This has been an interesting hunt. One that has conflicting dates and confusing facts. It started with this poorly scanned ad for the Cyclemotor that was said to be made in Rochester in the early 1900s. Looking on websites some said that the company started in 1915 and others said 1917. Those same websites said that it stopped being manufactured in either 1922 or 1924. It would take a lot of digging in old magazines and newspapers to get the best possible history of this Rochester company.

The Democrat & Chronicle dated Sept. 5, 1915 says that Cyclemotor was recent incorporated at $500,000 and had their first meeting on Tues., Sept. 2nd. At that meeting Douglas G. Anderson was elected President & General Manager, Leigh R. Evans became Vice-President and John F. Braam would be Secretary & Asst. Treasurer. Mr. Braam and other members of the board of Directors were associated with General Railway Signal Company (GRS). GRS would manufacture all the motors.

At first the company had an office at 520 Arlington Building (25 East Main St.) in Rochester as shown on the ad. They made an engine that would attach to a single bar men’s style bicycle. That engine had a patent dated April 17, 1915 to Leigh Evans. It was just a one cylinder, 2-stroke engine that preformed at 1 horsepower. It got up to 30mph and could run about 100 miles on a gallon of gas and a pint of oil. The retail price was $55 for the engine and attachments.

Leigh Evans in 1922

Douglas Anderson in 1922.

Douglas Gordon Anderson was born March 27, 1886 in Brampton, Ontario. Before coming to Rochester in 1915 he was an accountant at Canada Cycle & Motor Company, which was a division of Russell Motor Car Company in Toronto. While working at the company in Toronto he met an engineer named Leigh Rodenbough Evans. He was born Jan. 27, 1884 in Easton, Pennsylvania and had worked at a few car companies in the US before moving to Canada. They both wanted to start they own motorcycle company but couldn’t find investors in Canada. Somehow they were able to find investors in Rochester .

On Sept. 21, 1915 a copyright was issued to Cyclemotor for the slogan “Cyclemotor, Wheeling without Work.”

An ad from March 1916 in Greenfield Gazette (Mass.) shows a whole complete Cyclemotor motorcycle; not just an engine. So it appears that by that time you could buy a complete small motorcycle. As with many manufacturers of that time, they probably bought parts from other companies.

From: http://zabytkowemotocykleirowery.pl/index/en

Original Cyclemotor would attach to a single bar men’s bicycle. In Nov. 1916 they added an engine that would attach to a double bar bicycle. Price for single or double bar Cyclemotor is $55 (Hardware Age, Nov. 25, 1916, p. 100). Note the logo on the tank that includes the company slogan.

In 1917 General railway Signal needed the space occupied by Cyclemotor for war production. Cyclemotor would move to 149 Cady Street. It was a property with a house and a 2-story barn (and still is).

About 1918 the complete motorcycles would be renamed Evans Power Cycle with the name “Evans” on the gas tank. That probably started because “cyclemotor” had already been used by other manufacturers to refer to any bicycle with an engine. One reference said that at that time only complete motorcycles would be sold in the US and that both stand-alone engines and motorcycles were sold overseas.

1919 Evans Power Cycle

There was a lawsuit against Cyclemotor that was in a New York City court in Nov. 1918. In July 1916 the Andrew Gulick & Co. was given exclusive rights to sell Cyclemotors in Norway. When Mr. Gullicksen (AKA Gulick) went to Norway to find a company to sell the engines he found that another company, H. Schianders, Eftf., was already selling Cyclemotor engines. Cyclemotor in 1917 cancelled Mr. Gullicksen’s contract and he sued. Cyclemotor lost in a jury trial and had to pay $3,773.73.

The color picture of the 1919 Evans Power Cycle is slightly different than the early model in the above ad. Notice the handle bars are at an angle and the front frame bar is curved, instead of straight. Retail prices from newspapers around the US have it priced $130 to $135.

On Jan. 4, 1920 at 7:35 p.m. there was a fire at the 149 Cady St. factory. It was caused by someone trying to thaw frozen water pipes. Loss was only $10.

1921 Evans Power Cycle

In 1921 they was another change in the frame. It no longer had straight frame bar on the top. It angled down in the seat area. The handlebars also became more rounded. The biggest change was that they added a magneto that powered new front and rear lights. By that time the engine had been upgraded to 1½ horsepower.

In May 2010 a restored 1921 Evans Power Cycle was up for sale by Bonhams Auctions. Estimated value was from $10,000 to $12,000. Not sure how much it sold for.

Continued in Part 2.