SATURN

England 1925 - 1926

Gloucester - Williams & James Ltd - They produced 11 motorcycles and a similiar number of engines for stationary generators. All of these motorcycles were traced to the scrapyards except for one that the company kept to take parts to and from the railway station. It is not known what eventually happened to this unit, which had a sidecar fitted to accomodate the railway parcels. It may have ended up with an employee or been scrapped by the company. All the motorcycle engines were air-cooled, whilst the stationary engines were water-cooled. Very little info remains, although the size was believed to be 350cc and a 2 stroke principle was used unlike anything else I have ever seen. The crankcase was pressure fed with oil, and the piston rotated as it rose and fell to expose the porting. It was reputed to be very powerful for its time but as a motorcycle engine it did have an inherent weakness and must have been limited to low revs for reliability. Better suited as a stationary engine with fixed speed running. The factory folded and was bought from the receivers in late 1984. - from Chris Smith Further Information