This list is not comprehensive and will be added to over time.
AMC.
Associated Motor Cycles (AMC) was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by the Collier brothers as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies. It later absorbed Francis-Barnett, James, and Norton before incorporation into Norton-Villiers.
AJS had been bought by Matchless’s owners, the Colliers, in 1931 and Sunbeam was added in 1937 from Imperial Chemical Industries. The name of the Matchless Motor Cycles company was changed to “Amalgamated Motor Cycles Ltd” in 1937 and “Associated Motor Cycles (AMC)” in 1938.
Ariel.
Ariel Motorcycles was a British maker of bicycles and then motorcycles in Bournbrook, Birmingham. It was an innovator in British motorcycling, part of the Ariel marque. The company was sold to BSA in 1951 but the brand survived until 1967. Influential Ariel designers included Val Page and Edward Turner. The last motorcycle-type vehicle to carry the Ariel name was a short-lived three-wheel tilting moped in 1970.
BSA.
BSA motorcycles were made by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Ltd, which was a major British industrial group of businesses manufacturing military and sporting firearms; bicycles; motorcycles; cars; buses and bodies; steel; iron castings, hand, power, and machine tools; coal cleaning and handling plants; sintered metals; and hard chrome process.
A government-organised rescue operation in 1973 led to the takeover of BSA-Triumph motorcycle operations by Norton-Villiers, later known as Norton Villiers Triumph.
Douglas.
Douglas was a British motorcycle manufacturer from 1907 to 1957 based in Kingswood, Bristol, owned by the Douglas family, and especially known for its horizontally opposed twin cylinder engined motorcycles and as manufacturers of speedway machines. The company also built a range of cars between 1913 and 1922.
Greeves.
Greeves Motorcycles was a British motorcycle manufacturer founded by Bert Greeves which produced a range of road machines, and later competition mounts for observed trials, scrambles and road racing. The original company produced motorcycles from 1952, funded by a contract with the Ministry of Pensions for their Invacar, a three-wheeler for disabled drivers.
Norton.
The Norton Motorcycle Company is a brand of motorcycles headquartered in Solihull, West Midlands, (originally based in Birmingham), England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles were owned by North American financiers. Currently it is owned by Indian motorcycle giant TVS Motor Company.
Royal Enfield.
Royal Enfield is the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in continuous production. Licensed from the original English Royal Enfield by Madras Motors, the company is now a subsidiary of Eicher Motors, an Indian automaker. The company makes classic-looking motorcycles and adventurous and off roading motorcycles.
Triumph.
Triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer, established in 1983 by John Bloor after the original company Triumph Engineering went into receivership. The new company, initially called Bonneville Coventry Ltd, continued Triumph’s lineage of motorcycle production since 1902. They have major manufacturing facilities in Thailand.
Velocette.
Velocette is a range of motorcycles made by Veloce Ltd, in Hall Green, Birmingham, England. One of several motorcycle manufacturers in Birmingham, Velocette was a small, family-owned firm, selling almost as many hand-built motorcycles during its lifetime as the mass-produced machines of the giant BSA and Norton concerns.
Vincent.
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 motorcycles as HRD did previously with engines purchased as complete assemblies from other companies. From 1934, two new engines were developed as single cylinder in 500 cc and v-twin 1,000 cc capacities.
