British

Today in Motorcycle History

Wizard Motor Co

Wizard Motor Company of the Rhondda Valley, near Cardiff

Wizard motorcycle were produced between 1921 and 1922.

The make first appeared in 1914 and was reviewed in The Motor Cycle of August that year, just as war was breaking out. In July 1921 it was released as a lightweight model with a 269cc Liberty two-stroke engine designed by A. W. Wall, with the gearbox linked to the engine in a steel-plate cradle to form a unit. That was then fixed to a bolted-up, four-tube frame with duplex top and bottom tubes running from the steering head to the rear-wheel spindle. The straight-blade front forks had enclosed coil springs and the whole machine was of simple construction with belt final-drive.

Wizard-1921
Wizard Motorcycles 1921

Only four tubes are used in the construction of the Wizard duplex frame.

Wizard Motorcycles 1921

Novel Frame Design.

Originality in frame construction is exemplified by the Wizard motor cycle recently introduced by the Wizard Motor Co., of Rhondda, Cardiff. Here we have a machine following conventional outlines, but arriving at that end by unconventional means.

The idea behind the design has been to produce a motor cycle which would be easy to construct and assemble, with consequently a corresponding reduction of cost. The duplex frame consists of four separate tubes which are bolted to the steering head, and to the rear fork ends.

Unit assembly of engine and gear box is employed, for these components are bolted to a steel plate cradle, which is completely dropped into a lower angle of the frame and secured by two widely spaced cross bolts, thus making for rigidity. Although this frame construction is not theoretically correct, its possibilities and the ruthlessly ingenious elimination of non-essentials show distinct promise. Simplicity is also the keynote of the front fork design, the "blades" being straight and having entirely enclosed springs. The appearance of the Wizard is quite neat.

The Motor Cycle

Sources: Graces Guide, The Motor Cycle


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