BAVARIAN ROAD TEST #2; THE MAJESTIC

As regular readers of the Vintagent know, I have a 'thing' for unusual bikes, and a special place in my Pantheon for the Majestic motorcycle from France. I've already given several expository posts on the subject, which you can read here, but here in Bavaria, where all motorcycles seem possible to ride, a freshly restored 1929 Majestic with a 500cc ohv Chaise engine was proffered. My visit marked the premier startign event for this bike, and as the film below shows, the mechanicién knew his stuff:

The Majestic is the physical embodiment of the Art Deco aesthetic, a streamlined torpedo which suggests Speed and Modernity, and although it fails to deliver in the former case, it was certainly and extremely forward-thinking design, an attempt at an 'ideal' motorcycle, whose formula has been echoed through the decades by modern factories such as Yamaha and Bimota.

Structurally, the 'New Motorcycle' (as it was called in prototype form) is built similar to an automobile of the era, with 'C' section steel channels forming the chassis in twin, low rails along either side of the power train, atop which is a shapely light-guage steel body of attractive and curvaceous line. Classic Deco stuff. The engine compartment is covered in a mesh, and the body is louvered along the sides to dispense with heat.

The true innovation comes with the hub-center steering, not unique, nor was Majestic the first two-wheeler to use such, but the execution is modern and works well. Suspension, as on a Morgan car, is via sliding pillars along either side of the front wheel - the rear is rigid. Conventional controls operate the machine, including a hand-shifter, which is a simple rotary device with a knob - no 'gate' for holding the lever in place, just a round boss with Roman numerals indicating the gear (there are III). Steering is via normal handlebar with a push-pull rod connected to the front hub.

So, the important question; what is it like to ride? Sitting astride the machine there is no sense of anything unusual, that one is atop a totally enclosed vehicle with hub-center steering, only the handlebars and extensive (smart too) instrument panel can be seen from the perch. Starting the Chaise engine is a doddle, and a typical 20's bonk emerges from the fishtail muffler. There is valve clatter below the perforated engine covering. So far, so normal.

Moving out, the steering is very light, and has no inertial sluggishness for such a long machine. As the speed rises, one notices a certain pendulum effect at the front wheel, and a light hand is required on the 'bars to prevent a weave. Even with a delicate touch, the front wheel seems, not hunting exactly, but not rail-like in steering - constant minor correction is necessary to keep the plot moving in exactly the right direction. I imagine that a little work perfecting the trail of the steering geometry would cure this minor effect; it's a very small matter for such a radical design, and the road-holding and steering feel true at all times and perfectly stable and safe. As the engine warmed up, I felt completely confident in swift cornering, and was rewarded with a very nice ride with zero drama.

What I wanted, though, was a different engine. The Chaise unit is, I'm sure, perfectly serviceable and totally conventional for the time, but such an innovative motorcycle cries out for a smooth and modern engine, with significant power output. A prototype of a 'New Motorcycle' with a Cleveland four-cylinder engine was shown at the 1928 Paris Motorcycle Show; this would have been a perfect combination of power and engine noise. Unfortunately, the prototype seems to have disappeared, so we'll have to settle for the 'what if'.

MAJESTIC UPDATE

My pal Vincent from France recently visited the M2R museum in Andorra, and among his photos from the trip is this lovely 1930 Majestic, 'The New Motorcycle', with a 350cc Chaise ohv engine. I wrote about Majestic in an earlier post, mentioning the unusual and still rare hub-center steering system.
The Majestic could be ordered with an 'alligator' or 'crackle' finish, but this is the first time I've seen a photo - the fellow with the blue Majestic at the Coupe Moto Legende (back in 2001) mentioned that he knew of an original-condition 'alligator' machine, and I suppose this must have been the bike.
This special paint job piques my interest, as I've done faux-finish painting for the past 25 years, and I don't think there's another motorcycle company which has used such an artisanal and labor-intensive paint scheme - the process is inherently unstable, as the 'crackling' is created by using a top paint layer over an incompatible 'base' paint coat. The top layer can't spread out and create a 'film' over the base coat properly, so shrinks onto itself rather than over the base coat as paint normally does. As it all dries, the alligatored topcoat ends up sticking well enough to the lower layer that the whole job doesn't simply fall apart, but it's not a finish I would recommend for a vehicle! Still, since this particular paint has apparently lasted almost 80 years, I suppose it has proven the test of time, and the tremendous skill of the artisan!

Such a job is far beyond the skill of the factory 'coach painter' of the period, who is simply concerned with applying a smooth and dust-free coat of black enamel. The Majestic finisher (and I bet it was one fellow, as their total output was very low), was undoubtedly a member of the Guild of Decorative Painters in France, which traces its lineage several hundred years - they were the folks who decorated the ceiling beams etc on all those amazing 11th - 18th century cathedrals. The Guild retains many of the habits of yore, requiring members to pierce both ears, and wear their hair long. It so happened that during my peak decorative faux-painting years, I fit the bill, and curiously, when I hired French painters to help me, so did they... but membership and details are secret, and I might be endangering myself by revealing too much already!
Having said that, isn't it fascinating that this totally unique motorcycle has a connection to the grand and very old European tradition of Guilds and artisans. It would be as if the Masons built frames and engines once cathedral-building projects dried up... perhaps Dan Brown can figure a Majestic into the next Da Vinci Code adventure!

