Britain’s historic brand of motorcycles
A symbol of real service, Dot Motors Ltd have been recognised since 1903 for the great quality and design of their motorcycles. First founded in the city of Salford near Manchester, by Harry Reed, a pioneer racing motorcyclist and winner of the famous international race “Isle of Man T.T.” in 1908 on a Dot built by himself, beating bigger international manufacturers. The brand was then moved closer to the city centre in Deansgate in 1907, where the old premises are still present today. By 1911 Reed was selling five Dot motorcycles, his wife Mrs Hannah Reed was an able rider of motorcycles, and it is believed to be the first-ever lady rider in the whole Manchester. One of the earliest slogans used by DOT for the advertisement was “Devoid of Trouble”.
During the years Mr Reed kept building new motorcycles, three-wheel motorcycles and sidecars entering a bigger range of events along with his original racing models. The company that at the time was recognised as H. Reed and Co. Engineers, in September 1922, it ceased and gave life to the original Dot Motors Ltd with three directors as Harry Reed, Thomas Sawyer and H.T.F. Tucker (Hardy, 2003: p. 21).
C lose to the late ‘40s the sporting motorcycle manufacturing restarted, and the first Dot motorcycles designed by Burnard Scott Wade were created and sold, with the first Dot “Trials-Scrambler” in 1950, competing and winning in scramblers and trials racings. To be more competitive, Wade knew he had to create a new Dot scrambler with more strength yet lighter features, it was 1961 when the new Dot Scrambler was launched and nicknamed “Demons of Television” by a reporter, naming the new model as Dot Demon.
By the late ’60s the European and Japanese manufactory competition was getting stronger and in 1978 Dot decided to close the production of motorcycles.