1952 Bown 122cc Tourist Trophy Project

Registration no. XMK 159 Frame no. S125 Engine no. 32703D

• Featured in Motor Cycling, 24th July 1952 edition
• Present ownership since 1987
• Offered for restoration

A marque active in the early 1920s, Bown was revived as the name for a revised version of the Aberdale autocycle in 1950. Like most of its independent contemporaries, South Wales-based Bown relied on Villiers engines and soon added a lightweight motorcycle powered by the 98cc 1F unit to its range, which was followed by a 122cc Tourist Trophy model with the 10D engine and three-speed foot-change gearbox. The engine/gearbox unit was housed in a duplex cradle frame with rigid rear end and MP telescopic forks up front. A top speed of 49mph and fuel consumption of around 100mpg were recorded in toad tests. Production of Villiers-engined machines ceased in 1954, though Bown reappeared briefly in 1956/57 with an imported moped powered by an Austrian Fichtel & Sachs engine.

This rare Bown is the actual Tourist Trophy model that was featured in a road-test article - "A New Villiers-engined Lightweight with an Above-average Performance" - for Motor Cycling magazine of 24th July 1952 (an original copy of the magazine is included in the sale). Motor Cycling summed up the Bown thus: "...a high-performance quality lightweight motorcycle capable of satisfying, or even exceeding, the requirements of the man who wishes to travel economically and comfortably, but with reasonable despatch and confident of complete reliability."

After being featured in the magazine, the Bown was purchased by the South Reading Motor Cycle Club and loaned to a local teaching scheme for pupils to learn to ride (photograph on file). When the scheme came to an end in 1959, a club member purchased the Bown. The motorcycle then had sporadic use over the following years before being rediscovered in a garden. In the early 1970s, the Bown was re-homed again by another club member.

The lady vendor's late father acquired the Bown in 1987 and exhibited it at local classic vehicle shows. Her father started to dismantle the Bown with the intention to restore it, but, sadly, a serious motorcycle accident in 1991 curtailed his plans and the motivation to continue stopped. The Bown then remained in the garage until his death in 2018 when it was moved into storage by his daughter. Offered for restoration, the machine comes with (copy) old V5 and current V5C registration documents, both with the same clerical error concerning the frame number, which is incorrectly recorded as '5125' (should be 'S125').
Offered without key