Zenith is an English motorcycle. famous for the early Gradua gear designed by Fred Barnes. this gave Zenith an advantage over cruder single speed bikes of the day. in fact many clubs banned the use of Zeniths so equipped from their races and hill climbs. if you look at the handle on the tank top that is the control handle for the Gradua. this gave the Zenith two speeds a low and a high by changing the diameter of the belt drive pulley while at the same time sliding the rear wheel back and forth in order to keep belt tension constant. later Zeniths went to regular geared type of transmissions with chain drive. the first picture is a 1912 Zenith Gradua. the second pic is another Gradua equipped 1918 Zenith 680cc JAP twin with a sidecar and 3rd is the other side of the same bike. fourth we have a 1924 Zenith and sidecar with a 1000cc flathead JAP. you can see on this one there is no Gradua control handle. and last is a 1936 Zenith with a 500cc single. the last Zeniths were built in 1948. or maybe 1950, i have read both dates.
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