Remington - another British-made 'Australian' bike

[cardan]

Help please!

Meadowcroft's in Hobart, Tasmania sold several shipments of Remington motorcycles between January 1926 and 1929. They were mostly 1 1/2 h.p. (150cc) two strokes, but one shipment included lightweight Remington JAPs. Two speed gearboxes (Albion, I suspect - one of the bikes was registered as a 'Remington Albion'), with kick starter. So far as I can see, Remingtons were not sold anywhere else in Australia (or England) and I have no clue where the name comes from.

The wobble forks - a lightweight Triumph knockoff - were used on a few lightweights in the 1920s (Warrior comes to mind) but I have no idea who built them.

The Remingtons were British made, and arrived as complete bikes. Any ideas who made them?

Thanks

Leon

[Rex]

Dunno, but I remember he was so impressed he bought the company...

[mini-me]

I remember someone rode one through stubble and cut himself badly, it was a close shave.

After that he went Brazilian I believe.

[cardan]

Thanks for the memory, Rex, I'd forgotten that one.

It might take a while to get over mini-me's imagery!

Leon

[33d6]

About all I can come up with are Verus or Omega with a leaning towards Omega. Unfortunately like everyone else they didn’t waste much advertising space on the smallest and cheapest in their line up so pictures are hard to come by.

[cardan]

I particularly like Verus, because the Wiseman Group would be capable of selling cheap motorcycles to Australia in the late 1920s.

But flipping though books and mags in search of Omega and Verus, I have come across something else that might be even closer.

I think the engine might be AZA, the two stroke made by JAP. Going though the list AZA-powered bike, Monopole comes up. Now there is a surviving Monopole in Victoria, and that fits the bill very nicely indeed.

Now the question might be: is the surviving "Monopole" actually a Monopole, or is is a Remington? I'll ask the owner.

No rest for the wicked.

Cheers

Leon

[R]

No decal on the tank we note - so he's probably waiting for guidance. ?
Youthful rider too.

Best policy is probably to deny everything, and ride fast !

[cardan]

A bit of chatting with the owner, a bit of newspaper searching, and we're almost there.

The surviving bike was rescued many years ago - around 1970 - and the current owner has had it on the road for 10+ years. It was called a Monopole because it looked exactly like a c1927 Monopole. But further research found that there was also a Montgomery-AZA that looked more-or-less identical. There are remains of other similar bikes in Victoria.

Looking through the newspapers, I came up with a March 1926 advert from Rogers Bros in Melbourne, saying that they were  "sole agent for the famous MONTGOMERY 1 1/2 h.p. Engine, manufactured by J.A. Prestwich, separate magneto, 2-speed gear box... GOOD COUNTRY AGENTS WANTED WHERE NOT REPRESENTED"

Looks like the bikes were sold as Montgomery-AZA in Victoria, and Remington in Tasmania. Not sure if Meadowcroft's brought them in from England, or whether they came through Rogers Bros.

Just a few details to confirm.

Leon

[33d6]

Oh heck. Looks like another plough through the AOMC Montgomery records.
Not having much joy hunting up a 16mm microfilm reader for the Utility records. Microfiche and 35mm readers no problem but 16mm is a different story. I even have to explain what microfilm is in some places.

It’s okay if I can get beyond front desk personnel. Most just look at me in horror.

Still got plenty of libraries, institutes, historical societies and god wot to pester.

[Rex]

You blokes spend a lot of time and effort on these obscure facts from the last century, so are you going to collate it all one day?
You must be the last chance to save some of this information.

[R]

Yes indeed.
I gather this is an update (much needed and appreciated) to Rob Sawards bible on aussie built bikes.
500 + listed - but some were only brief mentions, and much info would seem to have come to light since then,
some on here too.



Cardan also has his own webpages with extensive info on a number of his aussie (and other) bikes,
very informed and entertaining writings indeed. Follow the link at the base of his postings.

[cardan]

Precisely. Either the 2nd edition of 'A to Z of Australian-made Motorcycles', or a more inventive name if we can come up with one.

550+ brands, many of them as 'boring' as Remington, but most actually assembled from lugs and tubes.

When I started doing this, I would have had second thoughts about including Remington once I found out it was not 'made in Australia'. But I guess the purpose of the exercise is to identify motorcycles that were on the Australian market. After all, if you have a pic of grand-dad on his Remington, or his rego papers, or even his actual Remington, you won't find Remington listed in any of the UK books or magazines.

Worth writing down, if we can get it finished. Hopefully the Hs will be finished this weekend. Not the middle of the alphabet, but about middle of the book. Not too many XYZ motorcycles!

Leon

[murdo]

Please put me down for a copy when done, thanks.

[cardan]

Re the Remington:

The printer's block for the Remington is lifted exactly from the 1925 catalogue image of the 175cc AZA-engined Montgomery, so we can say "the Remington is identical to the Montgomery". I suppose Montgomery built the bikes themselves, and sold them to the likes of Monopole and Meadowcrofts (Remington), but of course someone else entirely could have built them and sold them to Montgomery, Monopole and Remington. Luckily it doesn't matter too much for our purposes! Enough to know it was a British bike, rebadged for the Australian market.

Leon

[R]

The printer's block for the Remington is lifted exactly from the 1925 catalogue image of the 175cc AZA-engined Montgomery, so we can say "the Remington is identical to the Montgomery". I suppose Montgomery built the bikes themselves, and sold them to the likes of Monopole and Meadowcrofts (Remington), but of course someone else entirely could have built them and sold them to Montgomery, Monopole and Remington. Luckily it doesn't matter too much for our purposes! Enough to know it was a British bike, rebadged for the Australian market.

Reading the brief history entries for Montgomery these lines caught my eye.

"The company also manufactured frames and other components for rival manufacturers, notably Poppe & Packman, and it was a disastrous fire which led to the eventual passing of P & P; the Montgomery works were totally gutted in December 1925, and as a result Montgomery machines were off the market for two years." This would been in 'tiny Freeth St' Coventry.

"but Montgomery bounced back with a large range of models for a small scale maker, from new premises in Leicester Causeway, Coventry."

Life does not ever seem to have been too dull in the manufacture of motorcycles !