Dot Motors Ltd have been recognised since 1903 for the great quality and design of their motorcycles. First founded in the city of Salford near Manchester, by Harry Reed, a pioneer racing motorcyclist and winner of the Isle of Man T.T. in 1908 on a Dot built by himself, beating bigger international manufacturers. The brand was then moved closer to the city centre in Deansgate in 1907, where the old premises are still present today.
The company, that at the time was known as H. Reed and Co. Engineers, ceased in September 1922 and became the original Dot Motors Ltd, with three directors including Harry Reed. Towards the end of the 1940s sporting motorcycle manufacturing restarted, and the first Dot motorcycles designed by Burnard Scott Wade were built and sold. The first Dot “Trials-Scrambler” appeared in 1950, competing and winning in scrambles and trials racings. To be more competitive, Wade knew he had to create a new scrambler with more strength yet lighter features, and it was in 1961 when the new Dot Scrambler, nicknamed the Demon, was launched. By the late ’60s the European and Japanese manufactory competition was getting stronger and in 1978 Dot decided to cease production of motorcycles.
Bringing the Dot story up to date, Dr Anthony Keating and Dr Daniel Keating from Keating Kinetics, with Gary Hewitt and Ian Martin and the owners of the Dot brand, have decided to bring Dot Motorcycles back into market with two new models, the Reed Racer and the Dot Demon. At the NCME National Centre for Motorsport Engineering in Greater Manchester, their engineers have had the pleasure to work with Guy Martin, and with his tacit knowledge of motorcycles and engineering he has shaped the Dot into a superior product.
The company is already working on the creation of new models and for the future, electric motorcycles.
