Excelsior J.A.P

[vfactory]

There is a picture in the photo section of a Excelsior JAP.. does anyone have any information about this bike? Is this is a replica? I'm looking for more information regarding this particular type including specifications etc.

There are some accounts of Excelsior Germany (1901 - 1939) Excelsior Fahrrad Motorad-Werke in Brandenburg using JAP engines.. but I cannot find any information and photos of these.

Please correct me if i am wrong but Excelsior England and Excelsior Germany were two different entities right? any information will be appreciated. Thanks

[geoffus]

german and uk excelsiors two difrent factories when sold uk excelsiors in germany renamed bayliss and thomas  as for the excelsior jap i can not be shore but looks ok  geoff

[33d6]

To confuse matters further there was the American Excelsior as well. No connection to either the British or German firm.
Probably easiest way to get the info you seek is to buy copies of all the relevant catalogues from BMS.
They aren't expensive and they tell you all you need to know. They  have a very good range of years.
Excelsior information is very patchy and this is about the only way you can fill in the gaps.
Cheers, Bob

[vfactory]

Thanks for the information. I'll contact BMS to find the most appropriate ones. I'll post my finding here.

[geoffus]

having had a little more time to look at the Excelsior J A P it definitely as a English Excelsior frame its a pity you can't see the other side as this would tell you a lot more mainly the racing Excelsior Jap were 250 or 175 and carried on into 1933 after which it was overtaken by the 250 mechanical marval the German Excelsior also used JAP motors of various sizes i hope this helps a little but without knowing more about the one in the picture I cannot say it is a raceing motor but it seems fairly genuine to me I have seen a few there are still running and it look identical  regards Geoff

[vfactory]

you can add a 500 to that list.. as shown on the Austrian Motorcycle Museum website.
http://www.motorradmuseum.at/rundgang/main9.html#brit


The frame appears to be the same and consistent with other more common models of Excelsiors. The photo on VB however seems to be off a 250 model.

[DM]

Looking in the 1932 and 1933 Excelsior catalogues there are similar 500cc bikes, the B14 and C14. These have single port special racing engines, burman 3 speed close ratio boxes and webb racing forks with hand operated shock absorbers. Max speed in the region of 100mph.
I have a 500cc Excelsior J.A.P project, which I am fairly certain is a works experimental bike raced in the 1932 Senior TT. If you come across any information on these bikes I would like to hear from you, as ten months of searching has turned up very little information.
DM

[vfactory]

Excelsior, when taken over by Reginald & son Eric Walker, after first world war became heavily involved in racing. British Excelsior as it was then known produced a range from 98-1000cc motorcycles mostly powered by JAP, Blackburne and Villiers engines and an 850cc Condor engine.
First notable racing success was the Lightweight TT race on a B14 in 1929.
Excelsior won the Lightweight TT race again on the 250 Mechanical Marvel in 1933.
From records it appears that many J.A.P powered machines were entered in the TT races throughout those years in different classes. Many machines were custom built using the Excelsior standard frame (girder type) with J.A.P engines. I havn't put these down here as they are many and the data can be found in the book Histor of the TT races 1907-1960.
A J.A.P vtwin racer based around the Excelsior frame.

As information is limited I hope that someone will see this and add to it. Although Manxman & Mechanical Marvel are well documented the J.A.P powered Excelsior racers remain rather unknown.

I've been told by a gentleman that Excelsior had a surplus of rolling chassises after their deal with the Russian fell through due the revolution. These frames were later on used upto the second world war. fact or fiction i don't know.

DM.. there were 3 Excelsiors in the Seniors.. finishing 5th, 17th & 18th.. would have been J.A.P or Blackburne powered by can't tell at the moment.

[DM]

Heres a picture  of a B14

There were two more Excelsiors in the 1932 senior that did not finish, ridden by Syd Crabtree and Harold Warburton. (From race information on the Manx Heritage site)
There was a picture of Syd Crabtree at the 1932 TT looking at an Excelsior fitted with a return sump J.A.P engine carrying the number 23 in an old issue of the motor cycle, unfortunately I dont know the date of this issue.
The bike that finished 17th was a B14 with a twin mag J.A.P engine fitted ridden by Dave Brewster, Mentioned in the article "Racing with Excelsior" in the Autumn 1986 issue of Calssic Racer.