1924 Douglas 349cc Project

Motorcycles Online - The Summer Sale|15 June 2026, 15:02 BST|Online, Milton Keynes

1924 Douglas 349cc Project

Registration no. EW 4004
Frame no. 68310 (see text)
Engine no. 53282 (see text)

The Bristol-based Douglas Foundry took up motorcycle production in 1907 with a machine powered by a horizontally-opposed, twin-cylinder engine, and the company would keep faith with this layout until it ceased motorcycle production in 1957. Fore-and-aft installation made for a slim machine with a low centre of gravity, and the design's virtues were soon demonstrated in competition, 2¾hp Douglas machines taking 1st, 2nd and 4th places in the 1912 Junior TT in the Isle of Man. Douglas were quick to realise the advantages of the countershaft gearbox, its three-speed entries gaining the Team Prize in the 1914 Six Days Trial, a conspicuous success that resulted in the firm obtaining a wartime contract for the supply of military machines.

Douglas' successes continued after The Great War. In its publicity announcing the 1924 models the company claimed that 'well over 75,000 Douglas 2¾hp machines are giving satisfaction every day to their owners.' No need was seen for major changes.

It is believed that this Vintage-era Douglas featured in a Fenland Films recording of a VMCC reliability trial some 60 years ago, which is when it was last used. Intriguingly, the old-style continuation logbook for 'EW 4004' records frame and engine numbers different from those above and has been annotated: 'Police report numbers as follows:- Engine 53282 Frame 38310'. The updates were stamped by Northamptonshire County Council in November 1959. However, it should be noted that the actual frame number is '68310', and that the old-style V5 registration document repeats that error and also transposes the frame/engine numbers. The original engine number recorded in the OSL is '67123', dating from 1924, which would accord with the machine's 24th January 1925 date of first registration. The engine currently fitted – '53282' – dates from 1922.

Additional paperwork includes various instruction manuals and spare parts books. Following an extended period of inactivity, this motorcycle will need restoration before returning to the road and thus is sold strictly as viewed. Key not required.

Footnotes

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Additional information

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