Rarest Motorbike In The UK? How one man is ensuring his Wilkinson Touring Motorcycle stays on the road.
A retired driving examiner has quite the collection of vintage motorcycles, but his favourite may be worth more than he could ever have imagined.
Richard Mummery owns one of only four Wilkinson Touring Motorcycles left in the UK – two of which reside in the National Motorcycle Museum – and he’s still keeping it on the road.
He’s enjoyed many motorcycles over the past 40 years, but his ultra-rare model is definitely his most intriguing and the one he’s put the most care into.
“I love it to bits,” he revealed.
“I don’t want to get sentimental, but sometimes I’ve just got to stand there and look at it.”
Wilkinson, most known for manufacturing razors, made 250 uniquely-designed motorcycles between 1908 and 1916, with Mr Mummery’s being made in 1913.
“As soon as I saw it I said ‘yes please’,” recalled the former engineer.
“It was a hell of a lot of money in those days, but it’s worth a bit more than that now”
Mr Mummery has been a motorcycle enthusiast since childhood. At just 10, he was already getting rides on the back of his neighbour’s BSA Bantam D1.
He then was able to buy his first bike, a 1953 plunger frame James, at 16, before being called up to National Service at 21, where he was still able to embrace his love of bikes.
Thanks to Wilkinson Sword historian, the late John Arlett, and a slew of engineers, the lifelong motorbike fanatic has been able to ensure that his vintage bike hasn’t stopped taking him on journeys, even after a few mishaps.
“We push-started it on a nice downhill section of road, and it fired up very quickly but you couldn’t see for smoke, and oil was coming out of every orifice possible,” he told Forever Bikes*.
“Mr Artlett came down and he was over the moon that another Wilkinson had come to life.He was a motorcyclist as well, so I could talk to him as a motorcyclist.”
Mr Artlett was able to help the Canterbury local discover where his bike originally came from, plus where they could find the right replacement parts.
After all the restoration work, Mr Mummary wants to hold onto his Wilkinson motorbike for as long as possible, hoping he can keep it out of any museums for the time being.
“When the time comes, I would like to sell it to someone who is going to ride it,” he added. “I’d hate it to go to a museum.”
