There are three possibilities, at least.
1. Melba Cycle Works, York Mid. Junction, W.A. Jas. Adams, manager, cycle agents. 1907
(York is 100km east of Perth.)
2. Melba Cycle Works, 132 Little Collins Street, Melbourne. 1902.
THE MELBA CYCLE WORKS 132
Little Collins-street.— ROBERT ANDERSON.
-The leading cycle trade supply house in Victoria,
The Age Sat 3 Feb 1900>
Trove NLA
3. And this one from Tasmania, 1909:
The riders of two motor cycles named, in accordance with the fashion of motor nomenclature, "Melba" and "Possum," decided to go east about recently, and it is in order to chronicle the experiences that befell them that these notes are written.
Possibly, readers of this column (who, by the way, are not all motorists) may wonder why such names for a contraption of steel, cast iron, aluminium, and india-rubber, but after all, there is a good deal of sentiment in most motorists, who regard their mounts in something of the same light as a horseman does his favourites.
"Melba," a powerful 5-h.p. twin Vindec, received her unofficial designation owing to her musical propensities when running at speed, whilst "Possum," a 3½-h.p. "Triumph." was christened thus from her climbing proclivities, a display of which was given on Maggs' Hill as the twain wended their "spirited" way Scottstdaleward...
Examiner (Launceston, Tas.) Tue 24 Aug 1909
Trove NLA
So who's this "Melba"?
Dame Nellie Melba (1861–1931) was an Australian opera singer who became world famous. She was prima donna at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, welcomed around the world by lords and ladies of high society. She was also a close friend of Ada Whiting, mother of the man who created the extraordinary Whiting V4.
As numismatists and philatelists well know, she is one of the Australian greats. More on Nellie at the RBA... (and don't miss the linked PDF, which has delicious added detail.)
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