Abingdon Motorcycles was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

manufacturer in

Tyseley Tyseley is a district in the southern half of the city of Birmingham, England, near the Coventry Road and the districts of Acocks Green, Small Heath and Yardley. It is located near the Grand Union Canal. Etymology Tyseley means "Tyssa's clear ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

between 1903 and 1925. It was renamed AKD (Abingdon King Dick) in 1926 and produced single cylinder motorcycles until 1933, when they concentrated on "King Dick" mechanics' tools.

History

The tool and chain manufacturers Abingdon Engineering was founded in 1856 and started making motorcycles in 1903, when the industry was still very new, with engines from a number of manufacturers before the company developed their own ''Abingdon'' four-stroke 350 cc single and 794 cc V-twin engines, which were used by

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

and Invicta. Much of the production was exported to the

Commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an international association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire from which i ...

. One innovation introduced by Abingdon was the first telescopic shock absorber. Motorcycles of the day often had no front suspension or some form of springs, but Abingdon devised the "Abingdon Spring Fork", a coil sprung, telescopic shock absorber. The First World War halted production but they continued in 1919 with the V-twin and 499 cc and 623 cc single cylinder motorcycles. The company was renamed AKD (Abingdon King Dick) in 1926 and concentrated production on 147cc to 346cc single cylinder motorcycles until 1933, when they decided to concentrate on their successful range of "King Dick" mechanics' tools.

King Dick tools

The Abingdon King Dick tool company still exists, and sponsors the

Castrol Castrol Limited is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The company was originally named CC Wakefield; the nam ...

-Honda British Supersport Motorcycle squad. The company still manufactures its range of King Dick brand mechanics tools in the UK.

Sources

External links

''Motorcycle Classics'' article on 1912 Abingdon King Dick: The King of BirminghamVideo of 1911 Abingdon motorcycle runningAbbots Tools: Official Seller of King Dick Tools
{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2017 Motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Automotive tool manufacturers Tool manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Birmingham, West Midlands

History

King Dick tools

Sources

See also

External links