Kirmer motorcycles wee produced from 1915 to 1917. The name was derived from that of from the makers, Kirk and Merifield, of Bradford Street, Birmingham, who had been building bicycles since 1893.
The company entered the motorcycle market in 1913 with the Arrow machines. They were simple lightweights with 211cc two-stroke engines from Levis and Precision, basic transmission and Chater-Lea fittings.
The Kirmer name was also used for machines sold in Australia, where they fitted the Precision engine and a Burman two-speed gearbox.
1931 Bought the Swift Cycle Co name and moved the production to their Birmingham factory.
Source: Graces Guide
March 2022
Graham Clayton writes in Comments: Article which mentions a Kirmer survivor in Australia: southburnett.biz
Excerpt: "John Pettrigrew, from Shepparton in Victoria, brought his extremely rare unrestored 1912 Kirmer to Kingaroy. The bike, made in Birmingham in the UK, is thought to be the only example left in the world. It was found in a cellar in Ballarat in the 1950s where it had been left forgotten since World War I."
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