Vintage Motorcycle — Handmade Metal Model, Black

An early motorcycle in black iron — the era when a motorcycle was still visibly a bicycle with an engine wedged into the frame.

Handcrafted with rolling metal wheels and hand-painted finish, with exposed engine, sprung saddle, handlebars, spoked wheels and exhaust detail.

Details

• Handcrafted iron frame and body
• Metal wheels that roll
• Hand-painted black finish with applied detail
• Exposed engine, saddle, handlebar and exhaust detail
• Ready to display

The era

The first motorcycles had no clutch, no gearbox and pedals you used to start the engine and to help it up hills. Brakes acted on the rear wheel only, because a front brake on those tyres would put you over the handlebars.

By the 1910s the layout had settled into something recognisable — a proper frame built around the engine rather than adapted to it, chain or belt drive, and a saddle sprung well enough to survive unpaved roads. Everything since has been refinement.