Speed - A local clip-on story

Written by Bob McGrath

Before the eBike there was the ‘clip on’. From the day the first pushbike was shown to the public there was someone there thinking, “Hmm, good idea but I don’t like the pedalling bit much. What can I do about it?”

In time the first motorcycles grew out of these thoughts but those first tries were pretty grim. You had to be young and fit and very enthusiastic. Nothing there to attract the pushbike rider who liked the cycling part but didn’t like the sweating bit. Nor the oil, dirt and grease bit. Not a good look for the chap who wanted to look a bit smart for the ladies when he got off.

This went on for a long time with motorcycles steadily improving and slowly splitting into two streams with the sporting rider on bigger machine on one side and the everyday utility rider wanting an economical local runabout on the other. All this not really involving the pushbike rider just wanting to get about a little quicker, a little further, but with less effort.

Then came World War II which really supercharged technological advances but afterwards left behind a huge number of reluctant pushbike riders in bombed out countries without the money, means or materials to do much about it. It took years to rebuild the factories, make new machinery, sort out the roads and bridges and so on and so on to get things back to normal again.

So things more or less had to start small and grow with the recovery as it happened. And healthy exercise that it was nobody really loved pushbikes that much, which brought on the ‘clip on’, a tiny engine that could be attached to a bicycle to help the rider on their way. Sound familiar?

Many had the idea and many the answers. They ranged from a set of castings to make your own to a complete ready to ride article already fitted to a bicycle. Some big companies started off this way. Honda and Ducati immediately spring to mind. The initial offerings of both were nothing but a proper job made of a glorified pushbike with itty-bitty engine.

There was also enthusiasm at the D.I.Y. hobbyist end of the scale.  Buy a set of castings and make your own. These were advertised in worldwide magazines such as the ‘Model Engineer’ and ‘Popular Mechanics’ and that is what appears to have happened locally here. Sitting in the AOMC engine records are a few cards for the ‘SPEED’ engine. We have no details except what was recorded on the cards. We know it was a clip on because on the three engine numbers listed two tell us what make of bicycle they were fitted to. An Albion in one case and a Myer in the other. The year was 1949 and the relevant info is as follows;

These are the only records remaining of the ‘SPEED’ engine clip on. Not only were they put on the road but two of the three survived on the road for several years. Their story is otherwise completely lost. We know nothing else and trying to do any sort of search on the name ‘SPEED is hopeless. The word ‘speed’ is so generic it pops up everywhere in all sorts of contexts.

It would be fabulous if anyone can add to the story. This is a local story of local happenings. All Australian content so very much ours to tell.

Can anyone add more?