• the British War Office placed orders for the Norton 16H (pictured) longer than for any other single make of motorcycle?
• the WW2 Royal Enfield WD/RE motorcycle was known as the Flying Flea as it was designed to be dropped by parachute from bomber aircraft?
• the 1986 Goodwill Games, created by Ted Turner, featured a type of polo competition with motorcycles called motoball?
• the BSA M20 was one of the longest serving British military motorcycles and the most numerous with 126,000 produced?
• the Matchless G12 CSR motorcycle designation officially stood for Competition, Sport, Road, but was dubbed the Coffee Shop Racer by its rivals?
• the Greeves motorcycle company funded production from a contract with the Ministry of Pensions for their Invacar for disabled drivers?
• the British Velocette Valiant motorcycle launched in 1956 was criticised for its underpowered engine?
• the British Velocette MAC (WD) 350cc single was Velocette's first military motorcycle for World War Two?
• the 1970 Triumph Bandit British motorcycle never went into commercial production and only five have survived?
• the 1960 Velocette Viper British motorcycle was one of the first to have glass fibre enclosure panels?
• the 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa (pictured) was named the fastest production motorcycle of the 20th century?
• the 350cc engine in the 1949 Douglas Mark III British motorcycle was based on a WW2 electricity generator engine?
• the engine block of the Scott Flying Squirrel motorcycle was painted either green or red for racing or road, respectively?
• the Norton Jubilee was the smallest capacity motorcycle ever made by Norton?
• the Norton P11 desert racing motorcycle was launched in the US under the advertising slogan Dynamite on wheels?
• the positive-stop foot gear change first used on the Velocette KTT motorcycle in 1928 has become the standard for motorcycles today?
• the last Silk motorcycle ever built was a 500cc model based on a prototype that was never produced and was used as a competition prize?
• the sound of the revving motorcycle in the Meat Loaf rock anthem "Bat out of Hell" is actually a recording of an electric guitar solo by producer Todd Rundgren?
• the trial mode from Moto Racer 3 requires the player to maneuver an obstacle course on a motorcycle?
• when Rollie Free rode his motorcycle to a land speed record in 1948, he was wearing only a Speedo bathing suit, a shower cap, and a pair of borrowed sneakers?
• the world's first mono-motorcycle, the Uno, was invented by Canadian teenager Ben Gulak?
• the engine of the Capella Javelin ultralight aircraft was controlled using a motorcycle-type throttle?
• the Wilkinson motorcycle (pictured) failed to impress the British military – despite having a Maxim machine gun mounted on the handlebars?
• the Ruby Cycle Co Ltd was bankrupted when a large motorcycle order from the Imperial Russian Army was stopped by the Russian Revolution?
• the Royal Enfield Bullet (pictured) has the longest production run of any motorcycle, having remained continuously in production since 1948?
• the Triumph Tiger Daytona motorcycle (pictured) was named after Buddy Elmore's win in the 1966 Daytona 200, Triumph's first Daytona victory?
• the Triumph Tiger T110 British sports motorcycle was fitted with enclosed panels in 1961, which earned it the nickname "the bathtub"?
• the Welbike was the smallest motorcycle ever used by the British Armed Forces?
• the 1958 BSA C15 was the first unit construction motorcycle produced by the British company BSA?
• the 1955 Vincent Black Knight motorcycle was a modified Vincent Rapide which was fully enclosed to keep the rain and dirt from the rider?
• camber thrust contributes to the ability of bicycles and motorcycles to negotiate a turn with the same radius as automobiles but with a smaller steering angle?
• Adolphe Clément, an orphan who had been apprenticed to a blacksmith, rose to become a leading French manufacturer of bicycles, pneumatic tyres, motorcycles, automobiles, aeroplanes and airships (example pictured)?
• Dick Mann was the first motorcycle rider to win AMA's career Grand Slam by winning on short track, mile, half mile, Tourist Trophy, and road racing race tracks?
• after Father Knows Best ended, actor Billy Gray devoted his later interest to riding and collecting motorcycles?
• in 1912, a Singer motorcycle became the first 350cc motorcycle to cover more than 60 miles (97 km) in one hour?
• between 1903 and 1924 Rover produced more than 10,000 motorcycles?
• WW1 stopped production of AJS Model D motorcycles but a 1917 order to supply Russia with 1,100 military motorcycles enabled them to continue development?
• British marque AJW built high-end 1000cc motorcycles in the 1920s but were producing 50cc "Fox Cubs" by the 1960s?
• George Brough used a Brough Superior SS80 motorcycle nicknamed "Spit and Polish" to become the first sidevalver to lap Brooklands at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h)?
• gemstones and heroin are traded from Burma to China for motorcycles and household goods across the Shweli River, which forms part of the boundary between the two countries?
• British motorcycle pioneer Bert Greeves owned a 1912 Triumph with the registration 'OLD 1'?
• IGN's Doug Perry said Moto Racer 2 was the best motorcycle racing game seen on the PlayStation?
• motorcyclist Jo Siffert was killed in an end-of-season non-championship F1 race on October 24, 1971 at Brands Hatch?
• in 1940, the Office of the High Commission of India ordered 530 BSA C11 motorcycles (pictured) in military specification?
• in 1958, a Royal Enfield Super Meteor motorcycle was used by the Transport Research Laboratory to test the Maxaret anti-lock braking system?
• the 1919 BSA Model E British motorcycle (pictured) was the first of a long line of popular V twins?
• the 1915 Triumph Model H was the first Triumph not fitted with pedals, so it was their first true motorcycle?
• the 1921 Triumph Ricardo British motorcycle was capable of over 70 mph and set three world speed records?
• the 1927 British AJW Summit v-twin motorcycle was capable of 161 kilometres per hour (100 mph)?
• the 1935 500cc Vincent Meteor British motorcycle was powered by Vincent Motorcycles' first in-house developed engine?
• the 120 miles per hour (190 km/h) Healey 1000/4 British motorcycle of 1973 was fitted with a 1000cc engine designed by Edward Turner in 1928?
• the 110 mph BSA Fury British motorcycle designed by Edward Turner never went into production due to the colapse of the BSA Group?
• in 2008 a Vincent Black Lightning sold for £221,500 becoming the most expensive motorcycle sold at auction in the UK?
• in 1961, a British Velocette Venom motorcycle set the 24-hour world record at a speed of 100.05 mph which has never been equalled since?
• in the 2008 motorcycle Scott Trial event, there were only 60 official finishers out of a starting entry of 200?
• only 31 Vincent Grey Flash British motorcycles were ever produced?
• production of the Triumph Tiger 80 British motorcycle ended with the outbreak of WW2 and never resumed after the Triumph works was destroyed in The Blitz?
• Arkansas State Senator Kim Hendren authored a failed bill to require motorcyclists to wear helmets or offer proof of health insurance?

Facts on topics related to Motorcycle

Motorcycle engine

• the equipment designed by the physicist Gwyn Jones to liquefy small amounts of helium for work at temperatures near absolute zero was made from parts of a motorcycle engine?

Outlaw motorcycle club

• outlaw motorcycle club the Gypsy Jokers has rallied the support of rival clubs to protest proposed Australian anti-"bikie" laws?

Honda

• the 2006 Honda ad Cog won more awards than any other advertisement in history?
• the S500 was the first production car from Honda?

Hells Angels

• the small farming community of Laurelwood, Oregon, was the site of four execution-style murders in the 1970s ordered by the Hells Angels?