Overleg:Bernardet

Hello, I, hereby, represent the Association of Cycles and Vehicles Bernardet as a Member of the Bureau of the Association, as the grand-son of one of the 3 Bernardet Brothers, founders of the brand Bernardet, and as the webmaster of the official website.

I have read the page that someone called either Piero or Rudolphus or anyone who contributed to this wiki page. I have to say that the information in this text is WRONG. Here is an english Google translation of this nederland page.

Bernardet is the name of two historic French motorcycle brands, which most likely were connected. WRONG : it's one and only company, which never built any motorcycle. Only side-cars and scooters. Bernardet (1920-1934) WRONG : from 1924 to 1959

Bernardet scooter.

Bernardet SA, Paris, later Châtillon-sous-Bagneux (Seine). WRONG : never stayed IN Paris. First factory was in Bourg-la-Reine, south suburb of Paris, then moved to Châtillon-sous-Bagneux in 1937.

French brand of René brothers, Robert and Roger Bernardet. Rene and Roger designed in 1921 their first sidecar, in 1922 followed by two other models.

In 1924 Robert came in the company. Some years later Bernardet the leading French manufacturer sidecar, which exported to the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Russia. In 1932 , the S.à.rl Éts. Bernardet Frères established. In 1937 , a large factory in Châtillon-sous-Bagneux built.

From 1946 it also produced cars and in 1947 began producing scooters . These were equipped with 123 - and 246 cc Ydral -cubes. In 1955 appeared a pretty model with automatic transmission, the Servomatic CFM. The company was in that year by Le Poulain acquired.

In 1956 , the last Le Poulain-Bernardet scooter made ??and in 1959 the company was closed. Bernardet (1930-1934)

SA Bernardet, Châtillon-sous-Bagneux.

According to the "engine bible" of Erwin Tragatsch this French brand should not be confused with the scooter factory Bernardet, but both were located in Châtillon-sous-Bagneux, so it does seem to go the same factory. Tragatsch reports, however, that this factory motorcycles with Train - and Chaise - two - and four-stroke engines from 98 - to 498 cc made. In the history-Bernardet However there sidecars, scooters and cars, but not motorcycles. WRONG : This information is WRONG. The Bernardet brand IS the the same one and the only one existing, and it still exists! It belongs to the descendants of the 3 Bernardet Brothers. The only engine made by Bernardet is a 125 cc for a scooter. The other engines, from 49.9 to 498 cc (were did he find this information?) were bought to be installed in scooters or cars. No car was ever produced in series by Bernardet, only 2 or 3 prototypes.

Please, correct this page ASAP.

Guepar – De voorgaande bijdrage werd geplaatst door Guepar (overleg · bijdragen)

This is what Erwin Tragatsch wrote in "Alle Motorräder 1894-1981: Eine Typengeschichte. 2500 Marken aus 30 Ländern, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN|3-87943-410-7". Obvisously this was the most reliable information available. I concluded this must have been either one company or at least two closely related companies. I will have to trie to reconstruct the company history:

• First sidecar was designed by René and Roger in 1921, in 1922 followed by two other sidecar models.
• Robert joined in 1924.
• Scooters were produced from 1947 tot 1956, using Ydral engines.
• The company started in Bourg-la-Reine and moved to Châtillon-sous-Bagneux in 1937
• In 1932 the S.à.rl Éts. Bernardet Frères was established
• In 1955 Bernardet was acquired by Le Poulain
• In 1956 the production of Le Poulain-Bernardet scooters ended. Or was it 1959? Or did the sidecar production end in 1959?

And some questions remain:

• Did Bernardet produce their own 125 cc engine? When?
• Did Bernardet use Train and Chaise engines?
• When were the protype cars built en which engines were used?
• Does Bernardet still produce sidecars?

Obviously I don't know where Tragatsch got the information for a book he wrote fourty years ago, but he did, somehow, somewhere, I guess…

Unfortunately, my French is about as good as your Dutch, but I would like to say "merci beaucoup" for your information so far. Piero (overleg) 4 nov 2012 23:04 (CET)

Hello Piero

Amazingly, the Tragatsch's text is exactly what I wrote in 2000 when I built the Bernardet website, but I never read this book. Somehow, he must have met or knew my great-uncle Roger Bernardet long time ago. I got the information from his archives, after his death in Feb 1996.

However, to answer the remaining questions :

• In 1956 the production of Le Poulain-Bernardet scooters ended. Or was it 1959? Or did the sidecar production end in 1959?

> Yes, Le Poulain, manufactor of small engines, bought Bernardet in 1955. They produced the Cabri (49.9, 85 and 98 cc) then the Guepar in 125 and 250 cc. I remember my grand-pa René talking about how mad he'd get when Le Poulain's manager would anoyingly throw his monthly check on his desk... The company closed down on march 9, 1959.

• Did Bernardet produce their own 125 cc engine? When?

> Yes, a 125 Bernardet engine for the E51, in 1951-52. Wasn't a good engine, they quickly switched back to Ydral. And developped parts for the last Guepar, not acheived.

• Did Bernardet use Train and Chaise engines?

> No, never heard of that.

• When were the protype cars built en which engines were used?

> Each proto was built at one, two or 3 models, they didn't have the money for more. 1st model : 1946, see http://www.bernardet.com/autos/autos_prototype.html > 2nd and 3rd models in 46 and 47, small body changes, engine was took on a Fiat. http://www.bernardet.com/autos/autos_salons.html > 4th model in 1950: http://www.bernardet.com/autos/autos_troisdefront.html

• Does Bernardet still produce sidecars?

> Side-car production slowly stopped in 1947-48... until march 2012 where our Association has rebuilt and reproduces a Records du Monde Avion http://www.bernardet.com/association/association_catalogue.html

Guepar

Sorry, Guepar, just saw your information today. Great to find out stuff directly from the company archives. I will start working on it priority one! Thank you very much. Maybe I will have to come back to you for more, will depend on how easy it is to rewrite the article. Piero (overleg) 10 nov 2012 01:20 (CET)