Description
National Motorcycle Museum | Solihull, West Midlands
Viewing: 25th March 2025 from 1pm
Auction: 26th March 2025 - 9:00am
1914 Douglas Model B
A Rare 500cc Veteran Douglas
Estimate
£8, 000 - £9, 000
Registration No: Unregistered
Frame No: 1548
MOT: Exempt
The big brother of Veteran Douglas machines
Restored by the current owner
Owned for over 20 years, mainly in Australia
NOVA number on file
The Douglas Brothers, who started up in 1906, acquired the design of a flat twin-cylinder engine from J. Barter's defunct Light Motor Company enterprise, Barter coming to work for Douglas. Having two cylinders horizontally opposed 180 degrees to each other was much the same elegant solution to twin-cylinder engine design as adopted by over fifty other motorcycle manufacturers, although Douglas chose a longitudinal layout for their early twins. To meet the demands for greater power, Douglas introduced the 3. 1/ 2hp Model A for 1914, with a 494cc side-valve engine and two-speed gearbox. The Model B shown here, with kick start, cone clutch and footboards, cost £4 more at £62. The production of civilian machines continued alongside machines for the armed forces until 1916, after which all output was taken by the British Army.
This 1914 Douglas model B 500cc has been with the current vendor for over 20 years, during that time he has restored the Douglas to a good standard using many original parts where possible. This is the larger capacity machine being the 500cc flat twin with lots of torque and was only produced for a short time. Having spent most of its life in Australia the Model B was brought back to the UK when the owner moved back. There is a NOVA number on file for the new owner to get it registered for the UK. Only run static since completion, some light fettling would be required before use.
