Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company, sometimes called Cleveland Motorcycle, was a
In 1924, two years after buying out Reading-Standard, Cleveland replaced their two-stroke engine with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine. In 1925 they released a motorcycle with a T-head four-cylinder engine designed by L. E. Fowler. With a smaller engine than rival four-cylinder motorcycles by
The Cleveland Motorcycle
(1919) – 17-page promotional brochure including photographs, pricing, specifications, and additional information on the motorcycle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company Motorcycle manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland 1915 establishments in Ohio 1929 disestablishments in Ohio
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 Cleveland
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, from 1902 to 1905 and again from 1915 to 1929.
Two-stroke singles
In 1915 Cleveland introduced adisplacement
Displacement may refer to:
Physical sciences
Mathematics and physics
*Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...
single-cylinder engine
A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, motorized bicycles, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, power tools ...
with a longitudinal crankshaft
A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a reciprocating engine, piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating Shaft (mechanical engineering), shaft containing one or more crankpins, ...
orientation, necessitating a worm drive
A worm drive is a gear arrangement in which a worm (which is a gear in the form of a screw) meshes with a worm wheel (which is similar in appearance to a spur gear). Its main purpose is to translate the motion of two perpendicular axes or to t ...
to turn the axis of rotation of the drive to the transmission
Transmission or transmit may refer to:
Science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual tra ...
by 90°. The transmission was a two speed with a sprocket turning a chain final drive. Besides driving the transmission, the engine's countershaft
A jackshaft, also called a countershaft, is a common mechanical design component used to transfer or synchronize rotational force in a machine. A jackshaft is often just a short stub with supporting bearings on the ends and two pulleys, gear ...
extended back to drive a magneto
A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
that hung in front of the rear wheel. In 1920, the motorcycle's weight increased from the addition of fenders, a larger fuel/oil tank, and in 1921 the seat was enlarged, along with a still larger fuel/oil tank, and a battery was added. The displacement was increased to to handle the increased weight of from these changes. During World War I, US forces used the Cleveland as a base courier
A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...
.
Four-strokes, four cylinders, and failure
In 1924, two years after buying out Reading-Standard, Cleveland replaced their two-stroke engine with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine. In 1925 they released a motorcycle with a T-head four-cylinder engine designed by L. E. Fowler. With a smaller engine than rival four-cylinder motorcycles by Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
* Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
*H ...
and Ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...
, Cleveland's first four-cylinder motorcycle did not sell well. In 1926, Cleveland replaced the Fowler engine with a new design by E. H. DeLong. The new engine had an inlet-over-exhaust valve configuration and a displacement of forty-five cubic inches. The displacement was increased to sixty-one cubic inches the following year.
By 1928 Cleveland had financial problems. That year, the company offered itself for sale to Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with i ...
. Harley-Davidson considered the offer, as Cleveland's new four-cylinder motorcycles offered a ready-made competitor to Indian's Ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...
-based fours, but rejected it in favor of developing their own four.
In 1929 Cleveland announced their Tornado model, with a lowered frame and seat height, lightweight pistons, larger valves, and a higher compression ratio. A Century model, with a guaranteed top speed of one hundred miles per hour, was announced.
A few months after the Wall Street crash of 1929, after building only a few prototypes of the Century, Cleveland went out of business.
References
External links
The Cleveland Motorcycle
(1919) – 17-page promotional brochure including photographs, pricing, specifications, and additional information on the motorcycle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company Motorcycle manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland 1915 establishments in Ohio 1929 disestablishments in Ohio