Thread: Rover

Before motor cycles they made bicycles, they made the first bicycles that look like the ones of today . They also made a ladies bike that had a tail shaft so the ladies long skirts didn't get court in the chain. The Rover bikes were called Safety Cycles . Howard Motors who became BMC dealers in Brisbane started selling Rover bicycles in Rockhampton .

1910_ladies_rover1.jpg1918_rover_02.jpgmeteor3.jpgSafety_Bike.jpgrover_3speed.jpgth rover motor bike.jpg

ROVER BIKES & MOTOR CYCLES

before bicycles they made sewing machines, which I suspect is why my Series sounded like a sewing machine and was almost as powerful

Mick,that link doesn't seem to work.

I don't believe they made sewing machines, although other car manufacturers went that route - for example, at one time in my childhood, the family car, my mother's sewing machine, and my sister's bike, were all made by Swift of Coventry.

But as far as I know, Starley and Sutton were founded in 1878 to make bicycles. Their most successful model was the "Rover", which set the pattern for the modern bicycle in 1885. In fact, it was so successful that the company's name was changed to Rover in the 1890s. They expanded into motorcycles early in the twentieth century, and in 1904 cars, but bikes and motorbikes continued more or less until the Great Depression.

Image (32)ROVER1.jpg This is from a book called "THE ROVER" By George Mowat-Brown. It states that James Starley & Josisa Turner made sowing machines ( Coventry Machinists Company. But before that they were watchmakers. Starley formed a partnership with William Hillman who made bicycles & automobiles in 1870 . There is more to this story & I will try to enlarge it so it is more easily read.

ROVER4.jpg This is larger so should be easier to read.

This 1929 ROVER9/20 Hot Rod was up for auction on Ebay this week , did not reach the reserve.s-l1600ROVER.jpgs-l1600ROVER1.jpgs-l1600ROVER3.jpg