Styl´son RHE Sports 1930 350cc 1 cyl ohv Blackburne

Manufacturer: Styl'son

Model: RHE Sports

Founded in Le Chambon-Feugerolles, France in October 1926, the company that made Styl'son motorcycles seems never to have achieved a sound financial footing. The original firm - MDM - took its name from the initials of its founders – Messrs Montelimard, David, and Matrat, and like many of its contemporaries, including Brough, was an assembler of bought-in components rather than a fully-fledged manufacturer. MDM was formed to undertake general industrial manufacturing but was steered towards motorcycles by Jean David, whose family had some prior experience in the field. Yet within 12 months the original company had been dissolved and reconstituted as SRL Boissieu et David under the management of Jean David and his brother-in-law, Denis Boissieu. In 1928 Boissieu and David's motorcycle manufacturing activities were spun off into a separate company: Anciens Établissements David, Société de'Industrie Mécanique (ADSIM). Production began using cycle parts bought from AYA and engines obtained from Moser in Switzerland. Despite management that was described by the finance house Credit Lyonnais as 'overall very defective', ADSIM's Styl'son motorcycles soon established a sound reputation, in keeping with their maker's intention to offer a top-quality product. The range expanded to include models with JAP, Rudge Python, and Blackburne engines while many of the other major components, including Burman gearboxes and AMAC carburettors, were sourced from England. In 1928, 358 motorcycles were delivered. In April 1929 a new company was formed: Société des Motocyclettes Styl'son, which by August 1930 had gone bust having run up insupportable debts. By this time a total of 2,394 machines had been sold. Its creditors must have thought that the Styl'son brand had a future, for a consortium was formed and a new company launched: Société Commerciale et Industrielle de Mécanique (SCIM). Despite slashing the racing and advertising budgets, this new company was unable to clear its debts and was wound up in December 1931. It is not known how many, if any, machines had been completed by then. Nevertheless, SCIM staggered on, producing prototypes of two proposed Styl'son military motorcycles using Staub engines and gearboxes: a 350 solo and 500 combination. Nothing came of the venture. By 1935 the bankers had had enough and the Styl'son brand was sold to the FIMA conglomerate. Styl'son was formally wound up, for the final time, in September 1937.

This rare 1930 Styl´son RHE Blackburne is equipped with a Amal carburetor and Lucas Wader competition magneto it has been restored in 2010. It comes with dating certificate and is in great shape.