Everyone has a different opinion about resurrecting old marques. If the resulting motorcycles look good and ride well, we’re happy to see historic brands reconstituted. The name Phelon & Moore likely won’t evoke longing memories among Americans. However, the once-British brand has a significant niche in motorcycle history. Before we get into the 2026 Phelon & Moore Brighton 6 lineup, let’s provide some context for the current owners of the brand.
Phelon & Moore was founded in 1904 in Cleckheaton, Yorkshire. The company built its name on a revolutionary 1902 patent—the engine acted as the frame’s down tube, creating one of the first proper motorcycle chassis instead of a powered bicycle.
The Panther line appeared in the 1920s. Heavy, low-revving singles as large as 600cc became known for bulletproof reliability. Thousands served in both World Wars, mainly as sidecar tugs and dispatch bikes for the British forces.
In 1934–36, Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron rode a Panther towing a trailer from London to Cape Town, crossing the Sahara without support. The trip proved a Phelon & Moore motorcycle could survive anything, save the onslaught of Japanese motorcycles. Production stopped in 1966 after roughly 60 years and tens of thousands of machines.
Phelon & Moore was revived in 2022 by an unnamed private European/U.S. investor group. Design and development are handled in Italy, with manufacturing in China under European oversight—a formula that has proven successful for Benelli and Moto Morini. The new Brighton 6 platform is the latest model line from the resurrected Phelon & Moore.
The Brighton 6 is powered by a 550cc liquid-cooled DOHC parallel-twin that makes 60 horsepower at 8500 rpm and 41 lb-ft of torque at 6500 rpm. Short gearing gives the bike a strong roll-on punch. Phelon & Moor claims 0–60 mph in 4.1 seconds and a top speed of 113 mph.
The Brighton 6 is offered in two variants: the retro café racer style Roadster and the light-duty off-roadable Scrambler. Both share the same engine, frame, and core components. The most significant differences are the wheels, tires, and suspension tuning, and the Scrambler has handguards, a skid plate, and grippy tank pads.
Both the Roadster and Scrambler come with an inverted fork, spring-preload adjustable shock, twin-disc front brakes with radially mounted calipers and Bosch 9.1 ABS, a round TFT dash with smartphone pairing, and full LED lighting. The tank holds 5.3 gallons, so the rider can go a long way between fuel stops.
You’ll note 17-inch wheels on both models. However, the Roadster’s Panther Sport-Touring tires on cast-aluminum wheels contrast with the Scrambler’s Panther Adventure tires with a 70/30 street/dirt ratio on tubeless wire-spoke wheels. The tire sizes are the same: 120/70 in the front and 160/60 in the rear.
Due to the Roadster and Scrambler having different shocks, the Roadster has a seat height of 31.5 inches, compared to the Scrambler’s 32.3-inch seat height.
Regardless of the differences, Phelon & Moore considers both Brighton 6 models to be street bikes, with the Scrambler capable of the easiest dirt roads.
We can’t tell you if we’ll be seeing the Brighton 6 models, or any Phelon & Moore motorcycles in the United States, for that matter. However, that doesn’t stop us from putting the brand on our wish list—maybe we’ll get a ride on one next time we’re in Old Blighty, as the company’s headquarters is in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, a 35-mile drive northeast from Manchester and the historic home of the brand.
