THE FRENCH DOLLAR MOTORCYCLE (Part one)

Story and Photos by ITN European Reporter Herve’ Rebollo.

Salut à toi American rider,

Another Saturday on the road! Today, the target is to meet the glorious history of the French motorcycle industry. Back to the past!

The idea was to visit my friend JEFF, the motorcycle enthusiast and great biker.

After two hours of riding under the rain, I made a stop at my traditional basecamp for a coffee (you know the place: THE NOT WORLD WIDE FAMOUS FRENCH BAR – Iron Trader News).

At noon, I arrived at Jeff’s home, right in time for lunch!

And then, came the time to seriously talk about motorcycles, to talk about… DOLLAR!!!!!

You may remember that Jeff is a motorcycle collector.

I had come to see him that day so that he could tell me about his latest motorcycle: an antique DOLLAR R2 from the 30s.

And the machine in question is simply magnificent.

Jeff started its restoration almost two years ago. The motorcycle belonged to a friend of his. It was completely disassembled and the parts were stored in several boxes. For 15 years, that friend had promised himself to reassemble the motorcycle. Finally, realizing that he would never have the courage to restore it, two years ago, he gave it to Jeff.

A bit temperamental at the start, it nonetheless runs perfectly.

The restoration obviously required a paint job (in fact, it was the same professional painter who took care of the paint for my Road Glide).

The work was enormous; it was necessary to start from scratch.

You will notice that the frame joins together with the engine in the central part.

Jeff has done a good job. He did a lot of research and now has a perfectly legal motorcycle, with its official papers and a collector’s vehicle insurance that allows him to go wherever he wants.

The motorcycle is beautiful…

No matter which way you look at it…

And the eye is drawn to many interesting details…

It is a very fine object, after all.

I couldn’t ride it. First, because that day, we didn’t manage to start it. Yes, old machines are often very temperamental.

But also because I am not sure that I would have known how to handle it properly with its three-speed gearbox on the right hand and foot clutch.

Next time you come to France, I will take you to see Jeff and his motorcycles.

And especially, stay tuned, in my next post I will tell you the story of the French DOLLAR motorcycles.

See ya soon on the road, who knows?

Hervé, your French biker friend.