c.1930 Majestic 500cc & Bernardet Sidecar
Frame no. 402617
Engine no. 402617
The Majestic was the brainchild of Georges Roy, a French engineer who in the early 1920s began experimenting with alternatives to the traditional tubular frame for motorcycles. Roy considered the tubular frame unsuitable for a motorcycle because of its tendency to flex and susceptibility to breakage caused by vibration. His solution was a sheet steel 'monocoque' chassis that overcame these drawbacks while at the same time providing the drive train, if not the rider, with a measure of weather protection. The result was a streamlined torpedo embodying the Art Deco aesthetic of the day, its gaping air intake and louvered sides making the Majestic look somewhat like a two-wheeled basking shark.
Roy applied for a patent for his 'New Motorcycle' in December 1926. Roy's New Motorcycle was not a commercial success but that did not deter him from developing the design still further in the form of the 'Majestic'. Introduced at the 1929 Paris Show, where it generated plenty of interest, the Majestic featured hub-centre steering and Morgan-style sliding pillar front suspension. The production versions were powered by single-cylinder Chaise overhead-valve engines, while later in 1929 a prototype was shown fitted with a four-cylinder Cleveland engine. Apart from the engine, gearbox and ancillaries such as lights, seats, controls, etc, the entire motorcycle was built in-house, even down to the special hubs. Interviewed by 'Moto-Revue' in the early 1970s, Roy revealed that he had been inspired by the American Ner-a-Car, another hub-centre steered design.
Motorcycles were merely a diversion for Roy, whose main business was the knitting industry, and in 1930 he sold the Majestic production rights to Messrs Delachanal, makers of Dollar motorcycles. According to Roy, the Majestic was produced in limited numbers between 1930 and 1933. Conceived as a motorcycling Grande Routière, the Majestic, like many similar attempts before and since, failed to capture the imagination of a conservative public despite (or perhaps because of) its brilliance and originality. It is estimated that approximately ten examples have survived, one of which was featured in the Guggenheim Museum's 'The Art of the Motorcycle' exhibition in 1998/1999.
This particular Majestic is powered by a 500cc Chaise overhead-valve engine. Beautifully restored during 2012/2013, the machine is attached to a very stylish Bernardet sidecar and is finished in French Racing Blue. It was previously exhibited at the Frontalini Sidecar Museum in Cingoli, Italy and the Grom Motorcycle Museum in Vransko, Slovenia, and is the only example known with a sidecar attached (see copy on file of 'Legend Bike' magazine, November 2004 edition). Noteworthy features include an aluminium dashboard containing a matching O.S. clock and speedometer, and a Jaeger ammeter. Rare and desirable, this wonderful Majestic is offered with French Carte Grise and a full photographic record of the restoration.