Though perhaps not that well known outside its home market, the firm of Saroléa has a long and illustrious history of making quality products, as exampled by this fine machine.
Words: IAN KERR Photographs: TERRY JOSLIN
If you are an Isle of Man TT fan, you will probably have either witnessed or read a great deal about the electric TT known as the ‘TT Zero,’ which started in 2010 and lasted until 2019, as part of this century’s race programme.
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Whether you love the idea of electric machines replacing those driven by what some refer to as the ‘infernal’ combustion engine, or hate them, the speeds and the lap times were pretty impressive, even if the machines failed to deliver the noise and excitement of what we have come to expect from ‘conventional’ or ‘ICE’ – internal combustion engine – racing machines.
With the exception of Mugen, which is part of Honda, most of the machines did not come from today’s accepted mainstream manufacturers, although there was one which did feature strongly and sported a name that may have rung bells with some – a Saroléa.
If you are conversant with European marques, you will know that Saroléa is a Belgian firm. The business was founded in 1850 in Herstal (Liege) by Joseph Saroléa, as an arms manufacturer, the company eventually moving onto producing bicycles in 1892 – which like many other firms in Europe and the UK then evolved in motorised versions – that continued into 1955.
By the mid-1950s, Belgian bikes, like other European brands, were struggling to sell and Saroléa and FN (Fabrique Nationale de Herstal) were forced to sign a commercial deal to try and save their situations. Later, these two were joined by yet another local manufacturer, Gillet Herstal, but Sarolea as a separate entity ended in 1959 when they were merged into Gillet..
The combined company soldiered (sic) onto 1973, selling to the military before being resurrected in 2010, and started embarking on bringing electric machines to market, bearing the single ‘Saroléa’ brand name. With an extensive racing pedigree beforehand, it was no surprise its new owners embarked on a racing programme to test its new machines, which would eventually be aimed at the road rider.
So, in 2014 Saroléa competed in the TT Zero with all-carbon SP7 gaining an impressive fourth place, at an average speed of 93.50mph, just 0.4 seconds off the podium. In 2016, Yorkshireman and TT ace Dean Harrison again narrowly missed the podium with another fourth place, but with an improved time of 108.064mph.
Today, Saroléa continue with electric machines, albeit a far cry from the motorcycle featured here, which, like its younger relative, was at the forefront of technology when it entered the market in 1930. In fact, in itself it’s a far cry from the first Saroléa motorcycle which appeared in 1901, made by fixing a 1½hp 247cc petrol engine and a fuel tank onto one of the company’s bicycles.
A year later, the company (now run by the founder’s sons, after his demise) were already entering races and winning all over Europe. In 1905, Saroléa launched two new models now equipped with a V-twin engine placed in line with the frame’s centre. One had a capacity of 616cc and developed 5hp and the other was 726cc and developed 6hp.
Apparently, both were capable of 80kph (50mph) with a wide power output, with both engines featuring automatic intake valves and lateral exhaust valves. One was owned by the king of Belgium – not a bad marketing tool! The company was certainly in the ascendency, as two years later Saroléa had a workforce of 200 employees and 4000 square metres of production facilities, producing both single and twin cylinder machines, as well as supplying engines to other manufacturers.
Both singles and V-twins were made, and power units were provided to a number of companies in several countries. In turn, Saroléa used a number of British components, such as Sturmey-Archer gearboxes and AMAC carburettors, and some bikes were actually sold as complete machines under the ‘Kerry’ brand name in the UK.
Kerry motorcycles were produced from 1902 to 1915 and were sold by the East London Rubber Co, of Shoreditch. Some were built by Saroléa and fitted with Belgian CIE and FN engines, in a loop frame with curved downtube. It is believed the tie-up ended during the First World War.
In 1912, Saroléa’s catalogue boasted it was the oldest motorcycle manufacturer in Belgium and had a sales figure of over 10,000 bikes. The war halted production and it was not until 1919 that it started again, and a year later the firm were once again collecting medals and silverware in all sorts of two-wheeled competition in Europe.
Three years later, in 1923, the factory produced 1250 motorcycles and a year later production was doubled. In 1927, the company began to make their own gearboxes and by 1929, the factory’s size was extended to 6000 square metres producing 50 bikes per day, with virtually all the components being made in-house.
The 1930 range consisted of six models: side-valve and overhead valve 350cc, a side-valve 500cc and no less than three overhead valve machines in the 500cc category. In addition, there were Super Sports and Racing models in the 500cc class to go with the sporty image the firm wanted to project.
Certainly, when you look at the firm’s history for the next 25 years, they were competing on road and dirt with a lot of success, and the model range was quite extensive, and included small capacity machines with two-stroke engines. A machine was also produced after the war aimed at the police, but lost out to the more powerful Harley-Davidsons.
But, back to 1930 and the 350cc 25P OHV featured here. Owned by Buckinghamshire resident John Dedman, he purchased the bike in August 2017 from a well known dealer in racing and collectable motorcycles. Having been a regular at the Belgian International Veteranetreffen event in Ostend on his 1925 SD Triumph, it seemed appropriate to John to take the bike back to the country of its birth.
So, just one month later he made the trip to Belgium with the bike, which proved to be very fortuitous in ascertaining at least some of its recent history. The bike was recognised and John was then introduced to the man who restored it, Robert Van Den Borre, who is locally known as ‘Fast Robby’.
A well known Belgian restorer thanks to his high standards, he had brought the Saroléa back to life from a rusty wreck in 2005, although he could not help John with any information or its history beforehand. After using it in numerous events he sold it onto Yesterdays Motorcycles (see the back page of this issue!) in the Netherlands, to fund another project.
From here, it made its way to the UK in 2014 with the British owner passing it onto the dealer John purchased it from three years later. Despite being rideable, John realised that the bike needed some attention, and, aided by a local engineer, the forks were rebuilt and the 10-litre leaking petrol tank was repaired.
A weak spot on these engines is apparently the threads on rocker shafts tend to strip, and these were repaired at the same time while the machine was off the road. John also had a small batch of valves made by G&S Valves, giving him a few items to swap for any parts he might need in the future.
Back in regular use, the cam gears failed on a local VMCC run when the timing side main bearing loosened itself in the crankcase, apparently another known fault with these engines.
Thanks to the contacts he has now built-up in Belgium, the parts he needed quickly appeared and he was back on the road for the ‘Where is Anna Run?’ for pre-1931 machines in Belgium, when the Saroléa ran faultlessly.
Having ridden with John, I knew the bike was quite quick, with the 14bhp single providing a brisk and progressive ride – a top speed of 70mph was claimed when new. When my turn came to ride the bike after the photo session, it was still something of an eye-opener just how quick and responsive the single powerplant was, once I had got the hang of the various handlebar levers which did not match the usual (UK?) layout for machines of is age. The three-speed hand-change gearbox was smooth in operation and the drum brakes proved adequate, and any rider of modern machines would find the right foot rear brake lever the norm.
It is of course hard to really evaluate a bike totally until you have spent several days riding over a variety of roads. But my short session showed that the firm’s apparent obsession in the early days at providing racing/sporting machines did produce something that really met the criteria, and was very much on a par, if not a little ahead of the opposition.
Researching the history of Saroléa also showed it was not a lack of innovation that led to the firm’s demise, but the general economic climate at the time, as Europe rebuilt itself after the Second World War and the rise in the number of compact and affordable small cars.
It will now be interesting to see if the resurgent company will once again be a leading (only?) name in Belgian motorcycle manufacture, albeit with a different means of propulsion.
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