Latest Car Extreme

When did the first alloy front wheel rims appear on racing motorcycles in Europe?
Ivan Rhodes and I have discussed this on several occasions and looking at his stock of ex-works front wheels , and many of the photos I have…1936 then was the consensus, and likely for the IOM TT.
But my view has now changed.
I’ve been closely looking at photos in “The Keig Collection” and there are examples on Norton and Moto Guzzi in the 1935 IOM TT.
In the 1936 Junior IOM TT Veloce introduced their new DOHC 350 and I am assembling an interesting blog article for this now with many photographs….looking at the front wheels, a quick glance, they are black and steel rims you say…wrong, they are the “W” pattern alloy rim we know today.
Why black….the story goes it was an attempt to “fool” Norton, but seems Norton had got hold of some too, in fact they had black painted ones in the 1935 IOM TT….!!
Who else used alloy rims in 1935?
Seems Rudge, Moto Guzzi, Norton had all acquired them.
But Rudge-Whitworth made motorcycle and car wheel rims and supplied many manufacturers.
Historically….
On 22 April 1922, the Italian company "Rudge Whitworth Milano" was established in Milan, with a share capital of 1,200,000 lire. The owner was Carlo Borrani. The company was located at Via Ugo Bassi 9, and its activity was the production and commercialisation of "wheels for cars, motorcycles, cycles and "equivalent" as per notary act at the Chamber of Commerce.
This was the official beginning of the remarkable Borrani wire wheels story.
Production started with a licence of Rudge-Whitworth from Coventry, Great Britain, which had registered a patent for mounting a wheel on a hub
1935 Lwt IOM TT, Omobono Tenni (pictured above) on his factory Moto Guzzi with alloy front rim.
by an unique splined drum, fixed by one central lock nut. This enabled an easier and faster mounting and dismounting of the wheel.
This also aroused interest from the most important racing car constructors. Just 12 months after Rudge Whitworth Milano commenced business, Alfa Romeo, Auto Union, Bianchi and Lancia started to equip their racing and deluxe cars with Borrani wheels.
Later in the 1930s, the company changed its name to "Carlo Borrani SpA". During this same period, Borrani started to experiment with light, rigid aluminium rims to replace the usual steel wheels.
The 1936 photo of Freddie Frith's factory Norton wheel, (pictured below) has a black alloy front rim.

This is from "The Keig Collection" and again I’m assembling a lot of data and photos for a future blog on it’s introduction by BMS Ltd.. the then erstwhile ex Temple Press “MotorCycling” journalist Bruce Main-Smith. I was there at the time…..
Who was fooling who….
Those first rims were welded together in a butt joint and a side plate welded beside it for strength. Alloy welding was likely in it’s infancy and the thought of a rim collapsing because of the weld breaking and pitching the rider up the road was a nightmare.
The rim illustrated is owned by Ivan Rhodes from ex works stock and I’ve perused many photos, not with all that much success, for the black rims make it difficult to determine if they were fitted with a welded side plate or whether it came later, perhaps after some weld cracking…
Tyrell-Smith (pictured above)aboard his factory 1935 Lwt IOM TT Rudge, with alloy front rim.

The photo of Stanley Woods on his winning 350 SOHC Velocette after the 1937 IOM TT clearly shows the plate…interestingly the rim is unpainted and I’ve included a close-up of the plate.
Dunlop alloy rims came later.
Opens more questions than it answers I suggest…
Left click on images to enlarge.

Prewar works Velocette alloy front rim (pictured above) from Ivan Rhodes collection...note welded side plate at the butt joint.

Stanley Woods 1938 IOM Junior TT winning works Velocette front wheel (pictured above) with alloy rim and welded side plate at the butt joint.

The "ultimate road burner"..(pictured above) 1937 works 500 SOHC Velocette, with black alloy front rim and if you look closely on the LHS just before the middle of the rim, it looks like a welded side plate.

