Tyler Apparatus Co

Tyler Apparatus Co of Gerrard Street, London

• The company began by offering their lightweight motorcycles with a choice of Precision two-stroke or four-stroke engines, both in a form of unit construction with their two-seed gearbox. Under this name they had limited sales but were far more successful as described below.

• Metro-Tyler were motorcycles produced from 1919 to 1924, by Tyler of London, who took over the Birmingham firm of Metro, after the end of World war I.

• 1919 Post-war construction began with the continuation of the 269cc two-stroke with either single-speed belt drive or two-speed chain-cum-belt.

• 1920 There was just a two-speed model that had been completely redesigned. They used their own two-speed gearing and enclosed primary transmission in a welded frame.

• 1921 A three-speed version was added and that model remained, with various gearbox options, for the next few years.

• 1922 Two four-stroke models with Blackburne sv engines were added to the range. One was a 348cc single and the other a 698cc V-twin.

• 1923 A new miniature was added. This was the 147cc two-stroke called the All Black Baby. It had single or two-speed belt drive and all-weather finish. There was also an all-chain version of the 348cc Blackburne together with a similar size ohv machine, and the V-twin ran on as before.

• 1924 Only the 269cc two-stroke and a new 247cc Villiers model were listed - both had Albion two-speed gearboxes and chain-cum-belt drive. After that, the name disappeared.

Sources of Information

• The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press
• The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle by Peter Henshaw. Published 2007. ISBN 978 1 8401 3967 9