Career
Many years after the motorcycle enterprise, he lodged a patent for an exhaust silencer. Cycling in 1898 was not without hazard, as Arthur found out to his detriment after a five shilling fine. Not deterred by his run-in with the law, nine months later he was suspended for road racing.
He seems to have kept his nose clean for another 4 years, until getting yet another fine at Doncaster Borough Court.
Even years later when Arthur had moved to Southend, he was still newsworthy for being in court. Arthur had been using pacing tandems in the past, and even rode behind an electric pacing tandem when he went up against the famous French cyclist Bouhours in Paris in 1898.
The use of a fast pacer was not considered cheating at that time, and this must have motivated Arthur to have a special pacer custom-made to his design. Arthur commissioned a United Kingdom firm to build the special pacing machine at the start of 1899.
The machine was a tandem, with a rear mounted 1.75 Hp deDion engine.
Both riders pedalled, the front one being responsible for steering, the rear for control of the engine. This pacer was capable of 39 mph at top speed. Arthur"s brother F. West. Chase was a notable motorcycle rider of the time.
F. West. started off as a works rider for the British American Tobacco motorcycle company in 1902.
By 1904, F. West. was well respected for his prowess of the Westerham hill climb, where he employed a low-compression Soncin engine, and was known as one of the experts on engine timing. The brothers built contemporary motorcycles from 1903 to 1906.
There are no known examples of the Chase Brothers motorcycles left in existence. There is however a reference to a set of photographs in the National Archives of Wales entitled "Chase Brothers (1903) motor bike that came into the possession of J R Lloyd, Llandderfel".
So there is a small possibility that one may be languishing in a collection somewhere.
lieutenant is interesting to note that both Harley Davidson and Norton both started in 1903. A. A. IMDB entry for the.