The Sun Cycle & Fittings Company Ltd, based in Aston, Birmingham, sits right at the point where bicycles stopped being enough. Founded in the 1890s, Sun built some of the finest cycles of the era, proudly stamped with the slogan “As Simple as the Sun.” When motorisation arrived, Sun approached it in exactly the same way – sensibly, carefully, and without unnecessary complication.
By around 1911, Sun had begun producing motorcycles. Like many of the best early manufacturers, they didn’t chase novelty for its own sake. Instead, Sun concentrated on well-made frames and cycle parts, leaving engines to specialist suppliers. It was a practical decision, and a good one.
In 1912, Villiers Engineering of Wolverhampton introduced their first motorcycle engine: a two-stroke single of 269cc. It was light, affordable, reliable and extremely popular. A year later, Villiers engines were finding their way into Sun frames, and the pairing made perfect sense.
The motorcycle featured here is a 1914 Sun, fitted with the 296cc Villiers Mk I two-stroke. It’s a straightforward machine in the best possible sense – no frills, no excess, just what was needed to get a rider moving on the roads of pre-war Britain. The engine is mated to a two-speed clutchless crash gearbox, which demands a degree of mechanical sympathy from its rider. Timing, feel, and experience matter more than speed or convenience. It’s not a motorcycle that was designed to impress in the pub car park – it’s built to work.
What sets this Sun apart is not just its specification, but its history. In 1930, it completed the very first Pioneer Run, organised by the newly formed Vintage Motor Cycle Club. Seventy-seven pre-1914 motorcycles set off from London bound for Brighton, riding machines that were already veterans in every sense of the word.
The sight caused chaos. Traffic was disrupted, crowds gathered, and the public suddenly remembered where motorcycling had begun. That first run laid the foundations for one of the most important events in the vintage calendar – and this Sun was there at the start.
For many years, the Sun belonged to W.B. Drury Cycles of Tonbridge Wells. Rather than being tucked away, it remained a living part of the business. Employees were regularly dispatched to ride it on the Pioneer Run, ensuring that the machine stayed exercised, understood, and respected.
This kind of ownership matters. Early motorcycles only survive when people keep riding them, fixing them, and refusing to turn them into ornaments. This Sun survived because it was treated as a motorcycle, not a work of art – ok well maybe a running one it could be argued!
In 2001, the machine was purchased by the late Robert Hummerstone, and it has remained in the family ever since. Its survival is down to continuity of care, knowledge, and intent. Nothing forced, nothing over-restored. Just preservation through use.
This 1914 Sun Villiers is exactly the kind of motorcycle we value at The Girder Club. It represents the moment when engineering was honest, solutions were simple, and riding demanded involvement. It has history you can trace, wear you can read, and a story written on the road rather than on a spec sheet.
It’s not about perfection.
It’s about persistence.
And that, as far as we’re concerned, is what real vintage motorcycling is all about.
The photos in this article were taken at the 2025 Banbury Run, and here is the machine in action at the 2014 event.
an article by The Girder Club
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