motorcycle history Archives

DMW & Mr Dawson

15th September 2020 RowenaH Features

Founded in 1940 by Leslie ‘Smokey’ Dawson, DMW was a pioneering British bike builder based in the Black Country – the founder of Dawson Motors Wolverhampton. In three decades, the DMW company manufactured some 15,000 motorcycles including many still used for trials and competition. Smokey started out racing motorcycles in the 1930s and then began fitting swinging arm rear suspension…

The Strange Death of the British Motor Cycle Industry

5th May 2017 RowenaH Reviews

This book provides a dispassionate examination of the evidence leading to the decline of motorcycle manufacturing in Britain. Although there are now Triumphs and Nortons available again, the decline during the latter half of the 20th century was spectacular. Steve Koerner is a British motorcycle enthusiast and historian from British Columbia who completed a PhD dissertation on the subject at…