British motorcycles show the flag

There were a lot of sights to see.

 You couldn't not look. Motorcycle enthusiasts at the 2026 Dania Beach (Florida) Vintage Motorcycle Show couldn't help staring. 

The flat-tank 1915 BSA Model K motorcycle displayed by George and Theresa Cole, of Cocoa Beach, Florida, looked showroom fresh, despite being 110 years old. 

Also, it was shown alongside a rifle, complete with bayonet. 

1915 BSA Model K is largely original. Looks perfect.

Very arresting. BSA means, of course, "Birmingham Small Arms," formed in 1861 to make weapons.

The bayonet was protected inside its scabbard, but still looked threatening, and the rifle muzzle looked as big as a cannon — it's the effect you get looking down the barrel.

An onlooker suggested stepping around the motorcycle, past the bayonet, to appreciate the motorcycle's use of belt drive. I took in the sight of the toothed belt from a safe distance.

Bayonet in its scabbard, but still intimidating.

A helpful placard explained that the rifle "is a 1915 BSA British Enfield Mk 1 Model III, .303 caliber military weapon, fitted with the correct Model 1907 bayonet."

The four and a half horsepower Model K motorcycle was BSA's first "motor bicycle" without pedals. It had a 557cc single-cylinder motor with a kick-start, and three-speed transmission.

"These were highly popular and quickly adopted for military and private use," the placard advised. Oddly, according to the placard, BSA did not continue making military motorcycles during World War I.

Cap adds another touch of authenticity to display.

"In mid-1916 BSA succumbed to British War Department pressure and exclusively manufactured weapons for the remainder of the war. BSA did not resume motor bicycle production until 1919."

Although many motorcycles were voluntarily enlisted for service use by their civilian owners,  "it is believed this motor bicycle did not serve on the Western Front, but was used for homeland support."

The sign goes on to say that, other than repainting of the tank in 1965, it "remains in its original, unmolested condition." A factory sidecar once fitted to it has, however, been lost.

The motorcycle was shown with no lighting equipment, but it had a comfy sprung pillion seat, speedometer, and brakes front and rear. An officer's cap with cap badge rested on the pillion seat. Wicker baskets suggested it might have been used to transport and release carrier pigeons.

Gathered with other British motorcycles at the show, the 1915 BSA was in good company.

1942 Triumph 3HW served with the RAF during World War II.

Nearby was a Triumph 3HW, veteran of Royal Air Force service in World War II. Sold as surplus in 1946 it was returned to civilian colors. It was shown by Scott Fisher, of Boca Raton.

Next to that was the 1942 Royal Enfield WD/CO of Bruce Gipson, of Boca Raton. It is in its Royal Corps of Signals uniform.

Royal Enfield WD/CO as it looked during World War II.

And then came the 1961 BSA Goldstar of John Perry, of Fort Lauderdale.

1961 Goldstar single outran the twin cylinder competition of its day.

The 1959 Ariel Square Four of Jimmy Sabino, of Marco Island, was nearby, making quite a statement. And the statement seemed me to be "This motor is TOO BIG for this frame."

Ariel Square Four.

Glorious to see.

Rare Royal Enfield at Dania Beach show

Here's a motorcycle I never expected to see.

 I never thought I'd see one in person, but there was a Royal Enfield "Cycar" motorcycle on display at the 2026 Dania Beach (Florida) Vintage Motorcycle Show Jan. 31. 

Royal Enfield made only about 1,500 of Cycars between 1931 and 1936. That's rare! 

And this one is a beauty, immaculately restored to (I assume) better than new condition. In person, the Cycar looks tidy in size and well made. 

The Royal Enfield Cycar looks the business.

I feel badly that I recently wrote that the pressed steel enclosed body is "ugly."

I was comparing the Royal Enfield Cycar of 1931 to the postwar Velocette LE, which sold in thousands.

Compared to the genuinely boxy LE, the Cycar looks purposeful and utilitarian, yes, but certainly not ugly.

Mark Sawicki of Tallahassee wheeled his 1936 Cycar into the display area at Dania Beach as I watched. He told me that, by one count, only 14 Cycars still exist. His must be either the nicest, or at least the closest to it.

His Cycar (also called the Model Z) was displayed with full specifications and history. It won a "Judges' Award" at the show, indicating that all four judges agreed it was worthy of recognition.

