1950 350cc Douglas 90 Plus

Douglas

1950

350cc

About the 1950 350cc Douglas 90 Plus

While other makers introduced parallel twins in the postwar period, Douglas stuck to its traditional horizontally-opposed format. But while most of the Bristol company’s pre-war twins had cylinders set lengthwise, a transverse layout is used on the range of 350cc twins initiated in 1945. Final drive is by chain, with a single-plate clutch and bevel gears at the gearbox output. Douglas devised its own suspension with swinging-arm motion acting against torsion bars in the bottom frame tubes and the Radiadraulic leading-link front fork. The super-sporting 348cc 90 Plus introduced for 1950 lived up to its name: one was timed at 94mph practising for that year’s Junior Clubman’s TT. Yet this handsome machine with a massive front brake had few competition successes. The 25bhp 90 Plus and less powerful 80 Plus were dropped when the new 350cc Dragonfly twin was launched for 1955. By then Douglas was busy building Italian Vespa scooters under licence. First taken into receivership in 1948, Douglas ceased production in 1957.