Dot Motorcycles reborn
The name Dot Motorcycles is not one of the best-known British brands, but it has its roots in the very earliest days of motorcycling, and even has a TT trophy win to its name. The company has been revived with a duo of Kawasaki-powered twins after decades of lying dormant.
The Dot Demon scrambler and Dot Reed Racer café racer are both based around the same artistically-crafted steel trellis frame, housing the parallel twin engine from Kawasaki's Z650 and tailor-made to each customer's demands. Each model makes 69 hp, like the Kawasaki they're based on, but weighs only 169 kg to gain a performance boost compared to the mass-manufactured donor bike.
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Identical Brembo brakes are used on both Demon and Reed Racer, with twin 300 mm discs and four-pot, radial-mount calipers at the front and a 220 mm disc and single piston caliper at the rear. Despite their very different styles, the bikes both have the same 1,438 mm wheelbase and Showa suspension and use 17 in wheels at both ends, alloy on the Reed Racer and wire on the Demon. Each bike is built to order to a customer's own specifications.
The brand was founded in Manchester in 1903 and scored a twin-cylinder class win at the Isle of Man TT in 1908. The company manufactured bikes until 1932, returning to small-scale production with a focus on competition machines in 1948. A team award at the 1951 Ultra Lightweight TT followed, along with an increased focus on trials and scrambling, and success during the 50s and 60s. Manufacturing had ceased by the early 80s.
