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A brief history of

 

DOT Motorcycles

 

The Factory closed its doors in early 2017. The redevlepment of the site has not begun as of September 2019.

Any spares that the factory held are currently in storage, until suitable premises can be sourced 16/9/2019

 


A famous name in motorcycling, Dot trace their roots to 1903 when Harry Reed set up as a cycle builder in Salford.  By 1906 Reed had built a motorcycle which he rode to claim the World Championship for the Flying Kilometre at Blackpool and in 1908 Reed won the multi-cylinder class in the Isle of Man TT on his Dot.
Dot had many other competition successes until motorcycle production ceased temporarily in the early 1930’s.

Under the new ownership of Burnard Scott Wade and on the back of the commercial success of 3-wheel cycle and motor delivery trucks which he designed, Dot went back into motorcycle production after WWII, developing machines powered by Villiers Two Stroke engines.

 

Again Dot tasted racing glory by winning the Manufacturer’s Team Prize in the 1951 Ultra-Lightweight TT but became more famous for their range of lightweight Scrambles and Trials bikes. Aggressively ridden these superb handling Dot bikes beat machines 2 and 3 times their size from the major manufacturers such as BSA, Matchless, Royal Enfield and Triumph and lead to the lighter, more manoeuvrable competition machines of today.

 

 

Dot effectively ceased production in the late 1960’s, that last batch of production bikes were the DMW engined trials bikes in 1978

The Dot Motorcycle Club was formed by a group of enthusiasts to help maintain the name and reputation of the marque. The Club has  published a history of Dot to celebrate the 100 years of history for  details of the book click here.