Howard were motorcycles produced between 1905 and 1907, by an engineering firm of that name in Coalville, Leicestershire.
A small number of machines were made with a horizontal engine located above the pedalling bracket and below the lower fuel-tank rail, that was claimed to have fuel injection rather than a carburettor. This was probably a form of controlled and adjustable drip feed - just one of the many different arrangements then in use to mix the air and fuel for an engine.
A Howard motorcycle manufactured by the Howard Engineering company of Coalville in Leicestershire. Although not a local registration number, the owner is Mr Harry Fowkes of the nearby village of Ibstock. The picture appears to have been taken in the yard of H. Carter of Ibstock who set out as a bicycle maker and then went on to produce the Colonial motorcycle from 1911. An example of these machines forms part of the collection at Leicester's Abbey Pumping Station Museum. ~ Roger Lovell
FP is a Rutland series, so quite a rarity in itself. 1905 kicked off with FP 74, so the number was issued fairly soon after (1905 ran up to FP 109). It's a measure of the size of the Rutland area that they only got to the end of the FP series in 1960. ~ Nick Smith
Source: Graces Guide
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