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Grandfather’s motorcycles

We knew my grandfather was a motorcycling enthusiast in his younger days, but we have very few pictures of him with his machines. Here are a couple and I’d be very happy if someone could identify the motorcycles.

Andy Skinner, email.

Super photographs Andy. The lightweight with the EY (Anglesey) registration mark is a 225cc Royal Enfield Lightweight (their term) rated at 2¼hp. Prototypes were built in 1912 with the factory quoting bore x stroke dimensions of 64x70mm for its deflector piston three-port two-stroke engine.

Fine so far, but unwisely they followed this up by stating its capacity as 250cc. Within moments, the pundits pointed out the errors of their ways and when launched in the 1914 season, priced at just over £40, it had the maker’s quoted capacity of 225c.

With the outbreak of the First Word War, production soon ended. When the factory restarted civilian manufacture after the war, the 2¼hp lightweight was instantly listed, at £65, alongside their 8hp V-twin, which had been built during the war.

A Ladies Model 225cc was soon advertised too, with both it and the standard model featuring Royal Enfield’s selective clutch  two-speed gear system – in effect two primary drives of differing ratios, one or other selected by the clutch, with the free engine facility somewhere between the two. Exactly as your grandfather’s model Andy.

Alongside the introduction of other models –