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Today in Motorcycle History

Garrard Manufacturing Co

Garrard Manufacturing Co of Ryland Street, Birmingham 1900 "A works chiefly devoted to the manufacture of cycle chains and cycle wheel gearing"

1900 July. An article about their bicycle free-wheel.

Clement-Garrard were motorcycles produced from 1902 to 1905, in Birmingham.

1902 Charles Garrard began to import the French 143cc Clement clip-on engine unit to fit a standard bicycle. This was sold as the Clement-Garrard. It had an overhead exhaust valve, small crankcase and large external flywheel. Fitted inclined to the down-tube inside the frame, it drove the rear wheel by belt over a jockey pulley. Frames for the new model were made by Norton who also dealt with spares and repairs for Garrard and used a 160cc Clement engine for his own first Norton motorcycle.

1903 A 3hp narrow-angle V-twin model joined the single. It was intended for tandems but was used by Garrard in competition.

1904 A new design was offered. This had the engine vertically mounted just behind the front wheel, its weight hung from the down-tube and braced to the bottom bracket. Most of the frame was occupied by the tank and its compartments. Belt drive and rigid forks continued. They also advertised suspended, leading-link forks and a two-speed gear with chain drive. By revising the frame to suit the engine, the V-twin followed a similar format. A new tandem was announced - a forecar with twin front-wheels 4hp water-cooled engine, three-speed gearbox and shaft drive.

1905 The name is no longer recorded.

Garrard was a motorcycle produced in 1904 by Charles Garrard of Birmingham.

Having been associated with Clement machines, Garrard went on to show a forecar tandem early in 1904. The engine was 4hp and water-cooled, driving back to a clutch, three-speed gearbox and by a shaft to the single rear wheel. Suspension was leaf-spring to the front and pivoted-fork to the rear. The passenger seat was fitted in front of the rider.

Although the machine proved its worth at a hill-climb that year, the idea was not expanded as the machine was, in reality, more of a car than a motorcycle.


Report from the Stanley Show 1902

Stand 167.

The Garrard Mfg. Co., Birmingham, have five complete machines on show, and the actual four-cylinder machine that went up Gaillon Hill at 62 miles per hour. There are two of the chain drivers and one belt drive pattern shown.

The well-known featherweight motor is shown in section, and all the parts can be readily inspected. The two-speed gear machine and parts can also be critically examined. The chain driver, with two speeds, has been exhaustively tested, and is a really fine piece of work. Minor improvements have been introduced into the belt driver, chiefly in the disposition of the accumulator and tool bag. The new contact breaker, known as the Garrard-Maxfield, is a distinct improvement. The demand for the featherweight sets and machines complete is, we hear, very great, and the firm is working at high pressure to cope with the demand. The construction of the Garrard-Maxfield Contact will be readily understood from the illustrations. It is designed to give an exceedingly quick break. This is effected by two spring-controlled plungers separating the platinum contacts so quickly as to prevent the formation of an arc between them, with the consequent rapid wear and weak secondary spark. This new principle the firm claim to give splendid results, firing the motor at even the high speed of 3,000 revolutions a minute even with two volts only on the primary. We intend putting one of these new fitments to a practical test shortly. It is readily attached to standard. C.G. motors by simply unscrewing the old pattern contact breaker and replacing with the new one. It is highly finished and small in size.

Motor Cycling, 26th November 1902

1903 Stanley Show

The Garrard Manufacturing Co.
are exhibiting four Clément-Garrard motor bicycles. The twin-cylinder 3 h.p. machine has the motor fitted in a vertical position. It can also be fitted in an inclined position if the customer wishes it. Two other machines are shown fitted with either surface or spray carburetters, and spring forks, or otherwise. A dial is fixed in the centre of the handle-bar, the control being effected by one handle only. The dial shows the motor cyclist, by means of an indicator, exactly what is being done, whether the spark is advanced or retarded.

The general feature of the spring forks is that they are so constructed that there is no side play whatever. The 1½ h.p. machine, fitted with surface carburetter and belt drive, is sold at a very moderate price. The other two machines on the stand are a 2 h.p. with belt and chain-drive and two-speed gear, and a 1½ h.p. fitted with chain drive and two-speed gear. All the engines are made interchangeable. (Stand 238.)

The Motor Cycle, Nov 25th 1903

Sources: Graces Guide, The Motor Cycle.