Veteran and Vintage Motor Cycles

First published in 1961, James Sheldon was ideally placed to write this history, which covered motorcycling from its dawn, until 1930, the stillacknowledged cutoff date for 'vintage' motorcycles.

Sheldon was both a trained accountant and a trained engineer, a combination which led the Aberdeen-based enthusiast to offer two sides of the coin in his observations.

What's particularly interesting is in his insights into the pioneer times, so before the First World War, while he's also of the opinion that the period 1910-16 offered the greatest leap forward, while pretty much anything after 1930 wasn't/hasn't been that much of a marked improvement on what went before, more just 'refining' within the set parameters.

Sheldon was there, though, in those pioneering days, and to quote him: "I have seen the motor cycle, from disappointing beginnings, multiply till it overtook the car in popular esteem in the vintage years:'

The book offers all sorts of fascinating stats - that in 1909 Triumph produced and sold 3000 motorcycles for example; it was a 'prosperous' industry, to say the least. In 1910 there were supposedly 36,242 motorcycles in use. By 1916, that figure was 152, 960, and by 1925 it had soared to 571,522, with 724, 319 in 1930. But from then on it fell steadily- to 278,300 in 1940.

There's lots of lovely pictures in the book too - although most are quite small - and lots of great facts to learn. Who, for example, knew that engine maker 'Villiers' was called thus owing to the firm's location in Villiers Street, Wolverhampton, the street named after Charles Pelham Villiers, MP for Wolverhampton from 1835 to 1880.

Long out of print, there are several available on eBay - the first editions

(which have a beautiful colour dust jacket) are between £40 and £50, while the 1971 reprint (shown) are about half that.