Australian & NZ Motorcycles

Today in Motorcycle History

Australian Motorcycles (B)

Baden Powell

The following advertisement appears in 1904 and 1905.

C. A. BLAKE,
CYCLE MAKER and MECHANICAL ENGINEER,
158 BRIDGE ROAD, RICHMOND.
The "Baden Powell" Motor-Cycles are unsurpassed for Workmanship and Material.
PRICE MODERATE.

Jewish Herald (Vic.) Fri 23 Sep 1904 (Trove)

In 1911, "Charles A. Blake operated a bike factory" at 181 Bridge Road, and a plaque the he building denotes this. Number 177 is the National Theatre, Richmond. Blake's motor engineering works was listed at a similar address in 1914, and appeared in Sands directory for 1913, 1918, 1920 and 1925. Sources: Trove, yarracity.vic.gov.au, peterbennetts.com.


Bailey-1903c-Unley-TGP.jpg
Bailey c.1903 Unley

Image courtesy Terry Parker of the VVMCSA.

Bailey

Bailey & Co., was active from 1903 to 1908

Universal CYCLE WORKS.
H. C. BAILEY, PROPRIETOR.
Bicycle Engineer, Enameller, and Electroplater.
Cycles and Motors Built to Order
Repairs of every description neatly executed. Accessories in great variety
Address - 238 King William Street, South, ADELAIDE.

Quiz (Adelaide, SA : 1900 - 1909) Fri 16 Nov 1906


Sources: Simon Fleming; Trove NLA.


Balmain
T. Perryman of Richmond, Victoria produced a machine using a Precision engine, circa 1915.
Extensive searches in Trove and Google for further information proved fruitless.
Source: Saward via Simon Fleming


BAL-JAP
Balfour Motors, 155 Mercer Street Geelong, Vic. 1912-1918
The Balfour Bros. marketed motorcycles using JAP singles and twins which were possibly assembled by E.W. Brown.
A 1917 advertisement gives address of 45 & 47 Malop St, with no mention of BAL-JAP - but it does mention JAP motorcycles for sale, along with Triumph.
1919 advertisements give their name as Balfour's Motor Garage, located cnr Malop and Gheringhap Streets. Sole agents for B.A.L, Triumph, De-Luxe, Indian...
Sources: Trove NLA; Simon Fleming


Barb Vic.


Barclay

Saward records two Barclay marques, one in Adelaide and the other in Geelong, Victoria. No record of either has been found in Australian newspapers of the day.

Source: Trove NLA


Beauchamp Vic.


Beare Sixstroke


B & W by Bennett and Wood, 1937-38


Bennett & Barkell (B&B)


Bilyard & King

James Bilyard of Hobart and Sim King of Launceston who had stores in their own names in those cities produced "Bilyard & King" motorcycles around 1924 powered by a 494cc sidevalve Triumph engine. A belt drive machine, it had very robust front forks and a rim front brake.

James Bilyard had previously built the Havelock motorcycle prior to WWI.

In the mid 1920s they were both agents for BSA and Triumph. By 1927-28 the Bilyard firm was named Bilyard & Son, at 110 Elizabeth St, and were Abingdon motorcycle and Swift motor car agents.

James Bilyard died in September 1941.

Sources: Yesterdays, Trove NLA.


Blue Bell by Wagener (S.A.)


Blue Bell H. Canet (Shepparton, Vic.)


Blue Spec (Wagener)


Bolwell-PGO

A firm based in Melrose Park, Adelaide, imported Taiwanese PGO scooters which they rebadged. The first appeared in 1999, the last in 2015. There were numerous models.

The company is now known as Symaustralia and has sold some 40,000 scooters. scoota.com.au

Unrelated to Bolwell Cars of Mordialoc, Victoria (bolwell.com).

Source: Red Book Australia, et al


Bon Trike

Manufactured by Bon Trikes Special Vehicles Pty Ltd, 76 Sunnyholt Road, Blacktown, NSW, 1996 to 2005.

Powered by engines of up to 2000cc from Volkswagen and Harley-Davidson, the trike was assembled using imported componenents from a variety of sources.

Sources: trikesaustralia.com, et al


Bonning Roadster

A concept three-wheeler built by Brad Bonning of Noosa, Qld in 2001-2005 designed to run on an Eco Nova multi-fuel engine, but was fitted with a Honda CBR1000 engine running on petrol or LPG and achieves 200 km/h quite rapidly. Considerable attention was paid to styling.


Braaap

Bradley Smith, a former motocross rider, established his first motorcycle shop in Launceston, Tasmania in 2005. He expanded the network to 4 shops by 2008, including one in Frankston Victoria. The last of these was closed in 2018. The Braap machines are manufactured in China.

Website: braaapmotorcycles.com


Brandwood (Adelaide & Launceston)


Brooklands

Raced with frequent success in 1913-1914 by Eric Tyler, the Brooklands-Green was built in the workshops of Edmunds and Skilton, 419 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. (Also 433 Bourke St.)

The engine was a 499cc watercooled Green-Precision.

Sources: Trove; Leon Mitchel in Serpolette


Bullock

Rarer Australian Marques