Despite the bike's name cropping up in the results of various trials and speed events in that period little is known of the machine or its fate so it has become a tradition that the winner of the Bovinzer Trophy spends the year he or she holds it attempting to discover more about the history of this mysterious motorcycle.
... owners of a motor Sparta (or sometimes a scooter) in Belgium, Indonesia, Sweden, Thailand, Malta, Portugal, the United States, Britain, Germany and South Africa.
Meanwhile, sales of mopeds steadily and thus the development of some models. 1965 is the peak of the moped production, up 47,000 units leaving the factory, which currently employs 380 people. The moped production then began to drop due to the increasing interest of a large proportion of the population in a four-wheeled, covered transport. The introduction of the helmet requirement in 1974 was the final blow for the moped, which still made until 1984.
This site is intended to help preserve the heritage of Sturmey-Archer and to record the various types of Sturmey-Archer cycle hubs produced during the 20th century.
Sun motorcycles were virtually unique in that they remained under the control of the Parkes family from conception to the end of motorcycle manufacture. They were also unique in that the company also started and finished in the bicycle industry.
James Parkes was a well known Birmingham industrialist, who owned James Parkes and Son, Brass founders, in Alma Street, Birmingham. Amongst other things, they manufactured incandescent light fittings. It was the manufacture of these fittings that eventually gave the name of 'Sun' to the company.
