Most early motorcycles had no gears and no clutch and just had a direct belt drive from the engine to the rear wheel. We now take having gears as normal, but back in the early days of motorcycles this was an exciting new development. Sturmey Archer and Armstrong developed a 3 speed hub gear that fitted inside the hub on the rear wheel of bicycles and so it was a natural development to create a similar but stronger version to suit a motorcycle. The information contained on these pages about Armstrong and Sturmey Archer hubs was very kindly provided by Mr Geoff Morris, so if you find it useful - please buy him a pint!
The Manuals and literature on this page include the following:
For Motor Cycles
Armstrong 3 Speed Gear with Free Engine Clutch Mark VI - Adjustment Hints c1911/12. Includes instructions for installation & setup.
Armstrong Variable Gears and Coasters for Cycles and Motor Cycles. c1911/12. Includes instructions for adjustment & setup.
Armstrong Variable Gears for Motor Cycles 1913 Improvements. For the Mark V and Mark VI hub. Includes instructions for adjustment & setup and parts lists.
Sturmey Archer Three Speed Motor Hub Gear, Detailed Instructions for Fitting & Adjusting. A detailed technical manual c1911/12.
Armstrong Handbook extracts 9 pages for Mark V and Mark VI. 1913.
Armstrong Mark V and Mark VI, Instructions for Fitting a large poster sized technical guide.
For Cycles
Sturmey Archer 3 Speed Gear hub Manual Cycle Version c1912
To read the manuals scrow down the page until they appear and then use the small scroll bar on the righthand edge of each manual to scroll through them.
If you have one of these fine pieces of equipment, then one day you will need to have it serviced, rebuilt or require some spares.
There is only one person who is widely regarded as the expert on these often complex devices and that is Kevin Hellowell in the UK.
He has been working with them for many a year and you can see his work and contact him by clicking on his logo below.
So what did the press think of this innovative new development? Below is an article from Motor Cycling of November 1911.
To see The Armstrong Mark V and Mark VI, Instructions for Fitting a large poster sized technical guide.
Click on the highlighted link and as its a large image it will open on a new page. Read it Here
You can read my ramblings about my 1914 Triumph on my 1914 Triumph pages.