Reliance was a motorcycle produced by The Reliance Engineering Company of Southampton in 1902.
The firm is thought to have been from a cycle dealer who bought in one or two engines and fitted them to heavy-duty bicycle frames, tested the market and then went back to their previous trade.
Report from the Stanley Show 1902
The Reliance Engineering Co., Southampton.
"Death to Vibration" is the motto this company has adopted, and so far as motorcycles are concerned they claim to have overcome this by means of their "N. A. B." anti-vibrating seat pillars and handlebars.
The seat pillar consists of a combination of spring and balls, which not only absorb the vibration but the balls surrounding the plunger, serving the purpose of breaking up the friction at any point of contact, so ensuring the perfect working of the spring. In fact, the makers claim that so thoroughly does the device take up the vibration that no springs in the saddle are required. The peculiarity of the pillar is that the spring-controlled telescopic tubes are pressed out in fluted sections to form seven longitudinal grooves, each accommodating a vertical row of steel balls. The Reliance Company have also adapted their arrangement to handlebars, with the result that motor-cycling over bumpy roads on a machine fitted with these ingenious devices loses much of its disagreeableness.
Motor Cycling, 26th November 1902
Source: Graces Guide
