OEC History
Made in Great Britain from 1901 to 1954
Frederick Osborn of the Osborn Engineering Company began manufacture
of motorcycles in 1901 using Minerva and MMC engines. After WWI, his son
John Osborn resumed production of OEC-Blackburne machines, later shortened
to OEC. During the marque's long lifetime models were produced with large
capacity V-twin JAP, Blackburne
and Matchless engines, and with Villiers
two-stroke engines after WWII.
OEC Motorcycles were made in Portsmouth and Gosport. The Hampshire Museum
has several OEC motorcycles, one of which is illustrated here.
OEC Duplex Steering
I saw your email request on Sheldon's EMU for a better understanding
of the famed OEC Duplex Steering arrangement. I attach a simple diagram
which shows the geometry of the system, so you can have an idea of how
it works. Having ridden many miles on these machines, I can testify
to how well it all works, although the worst feature is its large turning
circle and poor manoeuvrability at slow speed and when wheeling the machine
about.
I did also have a frontal collision some years ago with the rear end
of a Jeep which stopped suddenly without warning, which demonstrated the
excellent impact absorbing properties of the machine!!! The damage
looked far worse than it was, as I simply popped the bottom links out and
more or less rode home...
I have also attached a picture of my OEC after the accident referred
to above... Not a lot of people can have ever seen such a sight!
Kind regards
Martin Shelley
VMCC OEC and Blackburne Marque Specialist
OEC Atlanta Duo
Hi Luke, I note you sent an email some months ago to the Sheldon's
EMU webpage asking for information about OEC motorcycles and the Atlanta
Duo in particular. I have been busy of late restoring an old car
so missed seeing your email when it was posted, but I have been the OEC
Marque Specialist in the Vintage Motorcycle Club for over twenty years
now and can possibly help you.
The Atlanta Duo was an unusual machine as you say, and was introduced
in late 1935 for the 1936 season, but only lasted a short while so few
examples were sold and as far as I know, none survive. As you can
see from the attached copy of the catalogue, it was offered with four engine
sizes, and the engine was canted forward to allow a very low seat height
and the petrol tank was fitted under the seat above the gearbox to facilitate
this. It was arguably the first motorcycle properly designed to carry
two people (hence the Duo name), and the contemporary press reports showed
it being ridden by two people.
The frame was based on an earlier design called the Whitwood Monocar,
which was announced in mid 1934 and was in effect a two wheeled car fitted
with the same novel 'Duplex' steering system OEC had pioneered in 1927
and built until the war stopped motorcycle production in late 1939.
This is described in the Sheldon webpage about OECs, and there is a picture
of my 1938 OEC Duplex Commander after I had an accident which shows the
safety benefits of such a system.
I hope this has helped you gain a better understanding of these interesting
and unusual machines which I have been a big interest of mine for many
years.
--
Martin Shelley
VMCC OEC and Blackburne Marque Specialist
Member VCC and VSCC
If you have a query about OEC motorcycles, or can help expand this page
on the history of these classic British machines, please
contact
us.
