“The electrical trade wasn’t really to his liking, so young Kershaw sought employment in the motorcycle industry.”

Herbert Sydney Kershaw was born on August 7, 1892, in Sydney, Australia, the only son of a shipping clerk and his young wife. When his father died in 1895, young Bert and his bereaved mother moved to England, settling near Manchester, where she had family.

At 14, Bert – employed by a firm of electrical contractors – held a motorcycle driving licence (which could at that time be acquired at 13) and had wide experience of different machines, owing to