Dalm Motorcycle circa 1910

[monagg]

I was wondering if anyone can help with giving me an understanding what this motor cycle is worth.  I live in Adelaide, South Australia and the motor cycle was restored a number of years ago by my father, who has since passed.  It is a Dalm, circa 1910 and still runs, however the drive belt is missing.  From memory he only rode it a couple of times and it has been parked inside since 1995 after he passed.  I have attached some photographs.  I can supply more photographs if requested.

[Rex]

Rather than ask the opinions of us ill-informed and cynical bunch, why not contact Bonhams or similar? Although they'll puff up it's potential value in an effort to get you to enter it into one of thier sales, at least you'll get a more commercially-based valuation.

[cardan]

Hi Monagg,

Nice little machine. Determining value begins with understanding what you've got, and here two factors are paramount: date and performance.

A 1914 or earlier date is important in the UK - it ensures eligibility for the Pioneer Run and boosts value considerably. The earliest mention I can find for the Dalm motor is in the 26 Nov 1914 issue of the Motor Cycle, where announcements were made of new motors and machines for 1915. Not sure who actually made your bike (could be someone else using a Dalm motor), but in any event a date earlier than 1915 is going to be hard to argue. Unlikely that anyone would be keen to ship it to the UK. In Australia the "veteran" cut-off date is the end of 1918. Your bike might fit in there, but then many 1919 bikes looked very similar to their 1915 bretheren, for obvious reasons. If you can prove pre-1919 build, there may be some interest from potential entrants in the National Veteran Rallies in Australia.

Of course no one will want to buy it if it doesn't go well enough to rally. Many early two strokes don't perform well unfortunately. Often this is because of the attention paid to detail in the restoration (very little wear can cause grief - replacement deflector pistons are difficult to find - and air leaks are disastrous), but sometimes I suspect the designs might be a bit iffy! The Dalm should be reasonable (at 318cc it's bigger than most), but I know someone who owned a Dalm in his early days - maybe this one as it was in Adelaide - and 50 years on still moans about its lack of performance.

Value? Lots of fun! Join the Veteran and Vinatge MCC of South Australia and come out on a rally - at the "Tiddler's Run" last month you could have veritably whipped the 1914 211cc single speed Radco! Want to turn it into money? I think you'll just have to put it on eBay and see what you can get - something if you can prove it's pre-1919 and not much otherwise.

I'm happy to pop around and have a look if that's of any use.

Cheers

Leon

 

[cardan]

Just to highlight the dating problem, Dalman used the same illustration of their 2 stroke motor in their 1919 advertising. This one comes from inside the back cover of the Motor Cycle on Christmas Day, 1919. Of course the real metal may have been diffferent. e.g. Does the magneto chain cover say DALM or D.A.L.M.?

Leon

[cardan]

I mentioned above that the bike itself may not be Dalm. Having a quick look, I'm fairly certain that your "Dalm" was assembled in Adelaide. "The Mail" for 10 Jun 1916 has an article:

"Dalm Two-stroke.
A consignment of Dalm two-stroke engines have been landed and unpacked by the South Australian wholesale agents, Messrs. J. N. Taylor &. Co., Limited. These are being built into two-stroke mounts locally, and the completed article looks neat and attractive..."

J.N. Taylor were wholesalers, but I believe they did assemble bikes as well as import them. (I have a c1921 8 h.p. Victor Blackburne which I believe was assembled by JNT using Blackburne motor, Burman gearbox and R. Walker & Son (Excelsior) frame set.) It seems that the Dalm motorcycles were sold by the Wyatt Motoria in Adelaide as the "Wyatt Dalm" - Wyatt could have assembled them, but my guess is they simply sold the bikes Taylors assembled. At least some used a two speed gearbox, and judging from the advertising most seem to have been built pre 1919. Not sure about the origin of the frame set; I'm not familiar with the lugs but they may also be from a UK source, perhaps RW&S.

So, subject to confirmation and more research, I'd say you have a c1916-17 "Wyatt Dalm" motorcycle, assembled in South Australia. Nice.

Leon

[cardan]

In 1920 there was a "second coming" of Dalm-engined bikes in South Australia. The long-established Bullock Cycle Works advertised the Bullock Dalm for a while; at the end of September there were ads like "BULLOCK'S "Dalm", 2-stroke Motor Cycle, New shipment just arrived; 80 guineas, - 101, Pirie-st." It would be tempting to say that J.N. Taylor assembled these bikes as well, but "new shipment just arrived" is vague enough that where they came from is anyone's guess.
Leon