65 YR OLD ANTIQUE 'GNOME ET RHONE' MOTORCYCLE, NO RESERVE, FREE SHIPPING TO US

US AND CANADIAN BIDDERS PLEASE NOTE; BECAUSE OF RECENT UPGRADED SECURITY REGULATIONS I CAN ONLY SHIP VEHICLES TO PERSONS IN THE US OR CANADA WHO ARE IN THE POSSESSION OF AN OFFICIAL AND VALID PASSPORT. (AN ID-CARD OR DRIVERS-LICENSE ETC. ARE NOT GETTING ACCEPTED ANYMORE BY AUTHORITIES IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY A RECIPIENT). PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE ABLE TO MEET WITH THIS REQUIREMENT BEFORE BIDDING. OR MAKE SURE YOU CAN HAVE SOMEONE IN LINE WITH A VALID US OR CANADIAN PASSPORT WHO IS WILLING TO HELP YOU OUT ON THIS. WHEN YOU LIKE TO KNOW HOW I CAN OFFER THIS BIKE WITH NO RESERVE AND FREE SHIPPING. READ THE EXPLANATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. That the 'dawn of motoring' more or less took place in France is a fact where not many people are familiar with. One of the most famous aero engine manufacturers of WWI. Gnome et Rhône introduced its first motorcycle in 1919. building the Granville Bradshaw-designed ABC under license. Previously rivals. the two firms had joined forces in 1914 and then in January 1915 Gnome took over Le Rhône. forming Société des Moteurs Gnome et Rhône. The diversification into motorcycle production had been prompted by the sudden decline in the demand for the company’s aeronautical products after WWI. In 1938. Gnome et Rhône took over the celebrated car-maker. Voisin. Gabriel Voisin was perhaps France’s greatest aviation pioneer. In 1907 he built the first practical aeroplane capable of leaving the ground under its own power. and his Aéroplanes-Voisin company was the first mass producer of aircraft in the world. But the end of WWI brought a halt to Voisin’s aviation ventures and after experimenting with motorised bicycles and a light two-seater economy car. he decided to produce an automobile that would be unrivalled for prestige. comfort and speed. The resulting Knight sleeve valve-engined 4. 0-litre Voisin M1 appeared in 1919. It was one of the first truly modern cars to be delivered after the Armistice. Voisin continued to build motor cars of distinction throughout the 1920s. including a number of record-breaking competition models. but the economic downturn of the early 1930s had a disastrous effect on sales. Gabriel Voisin eventually lost control to his financiers and his factory was sold to Gnome et Rhône. When the French Government nationalised the country’s aero-engine makers in 1945. forming Société Nationale d’Étude et de Construction de Moteurs d’Aviation (SNECMA). Gnome et Rhône and Avions-Voisin were absorbed into the new conglomerate. Following the reorganisation. Gnome et Rhône found itself a subsidiary of Société des Aéroplanes Voisin and both names would appear on the company’s motorcycles after WW2. Gnome et Rhône’s post-war R-series was powered by a single-cylinder two-stroke engine built in unit with a three-speed gearbox. Despite their relatively small size and modest specification. these two-strokes demonstrated surprising durability and speed. Their heroic exploits – reported in the French motorcycling press in 1949 – included three students riding from Paris to New Delhi (a distance of approximately 11. 000 miles) without any problems and Gustave Bernard’s dash from Paris to Madrid in 23 hours 15 minutes. The following year the intrepid Bernard completed the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris round trip in 18 hours 4 minutes while carrying a passenger. his R4 on that occasion being badged as a ‘Voisin Gnome & Rhone’. Like the pictures are showing this R4 has many nice and original details which makes it a real pleasure to look at. It still has the original engine-id plate on and also the framenumber is matching with the number that is on this. The paint is old and not nice. but the bike still looks pretty clean after 65 years of age. A nice extra on this bike is the rare original competition-cylinder-head that was available as an optional extra on these sporty bikes. in order to provide a higher compression (thus increased performance). better cooling and because of that a longer life for the spark-plug. The successful Gnome et Rhone R-series racing bikes had basically the standard 125cc factory engine with the 8500 rpm flywheel-ignition system fitted. where on top of this the special competition-cylinderhead. another carburetor and different exhaust-system were fitted (see image). I have not touched or made any attempts to get this bike running again. it has been unused for over 10 years and needs to be completely checked through in case you want to bring it back on the road againThe engine has great compression and don't think it will take very much to get it back alive again. This machine has never been road-registered and comes with an official European certificate of origin which states the make. model. year. displacement. weight etc. and an official bill of sale from my company here in Belgium. Furthermore I’ll make sure that all the correct export-paperwork will be in place before the bike leaves from here. which documents will make the process of importing it into the US an easy ride. -On this listing I’m offering a special (fully sealed) motorcycle crate. careful packing and physical shipping from here in Belgium to a US CFS as close as possible to you at my expense. meaning that I will pay for having the bike crated and all handling etc. plus the ocean-freight charge. where you are responsible for all charges at your end. like entry fees. port. handling and eventually broker fees. If you want any additional information about this. please ask before you place a bid. Furthermore. when you want to receive some better photo's of the bike/shipping. or want to recieve more information about this item. just let me know. I accept PayPal payments. -Additional information to this listing; I only offer shipping by sea. where of course we can advise you on forehand about the process of importing the machine into your country. Like can be read in the link. nbsp;this antique bike is because of its age and displacement exempt from US import-duty and EPA regulations; https://help. cbp. gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/278/~/importing-classic-or-antique-vehicles-%2F-cars-for-personal-useThe crate will safely sail in a sealed container and the shipment is fully insured for eventual damage/loss. In previous listings I've received many times the same question; "how are you able to offer a motorcycle without any reserve and free shipping??" Where also a few times has been suggested; „Is this a scam??" It is always a kind of sad experience whenever hearing that my best intentions are reason for any negative opinions or thoughts. Thus about how this is possible. . basically very simple;I am a classic motorcycle dealer since the year 1979 and over the last three decades my main business Investment-Bikes has made nice and rare motorcycles available to customers all over the world. for which activity I have over the years only used one single shipping-company* (*that now has more than 80 years of experience). For reason that I'm having shipments on a constant/weekly base. I buy at the beginning of each year a big amount of shipping-volume against a huge discount (which enables me to ship at Very low cost but on the same go have high quality shipments). When counting to this that by experience I’ve learned that a serious bike will always attract a serious customer. which person is also willing to pay a fairly correct price. then this is how I’m able to make such offers. make money for a living and have a satisfied customer. Before listing a bike with no-reserve and free shipping. I of course always keep in mind that on a (for me) unfortunate day I can loose a little money on it. but then of course that’s just life (and on the other hand the advantage for the buyer!)I always pack bikes myself. only use certified crates plus new packing-materials and deliver the crated machines in person at the Antwerp warehouse of the shipping-company (see images). nbsp;will of course inform you about the complete process of shipping from the beginning on and send you pictures of the process of packing & actual delivery at the port as soon as I'm done.