Interesting 1939 IOM TT shot...Jimmy Little (pictured above)on his new Mk.8 KTT Velocette production racer of which all those I've seen pictured had steel front and rear rims, has an alloy front rim...h'mmm ( likely some factory help, or JL got a rim from Rudge-Whitworth...)

C.H.Manders astride a factory 250cc Excelsior Manxman racer, 1937 IOM TT, alloy front rim.

George Rowley #49 (pictured below) ,aboard a 1938 factory AJS, IOM TT, alloy front rim.

#2, Stanley Woods (pictured above) works 495cc SOHC Velocette, 1936 IOM TT, black alloy front rim.

Ted Mellors (pictured above) with his 250cc Lwt IOM TT winning Benelli, 1939, alloy front rim.

Stanley Woods is congratulated by the Governor of the IOM following his win in the 1938 Junior TT, wife Mildred stands behind. The alloy rim is clearly visible, as is the welded side plate.

Acknowledgement is made to S.R.Keig Ltd, Morton's Motorcycle Media, Fox Photos and Borrani Wheels Australia and New Zealand for photographs and some written text.

The first description of the Velocette adjustable rear suspension system which incorporates several extremely clever features….the article written by Graham Walker and featured in “Motorcycling” August 20 1942.

Reproduced with acknowledgement to Mortons Motorcycle Media, holders of the copyright for "The MotorCycle" and "Motorcycling".

Left click on the images to enlarge, although the quality of some will be suspect, as they were scanned from newspaper.

PATENT specifications can hardly be regarded as light weekend reading, yet sometimes they can prove just as exciting as the most thrilling detective novel. True, like the sorcerer's horoscope, they hint at the shape of things to come in an involved jargon. Warranted to blind with science the poor ignorant layman who can only read English, the strange phraseology employed is presumably designed to provide pitfalls for the wily copyist and an honest crust for the lawyers in the event of a dispute, but the effort needed to strip the wealth of verbiage from the salient facts is well worth while, for every specification is evidence of mankind's ceaseless efforts to improve his lot.
Seen in '39
What is all this leading up to? I will tell you. Some time ago I became involved in an argument anent spring frames and, being obstinate by nature, searched the Patents files to, prove my point. By accident I came across a specification for rear suspension regis­tered in the joint names of Veloce Ltd., and Phillip Irving. There was something reminiscent about the draw­ing attached to the description which puzzled me for a minute or so until the penny dropped-I'd seen a similar coil spring device on F. J. Binder's Velocette in the Island during 1939 T.T. Race week. Enter the detective atmosphere ! Hot on the trail, a little more research brought to light two more patents taken out in the same names and dealing with the same subject.
Obviously, something had to be done about this. A letter to Veloce, Ltd., produced a most courteous invitation to visit the factory and to test the model. Thus it came about that, one dampish day recently, I listened to Phil Irving describing the many good points in the ingenious design and watched him demonstrate the ease with which the springing can be adjusted and if necessary, dismantled.
Patent No. 1 deals with this matter of adjustability, the basic idea being to provide a suspension system
instantaneously adaptable to widely varying loads. As with most good ideas, the method is simple in the extreme. The rear wheel is mounted in a swinging fork. Hinged to each fork end, slightly above and forward of the wheel spindle, is a straightforward telescopic plunger surrounded by a stout coil spring. And now comes the cunning part-the top end of each plunger is mounted on a transverse rod passing through slots formed in the rear frame member and the rod can be, locked by handwheels in a number of positions ranging from the nearly vertical to one where the spring mem­bers are inclined forward considerably.

Variable Resistance
In the upright position the springs exert their greatest resistance to wheel movement; in the forward position the freedom of wheel movement is increased. Intermediate positions, of course, permit of settings between these extremes. The curved slots are so plotted that virtually no variation takes place in the position of the main frame relative to the rear wheel, thus the steering remains unaffected by variations in setting. Incidentally, a later design provides for arcuate slots which make the transverse bar self­locking at the peaks of the curves.

