Introducing The Black Douglas Motorcycle Co. and their top model: the 2016 Sterling Countryman Deluxe. The handmade motorcycle you can ride every day to work.
Black Douglas Motorcycle’s 2016 hand-built classic 1920’s style flat tank motorcycle, the Sterling Countryman Deluxe is now available. The Sterling offers the relaxed timeless retro style of the original British motorcycles along with Italian hand craftsmanship, modern reliability and highway safety certification. Over ninety per cent of our parts are crafted by hand in Italy. True to the spirit of the original flat tank motorcycles, the Sterling has no plastic parts, save for the insulation on the electrical connectors that are hidden within the frame.
When you ride a Sterling, you are in complete control. Our bikes are driven by motorcycle lovers, not computers. Just a rider, a bike, and the road. Simple controls for the simple joy of riding. Low weight, so you are in charge of your ride, a ride that feels alive. The Sterling offers the modern lady or a gentleman a journey into the past with the reliability and comfort of the present, including an electric starter. Like the original motorcycles that inspired it, the Sterling itself reflects the aesthetics of an emerging movement in art, architecture, and design:
Art Deco, the new aesthetic of the emerging machine age, an embrace of an imagined future exuberantly celebrating luxury, glamour, and faith in social and technological progress.
Throw your leg over a Sterling and ride back to a time when Hemingway and Miller mingled with authors, artists, and musicians in Europe during the ‘jazz age.’ Henry Miller himself captured the spirit of the Sterling years before we created it: “One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
Technical Info
The Sterling Countryman Deluxe is available in 125 cc and 230 cc versions, both certified road legal in Europe since early 2015.
Our rigid tubular steel frame is powered by a single-cylinder engine built under license from Honda, then disassembled, updated and re-assembled by hand at our factory. The engine is an air-cooled four-stroke system, pushrod (OHV on the 125 version) that can produce 12,75 or 14,3 horsepower for the 125 cc and for the 230 cc, respectively. Enough to enjoy the beautiful countryside, not so much to make handling stressful.
In road tests the 230 Sterling achieved speeds over 115 kmh. Our motorcycle is scaled for human control – no on-board computers needed. The low weight make handling easy for all driving styles and riders: the wheelbase is 1500 mm, 860 mm is the saddle height (which is adjustable with an optional kit), while dry weight is 95 kg for the 125 cc and 98 kg for the 230 cc. The tank, made by hand in Aluminium and Magnesium alloy plates, has two solid internal compartments. One holds 8,5 litres of fuel, enough to travel over 250 km. The other contains most of the electrical system, required for indicators and lights and for the electric starter. To keep the looks of the Sterling as clean as possible, we hide the electrical system in and under the tank and the cables inside the handlebars. The front forks are built with the classic girder look of the earliest motorcycles, but they are made by milling solid Ergal aluminium alloy, sculpting piece by piece from raw metal. We use 21” wheels, with 3,00” tires and front and rear drum brakes.
We build the Sterling with no compromises. We are dedicated to the purity of the form, incorporating classic looks with modern technology, while insisting on painstaking hand-craftsmanship. Over 200 hours go into the hand manufacture and assembly of a Sterling. The end result is a time traveling machine with the style and simplicity of the 20’s that brings you to the present: the Sterling – Destination Here and Now. Come to a dealer today for a test ride and fall in love with a Sterling.
Customizing and Accessories
The Black Douglas offers a catalogue of accessories and custom painting so we can make a unique Sterling just for you. Over 100 accessories including saddles, storage boxes and parts variations such as handlebar, headlight, horn and many more, with 36 different colour options offer a near infinite array of possibilities.
The recently updated website www.theblackdouglas.com displays images of the Sterling Countryman Deluxe in different colours and with various accessories, videos of the bike and of the manufacturing process. The Gentleman’s lounge will allow customers to interact between themselves and with the company. The dealer’s page and the inquiry form will let the visitors get in touch with the company and its distributors to book a free demo ride.
Retail prices start at 9480 Euro for the 125cc version and 10950 Euro for the 230cc, plus shipping.
