The Indian Model O.
William and Edwin Douglas got into the motorcycle business by accident, when a company they supplied castings too, Light Motors, went into receivership. Light Motors were probably the pioneers of fore and aft flat twins. The Douglas brothers spotted an opportunity in carrying on production of these smooth, nimble, sturdy, low vibration machines, which performed well, and seemed to sell. Their appeal was enhanced with success on the Isle of Man, European race tracks, dirt tracks, and as Dispatch Rider mounts in WW1.
So it is not surprising that a number of other makes tried fore and aft flat twin configuration: Brough (not Superior), D-Rad, Victoria, Wilkinson, Indian (model O) and Harley Davidson (model W & XA) to name a few. Perhaps the most esoteric of them all was the Quirk’s Mona, the first truly indigenous Australian machine.
Within this article we’ll examine one of the more obscure fore and aft flat twins to be produced, the 1916 ABC, its better known sibling the Sopwith ABC, and the unique Australian machine the Quirk’s Mona.
1916 ABC
The 1916 ABC was designed and produced by Granville Bradshaw, a talented engineer and a keen motorcyclist. Granville came into contact with the motorcycle racing community when working on aircraft at Brooklands before WW1. He became friends with an Australian flyer, and Douglas works rider, Les Bailey. In November 1912 Granville extensively modified one of Les’ machines, adding steel
