Tavener was a motorcycle built in 1921 by Ernest Tavener, then aged nineteen.
This machine was built to satisfy an interest in motorcycles and engineering. The frame was built from straight tubes, triangulated for strength and stiffness, but with front and rear springing for comfort. The front forks were made of tubes with leading-links to carry the wheel, controlled by leaf springs with further links to them. The rear had a pivoted fork made from sheet steel, with long leaf springs shackled to the rear end of the frame tubes that extended to the back number plate. A Swiss MAG v-twin 1,000cc engine was used, plus direct-belt drive with single speed and clutch.
The design was revised in 1926, to add a clutch and gearbox, but the machine was left in a dismantled state.
Almost sixty years later it was rebuilt and used on the road.
Sources of Information
The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X