Chain Adjustment
Patent No. 2 is so simple as to make anyone who sees it chuckle-and then go into a quiet corner and kick himself for not thinking of it first! It permits of rear chain adjustment with­out the slightest fear of the rear wheel getting out of line. Method? Simple, my dear Watson! The pivot upon which the rear fork swings is mounted eccentrically on its bolt; thus, partial rotation of the eccentric slides the com­plete fork slightly forward or backward, leaving the wheel spindle location undisturbed.

This eccentric plot has been applied to dynamo chain adjustment for some years and the primary chain adjustment on the Lea-Francis consisted of a circular gearbox with the shell offset in relation to the mainshaft, but it has been left to Messrs. Veloce and Irving to apply such a common-sense adjust­ment to the secondary chain.
Patent No. 3 provided the real eye-opener, being none other than the employment of a stressed-skin rear frame, in which suitably formed sheet metal replaces the tubular construction usually associated with the job of sup­porting the rear wheel and accom­modating road shocks. As the photographs and drawings show, a single sheet of metal, bolted to the tubular centre frame at several points, acts as mudguard and support for the top ends of the spring plungers and base for pillion seat and saddle. The rear half of this member can be arranged to hinge, thus giving access to the rear wheel, whilst toolbox, battery carrier and other " cupboard space " can also be combined in the one pressing.

The Friction Dampers
Another particularly interesting detail consists of the built-in friction damper incorporated in each spring plunger. The male member carries two Ferodo rings standing proud of suitable supporting steel collars which are firmly attached to the plunger. These act as guide bearings. Placed between the collars are two semi­circular pieces of Ferodo, forced out­wards and into contact with the female outer sleeve by a circular clock spring, which exert a predetermined pressure. The assembly is designed to run dry ­indeed, lubricant obviously has a deleterious effect on brake lining material-and has proved entirely satis­factory and devoid of wear.

