On 31 January 1903, the Motor-Car Journal ran an article about a claim made by Mr. J. Bond of Bishopston, Bristol. In a letter to the journal, Mr Bond declared that his son Ernest, who had just turned six, rode a 'motor-bicycle' and was capable of 'managing it with perfect ease.' This, according to the Journal, made Master Ernest Bond 'the youngest motor-cyclist in the country'.

Mr J Bond included a photograph with the letter which showed Ernest on his machine, aged 'six years and three months', seen here. The motorcycle, made entirely by Ernest's father, consisted of a 16-inch frame,18-inch wheels and an engine with a single cylinder that was two inches in diameter with two inches stroke.