Flight of the Seagull
A prewar middleweight with a famous sibling, unmolested cosmetically but restored mechanically – what was not to like? Well, we went to find out.
Retired garage proprietor Alex Taylor has done it again, unearthing a very original classic from outside the British industry’s heavy hitters, the sort of motorcycle many of the public actually rode every day in the 1930s.
Alex said of this 1938 Francis-Barnett Seagull 250cc two-stroke Villiers-engined single: “It’s a bit like a GTP Velocette,” (another two-stroke 250), “over-engineered and very full size, though of course the GTP was technically superior. It reminds me of a nice 250cc Rex-Acme I once had. Prewar 250s seem ideal for real-road riding. This one bombs along lovely at 45.”
Devonshire stinkwheel
“It belonged to a chap called Derrick Baker, who lived in Devon much of his life but later came up to Oxfordshire. At the garage I used to MoT a little James he had. After he passed away, in 2015 his
