The Ruby Cycle Co Ltd. was a British

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruisin ...

manufacturer based in

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Founded in 1909 the factory produced a range of motorcycles under the ''Royal Ruby'' brand until 1932.

History

The Ruby Cycle Co. were originally bicycle makers based in Cannel Street,

surrounded by the

cotton mills A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

and like many bicycle makers of the time turned to producing by motorcycles from 1909. The ''Royal Ruby'' motorcycles were expensive as all the cycle parts were manufactured by the company in Manchester, but engines were brought in from

JAP ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

and Villiers. The range included 250cc 2 strokes and 4 strokes as well an unusual 'Ladies Model' with a specially lowered frame. Top of the range was a 976cc side valve

V-twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or long ...

. During the

first world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

production at the factory turned to munitions and components to support the war effort, but in 1916 a large export order for the V-twin was commissioned by the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, Romanization of Russian, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the earl ...

. The motorcycles were produced but delivery of the order was disrupted by the outbreak of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

in 1919. Although a few motorcycles were delivered to Russia, it is not clear whether all payments were forthcoming. After the war ended the British motorcycle market was saturated with ex military machines, but munitions work had supported the company and, with a re-arranged board, a new factory was built on Moss Lane,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

where production of motorcycles restarted in 1921, together with their own Ruby leaf sprung forks and rear suspension using the same method, but the results were very expensive, sales were extremely slow and the company went bust completely in 1922. The name was sold to Albert Horrocks of

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ce ...

in 1927. Horrocks developed a new saddle-tank motorcycle in 1928 with Villiers and JAP engines and Albion and

Sturmey-Archer Sturmey-Archer was a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham, England. It primarily produced bicycle hub gears, brakes and a great many other sundry bicycle components, most prominently during their heyday as a subsidiary of the Rale ...

gearboxes. Royal Ruby motorcycle production ended around 1931 but one-off motorcycles may have been assembled from spare parts up to 1933.

Cyclecars

As well as motor cycles the company also made

cyclecars A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the car. A key c ...

at two separate times. There was a major boom in cyclecar production before World War I and between 1913 and 1914 one was made under the Royal Ruby name with 10 hp V twin JAP engine, two speed gearbox and either shaft or belt drive to the rear wheels. Only a few are thought to have been made. Another Royal Ruby car, this time a three wheeler was announced in 1927 with single cylinder JAP engine but only a prototype was apparently made designed by Maurice Edwards. A modified version appeared in 1928 called the MEB (Maurice Edwards Bolton) made by commercial vehicle bodybuilders Bromilow and Edwards in Bolton. A tuned version had some success at Brooklands and Montlhery driven by Gwenda Stewart and Douglas Hawkes between 1930 and 1932.

References

External links

* http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Ruby_Cycle_Co * http://www.yesterdays.nl/royal-ruby-1913-p-1111.html {{British motorcycle manufacturers Defunct motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1909 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1932 Defunct companies based in Manchester Manufacturing companies based in Manchester 1927 mergers and acquisitions 1909 establishments in England 1932 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1932 British companies established in 1909

History

Cyclecars

See also

References

External links