The Big Car Database

Coventry Eagle Motorcycles

Coventry-Eagle
Industry manufacturing and engineering
Fate Closed by World War II
Successor Falcon Cycles
Founded 1903
Defunct 1939
Headquarters Coventry, England
Products Motorcycles and bicycles
 
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 . 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.

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. The model Flying 8 was probably the most iconic bike of its time and 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.

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