Hagg Tandem were motorcycles produced from 1920 to 1922 by Arthur Hagg of Park Street village, near St Albans, Hertfordshire.
1921 The machine was exhibited at the Olympia Show. It offered more than normal for two people as it was enclosed - from the downtube to enclose the rear mudguard and from the footboards up to the fuel tank, with legshields at the front. It was fitted with a 349cc Precision two-stroke engine, which drove a two-speed Burman gearbox by chain with belt final-drive. It had a long hand-lever starter, of the type to be used by Velocette some thirty years later. The rider was provided with a Lycett pan-saddle, while the passenger had a bucket seat. Brampton Biflex forks at the front and laminated lear-spring suspension at the rear, added to the all-round comfort. There was also the option of a 250cc Union two-stroke engine, and as a whole, the machine was quite advanced for its time.
1922 Unfortunately, sales had not been good, so Arthur Hagg tried fitting the 349cc Barr and Stroud sleeve-valve engine. This was to give more power and less noise, but it did little to improve matters.
Note: For 1923 and 1924 the same engine was fitted to a conventional machine and sold as the HT, but sales remained poor and production ceased.
Olympia Show, 1921
The Hagg has now fully passed its experimental stage. The mechanism is almost entirely enclosed by means of aluminium plates, which not only serve to endose the moving parts, but act as efficient windshields. Pressed steel enters largely into the construction and is employed in the tank, rear forks, and rear mudguards, which enclose a very large portion of the back wheel. The frame, incorporating the engine cradle, gear box carrier, and under shield, is made of heavy tubing, while the rear wheel is sprung by means of a single leaf spring.
The engine is a 350 c.c. Precision two-stroke, driving through a foot-operated Burman two-speed gear box. The engine is started by hand by means of a long lever attached to the usual kick-starter spindle. The Hagg may be used not only as a solo mount but as a tandem, the passenger being carried on an aluminium bucket seat sliding in grooves attached to the valances of the pressed steel rear mudguard. A low centre of gravity should ensure absence of skidding.
Sources: Graces Guide, Mortons
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