Sun (motorcycle manufacturer)

Sun Cycle & Fittings Co. Ltd.
legal form	Corporation (UK)
founding	1907
resolution	1961
Reason for dissolution	takeover
Seat	Birmingham
management	Parker family
Branch	vehicle construction

Sun Cycle & Fittings Co. Ltd. was an English manufacturer of motorcycles and bicycles based in Birmingham.

history

The company James Parkes & Son was founded by James Parker in Aston (Birmingham) as early as 1885 . The company mainly manufactured lamp sockets and other small parts made of metal. The later company name Sun (English for sun ) probably alluded to the original line of business. Birmingham, always an important industrial location, began to become a center of the emerging automotive industry after the turn of the century. In 1907 the company was renamed The Sun Cycle & Fittings Company Limited and began manufacturing bicycles.

In 1911 a motorcycle was produced for the first time - the Sun Precision . The company proceeded like a modern manufacturer in vehicle construction: the drive with 2.5 kW (3.5 PS ) came from Precision , the ignition was provided by Bosch and the transmission was supplied by the local company Sturmey-Archer . The chassis attracted attention through the use of a druid fork and was developed and built on site. In 1913, the model range was expanded to include three variants from 499 to 597 cm³, one of which had a JAP engine . In the same year, the Sun- Villiers debuted with engines from the manufacturer of the same name with 269 cm³. The Sun-Vitesse followed in 1915 with the same cubic capacity but an engine from our own production. During the world war the company was not very innovative.

At the beginning of the 1920s, both models with their own engines in the displacement segment from 250 to 350 cm³ and those with drives from JAP were offered. The company got involved with the Isle of Man with its own machines , but was never able to achieve a better result than ninth place. In the middle of the decade, models powered by Villiers and Blackburne were added. The global economic crisis did not leave Sun unaffected and contributed to the slow decline of the company.

In the 1930s, the production of motorcycles was temporarily stopped. A few more ambitious attempts have been made. Around 1940, when the company tried to re-establish itself with a tricycle with a 98 cc engine or simple mopeds . However, without great financial success. In the mid-1950s, Sun produced the Geni scooter with 15-inch wheels and a 98 cc engine. At the same time, the two-stroke Overlander motorcycle with 249 cc was produced. Within a few years, several investors took part in the company. Most recently, the bicycle manufacturer Raleigh acquired the naming rights and tried to market its Wasp scooter under the brand name Sun. In 1961 the company was finally dissolved.