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Ivy was a
Ivy was a motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
manufacturer between 1907 and 1934 in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England. It was run by various brothers from the Newman family. Ivy built about 6,000 motorcycles of various models. Most used two-stroke engines made by either J.A.P.
J. A. Prestwich Industries, was a British engineering equipment manufacturing company named after founder John Alfred Prestwich, which was formed in 1951 by the amalgamation of J. A. Prestwich and Company Limited and Pencils Ltd.
History
John ...
or Precision
Precision, precise or precisely may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Precision'' (march), the official marching music of the Royal Military College of Canada
* "Precision" (song), by Big Sean
* ''Precisely'' (sketch), a dramatic sketch by the Eng ...
, but there were also 225cc and 296cc engines designed and manufactured by Ivy. The company also made its own suspension forks, carburettors
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter)
is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Ventu ...
and sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, Scooter (motorcycle), scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. The combination of a motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''rig'', ''outfit' ...
s.
The company was heavily involved in motorcycle racing, with several of the Newman brothers entering races themselves. The race bikes were kept as standard wherever possible to demonstrate the build quality and specification of the production machines. The Newman brothers believed that this was the best way to prove their designs and advertise their products. H. C. Newman was especially successful, winning many local events and finishing well in the Isle of Man TT
The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...
races several times.
Models
Various different models were made during the company's existence. These included: *Ivyette: This had a 2 ¼ horsepower Valveless 224 cc two-stroke Ivy engine. Designed to be a cheap and reliable vehicle for getting around town. Powered by the Ivy engine. *Model C: This had a 2 ½ horsepower Precision engine. A version of this model was also sold as the Model E, which had a 2 ¾ horsepower engine. *Model D: This was available with a wide range of engines including: **3 ½ Hp single cylinder Precision engine (also a special TT version with 3 ¾ Hp which is claimed to be the first single-cylinder machine to achieve a speed of with a sidecar). **4 ½ Hp twin cylinder Precision engine. **5 Hp twin cylinder JAP engine **6 Hp twin cylinder Precision or JAP engine **A ladies' version of the model D was also available with a lower crossbar. *1924 Models: These were available with 349cc and 297cc single-cylinder SV engines, Sturmey Archer gearbox, Dunlop 26 x 2 1/2 cord tyres and mechanical oiling (as opposed to a hand-operated pump). *Ivy Side Car: broke 7 world records at Brooklands on 30 October 1913 when used with 3 ½ horsepower Ivy D. *An H.C. Newman-designed 677cc V-twin was used in the first Martinsyde. References: