KEMPTON | 1921-22 | UK :
The Kempton was a product of a particular and short-lived moment in British motorcycling, when the post-war appetite for lightweight, accessible personal transport brought a wave of unconventional machines onto the market. In 1919, an American Autoped owned by a British Member of Parliament triggered a nationwide craze after press coverage. Queues formed in London, investment flooded in, and dozens of small manufacturers appeared almost overnight, among them the ABC Skootamota, Kenilworth and Autoglider, just as public interest collapsed. The Kempton appeared at the tail end of this enthusiasm, in 1921, and lasted only into the following year.
The machine’s defining feature was its engine. It used the 124cc overhead-valve ABC single that had powered the revised Skootamota from 1920 onward. The Skootamota had a design change to a single cylinder 123cc OHV engine by ABC, also a Bradshaw design, with the fuel tank positioned over the engine and the saddle to the front so that the rider could sit when in motion. The ABC engine used a 60mm by 44mm overhead valve single-cylinder configuration. The Kempton took this same unit and redeployed it in an entirely different chassis philosophy, mounting the cylinder horizontally with the head facing forward, rather than in the upright configuration of the Skootamota. This horizontal fore-and-aft orientation was an unusual choice for the period, though it had the practical effect of lowering the overall height of the powerplant within the frame.
The engine drove a two-speed gearbox by chain, with belt final drive to the rear wheel. The frame was designed around a low seating position, aiming the machine at riders who lacked confidence, a commercial instinct that was entirely in keeping with its era. Gilbert Campling Ltd had marketed the Skootamota itself as a runabout for the lady rider, doctor or businessman, and the Kempton drew on the same logic, seeking buyers who wanted motorised transport but found conventional motorcycles intimidating.
The ABC Skootamota design was soon copied by other manufacturers, unsurprisingly, as Motor Cycling magazine had been particularly impressed by its stability. The Kempton represented one such response: it borrowed the engine but placed it in a more motorcycle-like frame with gearing, presumably to offer more versatility than the single-speed scooter while retaining the reassurance of a low, open layout and minimal complexity. The market for such machines, however, proved as fleeting as the scooter craze that had inspired them, and the Kempton did not survive past 1922.
