High point
A‘revolutionary in motorcycles’ was the way the period press described the new hub-steered ‘Bi-Car’ when it was launched at the Crystal Palace show in 1905. Powered by a 3hp German Fafnir engine, the innovative low-slung machine was the brainchild of British engineer Frederick W Barnes. Although it would only have a short life, its maker and his machines – which would later carry the name of Zenith on their petrol tanks – would go on to record numerous Brooklands race victories and twice break the world land speed record.
Based at Finsbury Park in London, in 1905 Zenith would only ever be a relatively small manufacturer, but it was driven by the Manchester-born Barnes, a pioneering inventor who relished the stimulus of competition and who was quick to see the limitations of most of the period opposition.
After the Bi-Car he began production of a more conventional motorcycle with the Fafnir powered ‘Zanette’, which featured Druid forks and a triangulated frame, with optional scissor action rear suspension. In those days (1908) before motorcycles had gearboxes (they were direct drive to the rear wheel, via a belt) climbing steep hills was not
