Bob Pickett investigates…
The British motorcycle industry is in the kind of rude health not seen in decades. Current estimates are that 19 different British marques are building bikes. But how many of those are actually making them in the UK – and in production runs (not just bespoke builds)…? The number falls away drastically. That’s why we’ve come up with a new series to celebrate some of the firms that are putting in the graft on British soil (even if they might get a little bit of help from abroad).
“It’s really important for us to fly the flag for British innovation.”
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Herald Motor Co. is based in Cambridgeshire. Established in 2010, initially importing retro-styled bikes which it then customised, the long-term aim was always to create its own designs built in the UK. We sat down with the company recently to get into what Herald is about and what it’s up to.
It’s an interesting route you followed. There are other companies that import then customise, but you seem to have taken the path previously trod by the Japanese (studying British bikes) and then other Far Eastern countries (studying Japanese bikes), seeing how they do it before creating your own? Was this always the plan, or did fate take you in this direction?
Our passion for motorbikes has meant the goal was always to design and manufacture motorcycles in Britain. As a division of an award-winning engineering and manufacturing company, we can design and produce parts in-house and have the facilities to develop and manufacture our own British-built motorcycles, so bringing this ambition to fruition was a focus from the start.
The Brute is our own design inspired by the racetrack but built for the road – our own modern take on the street tracker. Our vision was to design and build a lightweight machine equipped with a torquey single that could provide a thrilling ride and mark a return to riding in its simplest form – and we think we’ve achieved that!
Herald began in 2010 and we’ve come a long way in a relatively short time towards achieving that goal. Consider that the path to bringing a new bike to market takes years from inception to sale, then throw in a global pandemic for good measure and we’re so proud that the Brute is what it is!
What few people perhaps realise is that Herald is part of the award-winning Encocam engineering group. Since its inception in 1988, Encocam has built its reputation in a number of areas (automotive; composite panels; interior design/architecture; precision engineering; rail and road safety.
Quite aside from motorcycles, Herald’s sister company RaceTek makes safety equipment for ex-Forces racing team True Heroes Racing. This gives Herald access to vast, sophisticated facilities in which to design and fabricate its own components where possible.
The first big step towards self-manufacture was the design of the Brat 125 and 250 bikes – designed by Herald but manufactured by its partners. 2019 saw the dream of self-production come to fruition with the release of the Brute 500, a 145kg 500cc single putting out 42.9bhp, designed by Herald and built as far as possible using a wealth of internally manufactured parts. Yokes, wiring loom, swing arm, outriggers, levers and much more were built in its own facilities.
Where necessary, Herald worked with premium UK companies if possible such as HEL Performance for its front brake system. Sister company RaceTek supplied the front and rear suspension.
How important was it for the Brute to be as close to 100% British as possible? And where it was not possible to fabricate your own parts, was it always the intention to form partnerships with British experts (as far as could be) in those areas?
It’s really important for us to fly the flag for British innovation. We’re proud to be a part of that heritage of British engineering and creativity, and so, of course, it was vital for us to reach out to other premium British brands where possible to fabricate parts.
The Brute’s engine is from Zhongshen – who supply a number of major bike manufacturers – who are, of course, Chinese. How was this decision made? And, in time, is there a plan for Herald to design and manufacture its own engine?
The 450cc single is a thumping engine with a lot of torquey guts, so it seemed a great choice for the Brute!
We’ve previously looked into producing our own engine but given the UK Government’s current direction of travel (no pun intended!) and the timelines involved, each one would be prohibitively expensive! Obviously, we have to balance the costs involved in producing a machine like this very carefully with the retail price that we can command, particularly in order to remain competitive in a marketplace that sees other major manufacturers working with overseas suppliers.
Looking at the design specs, I notice the braking system isn’t ABS?
As the Brute is made to Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA), it is not required to follow EU homologation or feature ABS. Instead we have given it a fantastic braking system designed and engineered in partnership with Hel Performance and a J.Juan rear caliper system.
Now that you have created your first self-designed and self-built bike, in time is the intention to move to 100% self-made machines across the range? And will you be looking to broaden into other genres, based around the current engine?
Watch this space! There are exciting plans in the works at Herald that we look forward to sharing soon. We want to continue to innovate and create unique motorcycles that people will love, drawing on our strong background in customs and making use of the creativity and skills we have in-house. This will draw upon everything we’ve learnt so far developing the Brute and our other popular models.
An essential part of our ethos as a brand is to be a part of the community and accessible to any sort of rider, whether that be a learner or a returner. So we’ll be looking at how we can expand the range to make sure we’re covering all angles of cc, style, capability.
Herald is a proud British company, building bikes that are as British as possible in Britain. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
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