Sapphire
Sapphire were motorcycles produced between 1963 and 1966, by Roger Kyffin, in Stockport, Cheshire.
Kyffin was a scrambler who used the 5TA unit once the Triumph TR5 was no longer available. He squeezed it into a Dot frame and the result was fast, light, very successful and much in demand.
In production, the machine had leading-link forks on a frame with major alterations. Triumph would not supply complete engines, so they were bought as sets of spares, before Meriden stopped this from happening.
By now, Roger Kyffin was using his own frame with Ceriani forks. He tried BSA who refused to suppy engines and then turned to Villiers. Using one of their engines he produced a trials model in a smaller format, but when Villiers went down, production stopped.
See Also
Sources of Information
- The British Motorcycle Directory - Over 1,100 Marques from 1888 - by Roy Bacon and Ken Hallworth. Pub: The Crowood Press 2004 ISBN 1 86126 674 X