Mark told me how he came to own it:

"I got my Cycar back in the mid '90s. I saw an ad in Old Bike Mart and a tiny picture of it. We had no internet so I called the number multiple times over a few days. It turned out the seller was the regalia officer for the Vintage Motorcycle Club and was a chauffeur who worked evenings and nights. This made it hard to contact him given the time difference and his schedule.

"He had to purchase the Cycar as part of a deal on a Model 9 Sunbeam that he wanted. The Cycar had been in a chicken coop since 1959 and the owner wanted to get rid of it, so he made buying it a requirement to purchase the Sunbeam.

"Anyway, I got it and restored it and have been riding and enjoying it ever since. There are not many of them, one is in the Sammy Miller Museum and I used to correspond with a guy in the Netherlands who had one that he would ride around at events dressed as a Vicar.

"Looking at the old logbook, my Cycar has had very few owners and was in pretty complete condition when I got it. The steering head tube portion of the one-piece frame had broken and had a plate welded to strengthen it; maybe a previous owner did some motocross jumps with it!"

Good for 35 miles per hour, a Cycar had a 148cc two-stroke motor, three-speed transmission with hand shift, and weighed only 168 pounds. It featured full lighting equipment, front-and-rear brakes, leg shields to keep the rider clean, and a step-through design to suit the ladies.

Its own mostly enclosed body was easy to clean.

Big motorcycle features on a little motorcycle.

The front suspension featured a real spring; not the silly rubber bands that would appear later, on the Royal Enfield Flying Flea.

It "was one of the many simple 'mounts for the millions' built during the 1930s,' the placard noted, adding that "this machine runs well and is ridden regularly."

Blogger Jorge Pullin has compiled period press reports from when the Cycar was new. They refer to the then new class of motorcycles as "Snowdens" and relate them to "the Snowden 15s tax" (half the existing yearly tax).

The explanation for this is found in the Budget Speech delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden on April 27, 1931: 

"In order to encourage the manufacture in this country of a new type of light motor bicycle which is now being rapidly developed on the Continent, I propose to introduce a special rate of duty for motor bicycles, the engines of which have a cylinder capacity not exceeding 150 cubic centimeters."

Pressed steel full enclosure was all-new... in 1935.

At 148cc, the Model Z Cycar was Royal Enfield's attempt to meet resulting demand that didn't develop at the time. It was, after all, the Depression. The people who would buy a cheap and cheerful motorcycle if they could have didn't have any money at all to spare.

Post-war, Velocette (and, ultimately, Honda) would reap the rewards of real demand for motorcycles that weren't fundamentally dissimilar.

They ride where others shiver to go

Sheer guts, without glory.

 The New Yorker magazine, tongue, as usual, firmly in cheek, this week paid tribute to "New York's Toughest" — the city's motor scooter food delivery riders. 

Artist Peter de Seve drew the front-page cartoon for the Feb. 2, 2026 edition, showing delivery riders as the only traffic on a snow choked street. They brave the bitter winter elements, with their big orange food bins on their backs. 

Let's give it up for the dauntless riders of New York City, and virtually every other city. 

Yes, motorcyclists on Royal Enfields have long braved the heights of the Himalayas. Competition riders have achieved higher speeds. Stunt performers have accomplished more outlandish trick riding. 

But for day-in, day-out riding with guts (and without glory), the door dashing riders delivering hot-to-go food to your door (because you don't want to go outside in THAT) deserve the award.

Not that I appreciate them blowing through red lights, cutting paths through traffic no one else can see, or terrifying pedestrians on sidewalks.

Sometimes unlicensed, probably uninsured, they go where they must, if the pizza is to stay hot.

Our natural reaction is to, rightly, curse their recklessness. But we have to admire their skill. Especially when it is a given that their machines generally seem in worse condition than anything else on the road.

Their mufflers, at least, are often missing in action.

We naturally resent the fact that they are obviously free of effective regulation: no police force could catch them.

The rest of us must pay for parking in the city. They fearlessly park anywhere they like, for free.

How can parking police write a ticket for something that has no license plate?

And, besides: the city has to eat. Restaurants have food to sell. Customers like the convenience. The tips are apparently good enough to encourage riders to go for it.

Scooters are cheap. Lives shouldn't be cheap.

Their rider training is Darwinian. Get good at it fast, or face the painful consequences. It isn't anything the Motorcycle Safety Foundation would endorse, but it works.

I can't ride like that, and I don't want to pay the price to learn. Not anymore than I'd care to learn how to ride The Wall of Death.

But I'll give skill a nod when I see it.