At one time F E Baker's Birmingham-based Precision company rivalled JAP as a supplier of engines to Britain's motorcycle manufacturers.

The first Precision engine went on sale in 1910, but it was not until after WWI that the firm got around to building a complete motorcycle.

Launched as the 'Beardmore Precision', the Scottish Beardmore engineering group having gained control of Baker's company, that first machine was a 350cc two-stroke featuring leaf-sprung suspension front and rear.

The range expanded to include sidevalve models of various capacities, a Barr & Stroud sleeve valve-engined '350', and overhead-valve and overhead-cam works racers.

Although production models gained an enviable reputation in the trials events of their day, the racers faired disastrously at the 1924 TT, the debacle prompting Beardmore to close the ailing firm.

Leaf-sprung front suspension, an external contracting band front brake, and a fuel-tank integral with the frame structure were among its unusual ...