Weatherell of Billericay.
He also produced RW Scout motorcycles between 1920 and 1921. The name came from the initials of Reg Weatherell of Billericay in Essex, who was a keen competition rider/agent.
1920 These machines were assembled from components much as many others, but had an attractive line and performed well. They were fitted with the 318cc Dalm two-stroke engine with twin-port barrel, driving the rear wheel by direct belt, a further option was an Albion two-speed gearbox. The single speed was also listed as a stripped racing version.
1921 Reg Weatherell entered the record books when he came sixth in the 350cc Class of the 500 Mile race, riding one of his own machines. This was a model fitted with a 269cc Villiers engine and two speeds. The marque then faded from the scene.
1922 Having been involved with the RW Scout, Reg Weatherell turned his attentions to the production of this marque. The machines were Blackburne-powered, with 248cc or 348cc singles in sv or ohv form, plus a big sv 697cc V-twin. The twin had a duplex frame and a very low riding position, making it suitable for racing use - with an alternative engine in place.
1923 Entries were made for the Island TT, when Weatherell machines finished twentieth and twenty-third in the Junior. The marque did not last beyond the year.
Reg Weatherell, born in Hunslet in 1896, began riding motorcycles at the age of 13 on a De Dion. Boxing was another of his passions, and in 1914 a local paper wrote that he would go three rounds with "Mademoiselle Carpenter, champion lady boxer of the world". His first marriage ended after only three years with the death of his wife in 1918.
He remarried after the armistice to a Ms Dixon, and took the unusual step of adopting her maiden name as his own middle name to become Reginald Dixon Weatherell. He and Dorothy had three children and the marriage lasted until his death in 1963. Despite more than one bankruptcy and a rather colourful civil suit which he lost, Reg left his family with today's equivalent of £750,000.
The 1922 Olympia Show.
WEATHERELL. (Stand 11.)
With Speed Trials Interest.
2¾ H.P. Model.
71x88 mm. (348 c.c); single cyl. four-stroke; overhead valves; drip-feed lubrication; Vici carb.; chain-driven mag.; 3-sp. gear; clutch and kick-starter; chain drive; 26x2¼in. tyres. Price £80.
P. Weatherell and Co., Ltd., The Terrace, High Road, Kilburn.
Perhaps the chief success of the 350 c.c. Weatherell was to win the 100-mile Giant Handicap at Brooklands last summer, but a study of 1922 speed trials results will often discover this make in a prominent position, for it has distinguished itself in many meetings, particularly in London and Home Counties. Various modifications have been made for next year, notably a new type of fuel tank resting on the top of the duplex top lube. This change gives the machine a curiously speedy appearance.
5-6 H.P. Model.
71x88 mm. (696 c.c); twin cyl. four-stroke; overhead valves; drip-feed lubrication; Vici carb.; chain-driven mag.; 3-sp. gear; clutch and kick-starter; chain drive; 28x3in. tyres. Price: Solo, £ 115; with Sidecar, £155.
Weatherell machines are probably better known in their 250 c.c. -350 c.c. forms, but the 696 c.c. model with a sidecar attached has by no means disgraced itself on its few appearances on Brooklands track. It is an imposing machine, and should prove to have remarkable powers of acceleration. A side-valve model costs £10 less.
Another o.h.v. Blackburne-engined machine, of 249 c.c, completes a very striking trio of sports models. It is priced at £70 (with side valves £5 less). Internal expanding brakes front and rear, and neat, quickly detachable chain guards are features of all the machines. One of the new petrol tanks is also shown with a plated finish.
Olympia Show 1922
The Motor Cycle, November 30th, 1922. Page 850
Sources: Graces Guide, kilburnandwillesdenhistory.blogspot.com, Mortons
Very interesting read: Reg Weatherell – the charming motorcycle maker
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