OK-Supreme was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

manufacturer from 1899 to 1939 located in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. Grass-track racing versions of the machines continued to be available until 1946.

History

In 1882 Ernie Humphries and Charles Dawes founded "OK" as bicycle manufacturers. They experimented with powered bicycles in 1899 and 1906, before manufacturing a

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

motorcycle using a

Precision Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general) * Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter * Significant figures, the number of digit ...

engine in 1911. Before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

they had produced motorcycles with Precision, De Dion,

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

, and Green engines. Their first entry 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/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

, in 1912, led to a ninth place and mainly modest results came during the following years with OK-Supreme machines scoring three podium places and 34 finishes. After the war OK produced a 292 cc two-stroke motor of its own, but also produced models using Blackburne (250 cc and 350 cc, sv and

ohv An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

), Bradshaw (348 cc oil cooled), and

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

(246 cc to 496 cc) engines. Ok Supreme 500 cc 1930

The racing JAP versions did well in the 1920s, and the company increasingly turned to JAP to power bikes not using an OK engine. There was even a 348 cc

OHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

model. In the 1922 TT OK-Supreme machines placed sixth and seventh, with the fastest lap being set by

Wal Handley Walter Leslie Handley (5 April 1902 – 15 November 1941) born in Aston, Birmingham,
Kolumbus.fi Walter Leslie Ha ...

at , but he failed to finish the race. Frank Longman was the only TT winner, in the 1928 Lightweight class with a JAP model. Charles Dawes left to start

Dawes Cycles Dawes Cycles is a bicycle manufacturer based in Castle Bromwich, England. Dawes produces a range of bikes including road, mountain bikes and tandems, but is best known for touring bikes, specifically the Galaxy and the Super Galaxy model lines ...

in 1926, and in 1927 the name of the company was changed to OK-Supreme. In 1928, Humphries bought the failed

HRD Motorcycles HRD Motors Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturer in the 1920s. It was founded by Howard Raymond Davies. He had worked in motorcycling, and had raced with some success in the mid-twenties, but often not finishing due to unreliability. This in ...

for the factory and tools, selling the rest, including the name, to

Phil Vincent Philip Conrad Vincent (14 March 1908 – 27 March 1979) was a British motorcycle designer and manufacturer. Founder of Vincent Motorcycles, his designs influenced the development of motorcycles around the world. Early life Philip Conrad Vince ...

, who developed the marque into

Vincent Motorcycles Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of motorcycles from 1928 to 1955. The business was established by Philip Vincent who bought an existing manufacturing name HRD, initially renaming it as ''Vincent HRD'', producing his own motorcy ...

.Motorcycle Sport, August 1969, pp.227-228 ''PC Vincent: A birthday Tribute'' Accessed 2014-05-30 A new 250cc machine with the cams fitted to the vertical tower (with an inspection window to see if oil was reaching the cams - hence the name "Lighthouse") made its first appearance at the 1930 TT where it broke the lap record from a standing start. A road version was made available the following year but the Great Depression killed it and the last Lighthouse was completed in early 1933. It was only available as a 250 although a handful of experimental 350s were built. In 1934, another overhead cam OK made its debut at the Olympia show. Available in road, trials and race trim and in 250 and 350 capacities, it continued in production until early 1939. Following WW2, a JAP-engined OK-Supreme grass-track racing machine was available through John Humphries, son of founder Ernie Humphries, until his death in 1946.

References

External links

British motorcycle manufacturers

{{British motorcycle manufacturers Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands British companies established in 1899 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1899 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1946 1899 establishments in England 1946 disestablishments in England Defunct companies based in Birmingham, West Midlands British companies disestablished in 1946