I have some questions about this bike, so proceed with caution. It was listed on eBay back in December and doesn’t appear to have been sold. Now, in addition to being listed on Auto Barn’s site, it can also be found on Facebook with a minimalist description: “All original complete running bike.”
Has it been sold? Is it legit? I don’t know. But certainly it’s true that I have never before come across a model from the long-defunct Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company.
Much like the president with whom it shares a name, Cleveland operated in two non-consecutive terms. First from 1902-1905, then from 1915-1929. I can’t find good information about what happened in 1905 but the Great Depression was to blame for the company’s second and final shuttering.
The year when this particular motorcycle was made would have been Cleveland Motorcycle’s heyday, with US forces relying on its bikes for couriers in the First World War. I’m sure that would have been unpleasant work: riding a bone-shaking hard-tailed bike on muddy, shell-riddled tracks.
But Cleveland’s bikes were reportedly of very good quality. So much so that Harley-Davidson considered buying it out when Cleveland was struggling with the financial challenges that would ultimately be its undoing. Perhaps testament to that quality is the fact that this thing even exists ─ still running almost 110 years after it was manufactured.
From the Auto Barn listing: “The engine was installed in a longitudinal configuration and transferred torque to a two-speed gearbox with side-lever shifter. Final drive was right-hand sprocket/chain and a worm-gear unit furnished power to a rear-mounted magneto. The engine of this Model 1-B runs well and the transmission functions properly.”
You can find this model 1-B for sale for $19,995 in Concord, North Carolina, here on Auto Barn Classic Cars.