Return of the Dot
A long dormant British brand is returning to the road. Dot Motorcycles – the name is an acronym for ‘Devoid of Trouble' – produced motorcycles from 1903-1978, making it one of the longest lasting British brands.
Originally built in Salford, the company's two bespoke models will be built in nearby Bolton. The brand has been revived by Dr Anthony Keating and Dr Daniel Keating from Keating Kinetics, with Gary Hewitt and Ian Martin and the owners of the Dot brand.
There are two models, the Dot Reed Racer in café racer trim and the Dot Demon, a scrambler, which were unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Just as the original Dot company used proprietary engines for its machines, the two new bikes also use a bought-in power plant. In this case rather than a Villiers two-stroke single the Dots have a 649cc, 67bhp, DOHC parallel twin.
Just five of each model will be produced in the initial production run and the two models are hand-made and customisable. The first of the new bikes are due to be delivered to customers this month. Dot are already working on the creation of new models and, for the future, electric motorcycles. See dotmotorcycles.co.uk for details.