If you'd like to see more of Vincent's photo gallery, click here.

MAJESTIC, The 'New Motorcycle'

The French 'Majestic' is familiar to American motorcyclists who were lucky to catch the Guggenheim 'Art of the Motorcycle' show; otherwise its appearance is a mystery. I've poked around two of them - at the Guggenheim itself (which is a post waiting to happen), and the Coupes Moto Legende / Montlhery in 2000. Every Majestic seems to employ a different engine configuration, but the general layout of frame and bodywork is the same.

The concept was to create a two-wheeled conveyance which more resembled a car (think Art Deco Honda Pacific Coast), with full enclosure over all mechanicals (for cleanliness and styling), and hub-center steering via links and rods. The machine pictured (at Montlhery) uses a 350cc Chaise engine with vertical overhead valves, and the gearbox in unit. Note the cranked induction pipe and very high exhaust - the head is almost an inverted sidevalve design. Other engines were used by the New Motorcycle company; JAP (350/500cc ohv and sv singles), Train (4-cyl 500cc ohv), Chaise (unit construction 350/500cc ohv), and the 4-cylinder 1000cc sv Cleveland engine pictured in the magazine scans from 'Motor Cycling' on July 10, 1929.

I have to say, this scan is a bit of a scoop over both 'The Art of the Motorcycle' and Tragatsch's 'Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles', as neither one mentions the use of the Cleveland engine (and I suspect the 'AotM' article was written using 'IEoM' as a reference!). Tragatsch gets his details a bit wrong by suggesting the bikes had rear suspension; the chassis ends in a pressed-steel rigid mounting for the rear hub. He also called it "another assembled machine [from France]", which gives short shrift to the brilliance and originality of the concept- the entire machine, barring the engine, was unique and manufactured for this purpose - only ancillaries like lights, seats, etc, were bought-in; even the hubs were custom-made, as there wasn't another hub-center steered machine of its scale. The nearest rival in specification is the Ner-A-Car, which was never as grand, and used lightweight engines - the Majestic aspired to be a motorcycling Grand Routier; a large, comfortable, and stylish tourer.

The New Motorcycle was designed by Georges Roy, with a production run from 1929-34(?), and is a brilliant Art Deco sculpture, with a swooping unbroken line from the curved front wheel beak to the sporty abbreviated tail. The side panels are punctuated by louvers like a racing car (and the bike pictured is painted Bugatti / French racing blue). As the entire chassis is pressed thin-gauge steel, the overall weight is fairly low - I would estimate from hefting and pushing one around that it weighs 350lb. The chassis is constructed using two mirror-image side pressings, rivetted together by firewalls at the front and back of the engine, with further strengthening panels beneath the engine, plus the two large, fixed top panels. The whole structure, much like a monocoque car (or a late Cosworth /Norton racer), is extremely rigid. The central engine cover is removable for access (as shown in the engine pic), and as mentioned the side members are totally louvered to keep the engine cool. There's plenty of room in the engine bay for a large motor, or even a radiator for a water-cooled machine. The petrol tank sits under the front bulkhead.

Detail shots show the arrangement of the steering and front suspension; vertical rods allow sprung movement (probably undamped), and the steering rod can be seen connected to the central hub by a 'c' shaped lever. The inside of the hub is pretty complicated, as it must incorporate very large bearings, the swiveling steering mechanism, and the front brake.
The machine pictured has a shaft drive, and the oil reservoir for the final drive can be seen in pic 5.
I had a long conversation in broken French and English about this machine, which led to all sorts of interesting diversions. Apparently some of the Majestics were hand-finished in a faux 'crackle glaze' paint job, in a kind of greenish khaki, and some were painted normally. The metal bodywork tends to get very hot over the engine, and the steering is similar to other hub-center models (like the Ner-A-Car and OEC Duplex), in that it prefers a straight line over robust cornering.
They were called 'the New Motorcycle', as clearly any far-seeing person knew that an enclosed motorcycle was the future...and how right they were, although a few decades ahead of time. Ascot-Pullin, Velocette (LE), Vincent (Black Prince), among many others, had similar ideas. Nowadays it's easy to buy an enclosed motorcycle, but Yamaha and Bimota are the only recent builders to address hub-center steering (many writers still consider it the future of moto-development).

The period magazine scans show a slightly different chassis layout for the Cleveland engine, using a frame much like a car - 'c' section steel channels running from the front to rear wheels, with the bodywork dropped on top. I don't know whether this was a one-off (not that many Majestic were made) for the Cleveland experiment, or perhaps this is the original frame design which evolved into the monocoque. My guess - the Cleveland was the prototype, as the magazine mentions the debut of the marque with this engine at the Paris Motor Show.