James Models

James 1914-1915 Models

James 1922 Models

James 1923 Models

James 1930 Models

This motorcycle is a twin port two-stroke model fitted with the separate aluminium cylinder head type motor. The head is retained by only three bolts, it has two exhaust stubs and petroil lubrication.

It was fitted with the Villiers XIV A 249cc engine with a bore and stroke of 63mm x 80mm which was claimed to reach 60mph, and had strong pulling power at low speeds. This engine was available as an air cooled unit with petroloil (BYP), air cooled with autolube (BY), and water cooled with autolube or petroloil (RY).

All had detachable heads, a deflector topped piston fitted with inertia ring and either fixed or variable ignition. An outside flywheel was fitted to some models. They were made from 1934 to 1940.

James 1939 Models

Known as the "Clockwork Mouse", the ML was based on the 1939 K17 James Lightweight. It was used by British and Canadian airborne troops, and on D-Day they landed by glider during the invasion and also by landing craft for use by dispatch riders.

Post-war it retained the ML designation and a good many were exported to the United States and elsewhere.

Some 6 or 7 thousand military WD machines were built from 1943 to early 1945, all with ML frame number prefixes running from ML2 to about ML8500, with several sequence gaps. The ML prefix continued on post-war civilian models.

They were fitted with a Villiers 9D 122cc engine.

Winston Churchill's ML

Postwar James Motorcycles: Model Designation
(Work in Progress)

Sources: James Franklin -- j.v.franklin at worldnet.att.net, (April 26, 2002)