Proved

Lest that last statement be taken with a grain of salt, may I add that Irving demonstrated the test machine, which has covered over 90,000 miles without any replacement in the suspen­sion system, when I gained ocular proof that no wear has taken place over this great mileage. As Phil emphasized the fact in no uncertain terms, I had better state at this stage that the machine under discussion is, in his own words, " A lash-up intended to prove principles and not to win beauty prizes." When experimental work is completed and a production prototype is built, the appearance will probably be very different.
Lash-up or no lash-up, a road test soon proved the efficiency of the design. For purposes of comparison, the experi­mental " springer " and a standard rigid-frame model were ridden out by Phil and myself to a vile, unmade road on a housing estate, the surface of which deteriorated rapidly from uneven cobbles to cobbles with gaps and then to gaps with exposed manhole covers and other aids to aviation. I first tried the " springer " with the plungers in the forward, or most resilient, posi­tion and then had a second run with the plungers in the back notch. Even in the former case there was no " bottoming," but it was surprising to note what a difference was made to the swinging fork action by such a com­paratively small variation in the plunger angle.
On Rough Going
Having several times galloped down the stretch at some 25 m.p.h. on the spring heel, meanwhile deliberately aiming at the worst obstructions, I nearly cast myself off when I attempted the same gait on the rigid model. Hitting the edge of a particularly dreadful pothole a resounding clout-it seemed more like a pitshaft-I felt the back wheel rise to such an extent that I thought for a split second I was going over the bars. The incident must have looked funny to Phil, riding along behind me, as he said something about " What a pity the photographer is not with us." So far as I was concerned, however, it taught me a lesson; after that I did what one usually does with a rigid frame in such conditions picked out a crooked, but more com­fortable, path and took things con­siderably slower.
Manfully hiding any qualms I might have, I then mounted on the pillion device behind Phil. This, I thought, was to be the acid test of the springing, to say nothing of my courage! The result was even more impressive than when I had been in the saddle. I weigh, roughly, 15 stone, but only once did the springing " bottom " over the aforesaid pitshaft and even then I suffered no discomfort and there was no subsequent " life on the ocean wave " rocking reaction such as might have been expected.
Again it took the rigid frame to demonstrate just how efficient is the spring-heel design. Even following the excrescence-dodging path at a much reduced speed the bumping was so severe that the headlamp front fell off and I acquired a severe " headache " in reverse. The demonstration was very convincing, my only regret being that I failed to take Phil on the pillion of the rigid-frame model after the shaking he gave me!
Convinced
Some spring frames are good, others are all " spring " and others might be solid for all the benefit obtained. The Veloce type tested definitely qualifies for the first category. It has all the perfect steering qualities of the maker's excellent rigid frame, combined with first-rate comfort for rider and passenger. The lateral rigidity of the wide pivot bearing and the deep stressed-skin rear frame member must be ample for the purpose, as there was no visible trace of shake and certainly none could be felt even over rutted three-ply lanes. And let it not be over­looked that more than 90,000 miles had been covered on this machine since it was put into commission in the autumn of 1938.
Regarding ease of maintenance, the problem seems to have been solved by giving the rider no maintenance to do. The bottom bearing in each spring leg consists of a floating Oilite bronze bush, which has proved ideal for the niggling semi-rotary motion to which it is subjected. The fork pivot bearing is equipped with a simple grease nipple with suitable passages in the member leading to the bronze bushes, whilst, as has been previously stated, the Ferodo guide-cum-damper assembly runs dry.
Assembling
The assembly of the spring leg is very simple. First, the bottom Ferodo guide, with its steel collar, slips down to a shoulder formed on the inner mem­ber. Next, the semi-circular pieces of Ferodo and the little clock spring are nipped into position with a piece of string. Then the top Ferodo-and-steel collar is screwed on. Next, the spring is screwed on to the helix on the plunger and, finally, the sheath is slipped over the plunger and inside the spring. As the sheath slides over the damper segments the string is removed and then the sheath is given a half turn so that its external bayonet catch engages with the top spring coil. That's all!
To sum up, as an attempt to provide a suspension system instantly adjust­able to solo or pillion loads, allied to ease of maintenance and long life, the experiment appears to be a complete
success. I am very glad I found that patent specification. There is always a thrill in testing something new, and more particularly when the something new indicates that war-time conditions have not been allowed to cry " Halt " to post-war progress.

The following article was produced in the English motorcycle magazine "The Motor Cycle" on 28th April 1960 and shows again that small though they were as a motorcycle manufacturer, Veloce Ltd. were not frightened to adopt state of the art technology on the production line. I also published this in the Australian Velocette OC magazine FTDU322.

The photographs were scanned from the newspaper print and so their quality suffers as a result.

Acknowledgement is made to Mortons Motorcycle Media Ltd.

