Wasp Motorcycles
Wasp Motorcycles is a British motorcycle and sidecar manufacturer that specialises in building competition solo and sidecar machines for motocross, trials and sidecar grasstrack, as well as the Wasp 3 Wheel Freedom for disabled riders. Wasp first saw racing success in 1971, when it won the European Championship. Wasp sidecars have been the winning chassis eight times in the FIM Sidecarcross European and World Championship.
Wasp Motorcycles
- Name
- Wasp Motorcycles
- Founded
- 1964
- Headquarters
- Dinton
- Activity
- automotive industry
- Products
- sidecar · motorcycle frame
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Documentary summary
Wasp Motorcycles is a British motorcycle and sidecar manufacturer that specialises in building competition solo and sidecar machines for motocross, trials and sidecar grasstrack, as well as the Wasp 3 Wheel Freedom for disabled riders. Wasp first saw racing success in 1971, when it won the European Championship. Wasp sidecars have been the winning chassis eight times in the FIM Sidecarcross European and World Championship.
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Documentary evidence
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wikidata · Q1826638 · wikipedia · Wasp Motorcycles
In this article
Overview
Overview
In 1972, all of the top eight places in the European Championship were riding Wasp outfits.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Wasp Motorcycles • Type — Private • Founded — 1964 • Founder — Robin Rhind-Tutt • Hq Location — Dunkeswell, Devon EX14 4RS • Hq Location Country — United Kingdom • Industry — Motorcycle • Products — Motorcycle sidecars and frames • Website — Wasp Motorcycles
History
History
Wasp was founded in 1964 by engineer and off-road motorcyclist Robin 'Robbie' Rhind-Tutt, who was originally employed by the Ministry of Defence as an engineering apprentice at Boscombe Down. He designed and built a number of off-road motorcycle frames which he used in motocross competitions. Other competitors were interested in Rhind-Tutt's frames and commissioned him to build specialist frames, so he decided to form Wasp Motorcycles Ltd. The company changed its name to Wasp Engineering Ltd in 1997, but continues to trade under the name of Wasp Motorcycles. The company was based at Berwick St James, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, where Rhind-Tutt had been born and brought up. Rhind-Tutt died in September 2019, aged 78. Around that time the company was at Dinton, still in the Salisbury area; in 2024 it opened on a business park at Dunkeswell, near Honiton, Devon. A Wasp/BSA motocross sidecar outfit ridden by former world motocross champion Dave Bickers was used in the 1979 World War II film Escape to Athena, disguised to look like a German military BMW R75.
Products
Products
Wasp manufacture and modify sidecar motocross, sidecar grasstrack ('side-car-cross'), and solo motocross motorcycles. They also produce motorcycle leading link suspension for sidecars and fork conversion kits for road bikes to improve braking and handling, and they manufacture Métisse frames pioneered by Rickman Motorcycles.
Wasp 3 Wheel Freedom
Wasp 3 Wheel Freedom
The 3 Wheel Freedom is designed for use by disabled riders, including paraplegic motorcyclists, and has an electrically operated ramp to help access. With a tubular space frame bonded to fibreglass body it has independent suspension and a twin-piston brake connected to the motorcycle brakes. The design of the sidecar enables it to carry a wheelchair and it can be attached to any motorcycle of over 500 cc.
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 1 entries
1964
Wasp Motorcycles established.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Wasp Motorcycles”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1826638: Wasp Motorcycles
General reference · Wikidata
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Bacon, Roy. The British Motorcycle Directory: Over 1,100 Marques from 1888. Crowood. 2004. 1-86126-674-X.
- 2.Wasp Motorcycles. The Wasp 3 Wheel Freedom.
- 3.Wasp Motorcycles. Grace's Guide.
- 4.Norton Motorcycles. Norton Wasp. 2006.
- 5.sideacross.com. Sidecar-Cross racing World Champions History of the sport.
- 6.Westlake, Andy. Off-Road Giants!: Heroes of 1960s Motorcycle Sport. Veloce Publishing Ltd. 117–118. 2008. 978-1-84584-190-4.
- 7.Robin Rhind-Tutt. Grace's Guide.
- 8.Morley, Don. Classic British scramblers: all post-war two-stroke and four-stroke scrambles motorcycles, AJS to Wasp. Osprey collector's library. 1986. 9780850456493.
- 9.Companies in the UK. 2010.
- 10.Wasp Motorcycles. Robbie Rhind-Tutt and Wasp.
- 11.Rob Rhind-Tutt obituary. The Times. 2019-10-02.
- 12.We Have Moved. Wasp Motorcycles.
- 13.Crosse, Jesse. The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time. MotorBooks International. 100. 2006. 978-0-7603-2410-3.
- 14.Nothcote, Bill. Dnepr / Russengalerie. August 2001.
- 15.Chadwick, Ian. British motorcycle manufacturers. 2001-04-23.
- 16.Twinshock racing in the UK - RT2 Wasp outfit.
- 17.Axon, Jo. Sidecars. Shire Publications Ltd. 27. 4 March 2008. 978-0-7478-0344-7.
- 18.National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). Riding for Wheelchair Users and people with 'balance' problems.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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