The ancient cathedral city of Coventry in the British Midlands was the hub of car and motorcycle manufacture at the start of the 20th Century. The marque Humber was first associated with motorcycles in Coventry as early as 1900, Humber initially using the ubiquitous French-built De Dion Bouton engines in their three-wheelers before moving to motorcycle production. Early models were built under license from the Yorkshire company, Phelon & Moore, and included 1½hp and 2¾hp models. In 1911 Humber enjoyed its first major competition success when P J Evans carried off the victor’s laurels in the Junior TT on the Isle of Man. In those years which straddled The Great War, long distance reliability trials were highly popular in the U.K. and manufacturers were quick to recognize the importance of success in such events when marketing their machines. Humber were to enjoy such successes in the arduous English and Scottish Six Days Trials and these competition successes contributed significantly to the sales figures for standard production models. The Humber motorcycle range for 1927 was mixed and varied, the company offering side-valve, overhead-valve and overhead camshaft models at prices for all budgets. This machine, recently rescued from long-term storage in a Buckinghamshire, England, shed is a 1927 349cc, overhead-valve Sports model, particularly notable is the large exhaust port and the ‘bum’ racing saddle on the rear mudguard catering for the high speed crouch position. It has a documented racing history in the hands of pre-war owner and garage proprietor, C D G Moore of Moore’s Garage, Hemel Hempstead, just North of London. In the accompanying photograph by celebrated motor sport photographer Louis Klemantaski, Moore is featured on this machine cornering at speed at Dancer’s End, near Tring in Hertfordshire in May 1939. At this speed trial this remarkable old warrior held Fastest Time of The Day right up to the very last run at that meeting, when Moore’s performance was only eclipsed by P M Goffey on the significantly larger 998cc Series A Vincent-HRD. The Humber was much cherished by Moore and retained by him, even when ‘pensioned off’ from its racing career. The penultimate owner was to acquire this bike directly from Moore in post-war years and it remained in his ownership for some 37 or so years. A license disc on the bike suggests it was last used in 1950. It is now offered as an intriguing restoration project, its apparent substantial completeness rendering that restoration a relatively straightforward project. This historic racing machine comes with an old-style British registration document recording first registration in May 1927, a contemporary instruction book and spare parts catalog and various manuscript notes relating to this bike supplied by original owner Moore to his successor. It comes also with U.K. registration documentation.
The ancient cathedral city of Coventry in the British Midlands was the hub of car and motorcycle manufacture at the start of the 20th Century. The marque Humber was first associated with motorcycles in Coventry as early as 1900, Humber initially using the ubiquitous French-built De Dion Bouton engines in their three-wheelers before moving to motorcycle production. Early models were built under license from the Yorkshire company, Phelon & Moore, and included 1½hp and 2¾hp models. In 1911 Humber enjoyed its first major competition success when P J Evans carried off the victor’s laurels in the Junior TT on the Isle of Man. In those years which straddled The Great War, long distance reliability trials were highly popular in the U.K. and manufacturers were quick to recognize the importance of success in such events when marketing their machines. Humber were to enjoy such successes in the arduous English and Scottish Six Days Trials and these competition successes contributed significantly to the sales figures for standard production models. The Humber motorcycle range for 1927 was mixed and varied, the company offering side-valve, overhead-valve and overhead camshaft models at prices for all budgets. This machine, recently rescued from long-term storage in a Buckinghamshire, England, shed is a 1927 349cc, overhead-valve Sports model, particularly notable is the large exhaust port and the ‘bum’ racing saddle on the rear mudguard catering for the high speed crouch position. It has a documented racing history in the hands of pre-war owner and garage proprietor, C D G Moore of Moore’s Garage, Hemel Hempstead, just North of London. In the accompanying photograph by celebrated motor sport photographer Louis Klemantaski, Moore is featured on this machine cornering at speed at Dancer’s End, near Tring in Hertfordshire in May 1939. At this speed trial this remarkable old warrior held Fastest Time of The Day right up to the very last run at that meeting, when Moore’s performance was only eclipsed by P M Goffey on the significantly larger 998cc Series A Vincent-HRD. The Humber was much cherished by Moore and retained by him, even when ‘pensioned off’ from its racing career. The penultimate owner was to acquire this bike directly from Moore in post-war years and it remained in his ownership for some 37 or so years. A license disc on the bike suggests it was last used in 1950. It is now offered as an intriguing restoration project, its apparent substantial completeness rendering that restoration a relatively straightforward project. This historic racing machine comes with an old-style British registration document recording first registration in May 1927, a contemporary instruction book and spare parts catalog and various manuscript notes relating to this bike supplied by original owner Moore to his successor. It comes also with U.K. registration documentation.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
