Truly one of the family

Motorcycles that you’ve owned and ridden for a long time tend to become almost a part of the family. Here is an outstanding example of that tendency, in the Harris family for 69 years, a 1923 Douglas 4hp, something of a favourite with the sidecar brigade who wanted a little extra power to transport the family as domesticity took over from any sporting pretensions.

Bruce Harris, an engineer with a reputation for building competition engines and later quite a star of the world of model racing cars, had raced on grasstracks and in scrambles in his youth, favouring the Bristol-built Douglas as he was from that part of the country.

During the matter of dealing