The fact that from its earliest days Britain's motorcycle industry comprised hundreds of specialist suppliers making everything from lights and saddles to frames and complete engines made it possible for small independent concerns to build their own machines, a process made all the easier by the development of the 'clip-on' cyclemotor.

The cyclemotor offered here was made by AV Motors of Aston Lower Grounds, Witton, Birmingham, 'manufacturers of cycle motors and accessories'. In common with many of its contemporaries, the AV 254cc engine was of 'F-head' layout, with 'atmospheric' inlet and mechanical (side) exhaust valves. Ignition was by means of battery, high-speed trembler coil and contact maker, the entire system being housed in the fuel tank's lower compartment. The bicycle's rear wheel was driven by belt directly from a crankshaft-mounted pulley.

The accompanying original 1903 brochure reveals that AV supplied its cyclemotor to fit the Eadie frame (which this machine has) 'or, if ordered in quantities, any other special frame'. Albert Eadie had bought a local bicycle business in 1891 and founded the Eadie Manufacturing Company in Redditch the following year, making sewing needles and rifle parts as well as cycles. In 1896 Eadie set up the New Enfield Cycle Company (later Royal Enfield) to take over certain aspects of the business while Eadie continued to manufacture fittings for the cycle and emerging motorcycle industries, including the Hyde freewheel and Fagan two-speed hub. The company's advertising declared: 'Eadie fittings for motor cycles are designed expressly for the purpose intended by men who have had considerable experience of motor cycling. Frames can be built for engines of the Minerva type for either 2 or 2½hp.'

First registered in Birmingham, this rare AV-powered Eadie was given to the vendor approximately 60 years ago together with a quantity of motorcycle spares. Kept in dry storage ever since, the machine is offered for restoration and sold strictly as viewed. We are advised that the engine is filled with oil and is still free, and that the Swansea V5C registration document has been successfully applied for.