Dot Motorcycles, one of those small British brands from the early days of motorcycle history, has been given a new lease of life. Two new models were presented at the NEC Motor Show: Reed Racer and Dot Demon, powered by Kawasaki’s 650 twin.
If you’ve never heard of Dot Motorcycles, the Dot Cycle and Motor Company was founded in 1903 by Harry Reed in Salford, Lancashire. Reed was originally involved in the sale of bicycles in Salford, and although it is not entirely clear when exactly the step to motor drive was made, he won an international sprint race in Blackpool in 1906 with a “Swallow-Peugeot”.
The name Dot Motorcycles was first used in 1907 when the company had moved to larger premises in nearby Manchester. On a Dot motorcycle, Reed competed in the first-ever motorcycle races at Brooklands in 1908 and won the Twin Cylinder Class of the Isle of Man TT in September of that year, beating international competition from larger and more established manufacturers.
Reed left the company in 1925, after which Thomas Sawyer, who joined in 1920, took over. Sawyer oversaw a continuation of Dot Motorcycles’ success in racing, but was unable to avoid production shutdown in 1932 due to the Depression.
Sawyer handed control of the company to a young Burnard Scott Wade, who dragged the company through the 1930s with a line of pedal-powered tricycle trucks for niche markets such as the milkman and ice cream man. That earned him a government contract at the start of the Second World War.
Wade sketched out ideas about similar vehicles with cheap two-stroke propulsion, to meet the demand for cheap means of transport. Demand was such that a profitable Dot Motorcycles was able to launch a two-stroke motorcycle with 200cc Villers engine in 1949.
However, the temptation for Dot to produce a sports bike was great and Wade developed a small, inexpensive two-stroke engine that could be used on the street for everyday things, but with minor modifications could be used in scramblers and trials events.
The “Trials Scrambler” was introduced in 1951 and soon riders realized that lightweight bikes like this could knock heavy bikes. It started a trend of modern lightweight competition motorcycles.
1951 was also the year that Dot founder Harry Reed died. Dot developed a lightweight road racing machine, again competing in the Isle of Man TT and winning the Team Award in the 1951 Ultra Lightweight 125cc TT. The greatest demand, however, remained for Trials and Scramblers.
Ultimately, Dot Motorcycles fell victim to the nascent Japanese motorcycle industry, as did many other British and Italian brands in the 1960s and 1970s. Burnard Wade focused on suspension, sold spare parts and did general engineering to keep the company afloat, but hoped one day to produce motorcycles again.
The man behind the revival of Dot Motorcycles is Anthony Keating, a Briton who has made a name for himself in the four-wheeler industry. Keating from Lancashire bought the brand name Dot and developed two new retro models with Kawasaki 650 twin drive.
Commissioned in Greater Manchester, the Reed Racer cafe racer and Dot Demon scrambler were developed in conjunction with Guy Martin, who carried out the testing of the engines. Both models are powered by the Kawasaki Z650’s 180° twin, producing 67 hp at 8,000 rpm and 63 Nm of torque at 6,700 rpm.
The engine is mounted in a TIG-welded tubular frame, both models share a curb weight of 169 kilos and a small 10-litre tank. The difference is in the sitting position: upright with the Dot Demon and forward with the Reed Racer. The cafe racer has a seat height of 800 mm, with the scrambler it is 880 mm.
Lead time for production is according to Dot Motorcycles between 6 and 12 weeks, provided that the customer does not request adjustments after ordering. The Dot Motorcycles team consists of 6 engineers, with a production capacity of 60 motorcycles per year.
That immediately explains the hefty price tag. The Dot Demon will cost you at least £18,500, the price of the Reed Racer starts from £21,000. Depending of course on what your wishes are. It really can’t be cheaper than that, according to Keating, since everything is produced in the United Kingdom. Except for the block and the Showa suspension, because that comes from Japan. And the Brembo brakes with Bosch ABS, because they come from Italy and Germany.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.