armoured machines so perhaps it didn't seem so odd then.

According to Negro's 'Motos Militaires de 1900 ŕ 1970', it was well thought of but it's a bit of an ungainly looking solo machine.

[cardan]

We should all visit the Rene Gillet Club website! http://renegillet.free.fr/motos1.htm Fantastic stuff!

Leon

[RichP]

Wonderful. Nobody quite did art-deco motorcycles as well as the French, did they ?

[george_the_second]

It looks impressive and he did get around on zolder with it but I am not sure about the roadholding features of a thing like that.
On the site of rene gillet it seems to be a K model indeed.
Where is mister Dillyman with his comment? it was his Question, regards George the second

[Nomi]

Yes, it's a René Gillet, his look make me think to a 40's Indian, and the constructor has kept the same "design" during 30's-50's.