French Motorcycles

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Ragot Motorcycles

A Brief History of the Casimir Ragot

Manufactured: 1927-1928 ¹

The L'atelier Motobloc Facebook page (fb.com/motobloc/posts/816389298377005) describes the machine thus: Moto Ragot 1000 cm3 culbuté à compresseur Cozette n°4 de 1924

However, Didier Mahistre points out that the supercharger of this type appeared only in 1925 (and was possibly patented the following year), that the first mention of the Ragot in the press is in 1927, and that although they speak of a four-cylinder engine there is no mention of a supercharger.

Sergio Scalerandi writes:

CRS (Casimir Ragot Special)

El comerciante Casimir Ragot y su hijo Charles fabricaron durante la década de los años 20 en Burdeos (Francia) unos pocos ejemplares de coches deportivos de características mecánicas excepcionales. Casimir comenzó a trabajar a principios de la década sobre un modelo de moto cuatro cilindros en línea inspirado en los modelos de la marca americana Henderson, de la que incluso tomó algunos elementos, como la horquilla delantera. Algunas versiones hablan de que el block es una modificación realizada sobre la base de un Henderson.

Posteriormente el proyecto fue retomado por su hijo Charles quien rediseñó la moto y potenció el motor añadiéndole un compresor Cozette. Como resultado de la sobrealimentación, el gran cubicaje del motor (958cc, 54 x 76mm) y la distribución de válvulas en cabeza, el motor rendía la asombrosa cifra de 50 HP, algo excepcional para la época.

En la década del setenta por casualidad se produjo el hallazgo del motor original y así fue que Patrice Coutant pudo reconstruir el único ejemplar de Ragot.


CRS (Casimir Ragot Special)

The merchant Casimir Ragot and his son Charles built several sports cars of exceptional mechanical characteristics during the 1920s in Bordeaux, France. Casimir began working at the beginning of the decade on a four-cylinder motorcycle inspired by the American Henderson, from which he borrowed some components including the front fork. It has been suggested that the engine block is a modified Henderson.

The project was later taken up by his son Charles who redesigned the bike and boosted the engine by adding a compressor. As a result of supercharging the 958cc overhead valve engine (54 x 76 mm) yielded 50hp, an extraordinary output for the day.

In the 1970s the original engine was discovered, enabling Patrice Coutant to reconstruct the only copy of a Ragot.

Notes:
1. Opinions differ on the dates, with some saying the first version was made earlier. D. Mahistre's explanation seems convincing.

Sources: Sergio Scalerandi, L'atelier Motobloc, Didier Mahistre

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