Coventry-Eagle

Coventry-Eagle was a British bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer. Established as a Victorian bicycle maker, the company began under the name of Hotchkiss, Mayo & Meek. The company name was changed to Coventry Eagle in 1897 when John Meek left the company .[1] By 1898 they had begun to experiment with motorised vehicles and by 1899, had produced their first motorcycle. The motorcycles were hand built from components and finished carefully, Coventry-Eagle motorcycles proved reliable and by the First World War the range included Villiers Engineering and JAP engines.[2]

Coventry-Eagle
Industrymanufacturing and engineering
Founded1903
Defunct1939
FateClosed by World War II
SuccessorFalcon Cycles
HeadquartersCoventry, England
ProductsMotorcycles and bicycles
Coventry-Eagle
Rider on a Coventry Eagle motor bike, Australia, c. 1935

During the early 1920s, the models changed depending on what engines were available and the company swapped between five engine manufacturers - Villiers, JAP, Sturmey-Archer, Blackburne and Matchless.[3] The model Flying 8 bore a resemblance to the contemporary Brough Superior. During the depression of the 1930s, the company concentrated on producing two-strokes. Production continued until the start of the Second World War in 1939.[4]

In the 1930s they had launched a range of sporting bikes under the "Falcon" brand. After the war, and not of a scale to continue competitive motorcycle manufacture, the company concentrated on their racing bicycles. It was under this marque that the company relaunched itself as Falcon Cycles, now a division of Tandem Group.

Models
Model Year Comments
269 cc 1913 Villiers-powered two-speed
3.5 hp 1913 Single
5 hp 1914 Three-speed V-twin
500 cc single 1921
680 cc V-Twin 1921 JAP engine
Flying 8 1923
8 hp Super Sports Twin 1923
Flying 6 1927 674 cc side-valve twin
150 cc 1935 Coventry Eagle twin-port two-stroke and with a left-hand gear change and Albion gearbox
L5 249 cc 35 Silent Superb De Luxe 1935 Villiers engine and a 4-speed albion gearbox
N35 1937 Flying 350
N11 250 cc 1937 Pullman

References
  1. Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Classic Motor History.
  2. "1928 Coventry-Eagle Flying-8". Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2008.
  3. Tragatsch, Erwin (2000). The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles. London: Quantum Publishing. p. 560. ISBN 1861603428.
  4. "Coventry-Eagle Motorcycles". Retrieved 22 May 2008.
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