Because of the mention of newsprint photo quality , these illustrated are better not enlarged.
Hold a finger in the middle of an ordinary-looking loop of copper tube and nothing happens; yet place a piece of metal within the same loop and in a few seconds it is glowing cherry red. Magic? It may seem so- and the mysterious cabinet, with its panel of knobs, switches and dials, from which the copper loop projects could well be part of the mumbo-jumbo of a stage illusionist.
But in fact this is a radio-frequency induction heating, a process which is coming more and more into prominence in engineering. It has particular applications in motor-cycle manufacture and Velocettes’, to quote a specific factory, began in a small way by using the system for hardening the tips of clutch-plate discs; now induction heating is used in frame brazing, for fixing hardened pads to cam followers and in many other ways.
The principle is not unlike that of an ignition coil. The metal part to be heated is placed within a coil of copper tubing (tubing, for a reason which will be explained shortly) and an alternating current is passed through the coil winding. As with the ignition coil, a secondary current is thereby induced with, in this instance, the component to be treated replacing the usual secondary windings. The electric impulses disturb the molecular structure of the metal and thus heat is produced.
By heating quickly enough only the surface layer is affected-ideal when hardening or tempering is to be done. For other processes the whole component must be heated through, and so the rate of heating is slowed down. Control is obtained by using coils which may be tightly looped for speed heating) or loose-coiled (for through-heating).
There must be no direct contact between coil and compartment, or a short would occur; and so that the coil is not affected by heat reflected from the continuously through the tubing from which the coil is constructed. Further, to obviate arcing, the copper is first discovered with spun-glass then given a coating of shellac.
So far, so good. But town mains supply is usually at either, 50 or 60 cyles per second, and at so slow a rate of reversal the heating effect is negligible. The smaller the part to be heated, the higher the frequency is required, but for most of the purposes a frequency of about 400 kilocycles per second is used. And that is where the magic cabinet comes in for it is, in a way, a radio transmitter, stepping up the normal factory supply to the high frequency necessary by means of a transformer, with associated mercury-vapour rectifiers and oscillator valves.
First the transformer takes the ordinary input (at, say, 220 volts) and delivers it at 6,000 volts to the rectifiers; they, in turn, convert it from A.C. to D.C. and pass it to the oscillator valves, from which it emerges as A.C. current once more, but this time at 400,000 cycles per second. Even then an output transformer is brought into the circuit, so that voltage and current may be varied according to the job at hand.
As to the coils themselves, the shape can be varied in many ways- long coils, short loops, square coils, flat coils; it all depends on the shape of the component to be heated, and the substitution of one more coil for another when a change in the production run is made is a simple matter. The use of the apparatus is almost limitless. To take the Velocette clutch plate as an example, by the earlier production method the whole plate would first have had to be copper plated, to prevent carbon penetration, and then the copper would have been scraped away from those parts where penetration was, in fact, wanted. Carburizing would follow, then the plate would be quenched- and distortion could quite easily result. Now, just the tips of the plate are passed, one at a time, through an induction coil; the heat is applied only where necessary and distortion cannot arise.
Again, a coil can be arranged for internal heating- as in the case of a light alloy cylinder barrel which should be heated before the iron liner is fitted into place. The whole job can be done in one and a half minutes whereas by the conventional method of placing a stack of barrels in an electric furnace only six could be treated in half an hour.
Another example of time-saving? Certainly; at one time a Velocette oil-pump spindle, complete with the gear wheel it carries, had to be turned from the solid. Now the spindles is cut from the pre-ground stock, the pinion is cut in the normal manner and is bored so that there is 0.0005in clearance between shaft and bore, and the two components are silver soldered together in the induction heater. And while one component is heating the operator can prepare the next.
But perhaps the most spectacular piece of magic is that which brazes the trunnion lug (brake anchor lug) to one arm of the pivoted rear fork. The operator picks up the length of tube, paints it with a liquid flux at the appropriate place, then slips the lug to be brazed over the tube and into its appointed station. Next a ring of wire- the hard sliver-solder-is wrapped round the tube at the junction of the tube and lug.
The tube is then placed vertically, silver-solder ring uppermost, in a fixture so that the lug is within a heating coil.
Within seconds the lug glows red then- phhtt! In a flash the solder ring has disappeared , as the molten metal penetrates between lug and tube to form a secure bond.
Compare that with the traditional frame-building methods of gas torch, fire-brick hearth and consequent distortion- which is rectified by brutal-seeming leverage with a crowbar until the frame matches the trueing jig! And when it comes to brazing the steering-head lug in place, other advantages make themselves known, for now the lug can be fully machined before assembly. Formerly, because of consequent distortion, machining had to be carried out after brazing. Nor is there need for shot-blasting to remove brazing deposits as is the case with time-honoured methods.
It's interesting to see the huge size of the "electronics" in 1960..today one would imagine it was about the size of a home computer unit.