On Display: A 1911 CCM Motor Bicycle

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CCI Newsletter, No. 27, June 2001

On Display: A 1911 CCM Motor Bicycle

by George Prytulak, Conservator, Treatment and Development Division - Industrial Collections

CCI recently restored a 1911 CCM motor bicycle for the St. Marys Museum in St. Marys, southwestern Ontario.

Only three of these bikes are known to exist: the one sent to CCI for treatment; a 1911 model on display at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa; and a 1910 model on display at the Burnaby Village Museum in Burnaby, BC. The latter was brought to CCI both to serve as reference material and to be restored itself later. For the first—and very likely last—time, all three CCM motor bikes were within walking distance of each other.

These motor bicycles were made by the Canada Cycle & Motor Company of Weston, Ontario, only during 1910 and 1911, and very little is known about them. They were not the precursors of motorcycles, but rather a hybrid that combined the best features of the bicycle and the motorcycle. Billed as both a "Lightweight Motorcycle" and "Motor Bicycle," they weighed less than 90 lb. (41 kg) and were "quick, wonderfully quiet and clean, with a famous 2-horse power motor"; top speed was 30 mph¹ (48 km/h) and fuel consumption an enviable 130 miles per gallon (46 km/L). In terms of performance, one testimonial claimed that "The machine has many admirers in Quebec. It goes up the Cote d'Abraham to the City Hall, and many motor cars cannot do that." Another satisfied customer claimed that, on being subjected to ridicule from local motorcycle riders, his bike had "simply sniffed at them and fairly bounded up [the hills]."

The one-cylinder motor was made in Switzerland, and the saddle in Birmingham, England. The remaining parts were manufactured entirely in Canada, including the wooden wheel rims made from the "finest selected Canadian hard maple." Priced at $190, these motor bikes cost about half as much as a full-sized, 4-hp (3-kW) Indian or Excelsior motorcycle. Not a king's ransom, but still a substantial sum at the time.

Having this trio of related bikes together contributed immensely to the accuracy of the restoration work. Much of the project focussed on repairing broken parts and fabricating replicas of missing components. Because most of the original surfaces were long gone or hidden by coats of paint, many hours were also devoted to re-creating an authentic paint scheme.

The motor bicycle is currently on display at the museum in St. Marys, a town which has, interestingly enough, a fair number of hills.

1. Presumably going downhill, with a tail wind, on a smooth stretch of road....