Rudge Whitworth Cycle Company
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Rudge Whitworth Cycles was a British
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...
, bicycle saddle,
motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
and sports car
wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...
manufacturer that resulted from the merger of two bicycle manufacturers in 1894, Whitworth Cycle Co. of
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, founded by
Charles Henry Pugh Charles Henry Pugh (6 June 18409 April 1901) was founder of a British bicycle manufacturer. Charles Henry Pugh was the chairman and managing director of the Whitworth Cycle Co., he was also the chairman of CH. Pugh Ltd. Pugh designed a machine ...
and his two sons Charles Vernon and John, and Rudge Cycle Co. of
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
(which descended from a bicycle company founded by
Daniel Rudge Daniel Rudge (1840 – 26 June 1880) was a British engineer who built high-end bicycles and velocipedes. Rudge invented the adjustable ball bearing bicycle hub (British Patent No 526) in 1878. The French racing cyclist Charles Terront, re ...
of
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...
). Rudge motorcycles were produced from 1911 to 1946. The firm was known for its innovations in engine and transmission design, and its racing successes. Their sales motto was "Rudge it, do not trudge it." The company also produced the first detachable wire wheel in 1907, and was known for its knockoff wheels on
sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...
s; that brand continued well into the 1960s.


Wire wheels

In the early 1900s John Pugh, son of company founder Charles Pugh and a pioneer motorist, decided that there had to be a better way of dealing with punctured tyres than having to change the tyre with the wheel still fixed to the car. In competition with Victor Riley of the Riley Cycle Company they both designed a detachable wheel locked in place by a single large nut. Pugh was granted a patent for his wheel in 1908. There were detailed differences in the design resulting in legal disputes between the two companies over the intellectual rights to the detachable wheel. Pugh eventually lost the dispute following appeal to the House of Lords. The design of the centerlock hub has three main elements - a splined hub to locate the wheel and two mating cones, one at the inner end which centres the wheel and the other at the nut end. These cones transmit the majority of the torque to the wheel freeing the splines of much of the load. One of the key features of the Pugh design is that it is self-tightening. The wheels on the right side of the car have a left hand thread on the nut and vice versa. If the wheel becomes loose the tendency is for the locking nut to tighten and hold the wheel securely. The system was taken up enthusiastically by the racing fraternity where the advantage of a quick-change wheel was obvious. At the 1908
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
TT race, 21 of the 35 entrants used Rudge-Whitworth wheels, and only one of the finishers didn't. By 1913, the use of detachable wire wheels was universal in grands prix. After World War II the rights to the Rudge-Whitworth wheel was acquired by
Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...
.


Bicycles

In 1938, Rudge-Whitworth sponsored
Billie Fleming Lilian Irene Bartram known as Billie Fleming and Billie Dovey (13 April 1914 – 12 May 2014), was a long-distance cyclist who set the woman's record for greatest distance cycled in a year in 1938 at . At the time of her death in 2014 she conti ...
to attempt the distance record for the most miles covered in a year. They provided a bicycle with three-speed derailleur gears and a cyclometer, as well as financial support so that she could cycle for 365 days continuously. Her record of still stood at her death, aged 100 in 2014.


Motorcycles

Selling re-badged Werners in 1909, the company went on to produce their first motorcycle in 1911, a
single-cylinder A single-cylinder engine, sometimes called a thumper, is a piston engine with one cylinder. This engine is often used for motorcycles, motor scooters, motorized bicycles, go-karts, all-terrain vehicles, radio-controlled vehicles, power tools an ...
F-head bike. In 1915, a bike, using a Jardine four-speed
gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...
, was released, followed by a 1000 cc Multigear. In 1923, the company introduced an in-house manufactured 4-speed gearbox to replace the Jardine, and Multigear production ended.


Rudge Multigear

In 1912, the belt-driven Multigear was released, using variable groove-depth pulleys to provide 21 forward
gear ratio A gear train or gear set is a machine element of a mechanical system formed by mounting two or more gears on a frame such that the teeth of the gears engage. Gear teeth are designed to ensure the Pitch circle diameter (gears), pitch circles of e ...
s, with top gear as high as 2.75:1. (The Zenith Gradua and 1907 FN 244 cc single used a similar system.) In 1913, a Multigear was released. In 1914, Cyril Pullin won the
Isle of Man TT The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May and June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907 Isle of Man TT, 1907. The event begins on the UK Spring Bank Holiday at the e ...
on a Rudge Multigear. Together with the Zenith-Gradua this was one of the first
continuously variable transmission A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is an automated Transmission (mechanical device), transmission that can change through a continuous range of gear ratios, typically resulting in better fuel economy in gasoline applications. This contr ...
s (CVT). In 1923, Multigear production ended.


Rudge Four

The single-cylinder Rudge Four, named for having four speeds and four valves, showed markedly superior performance to the competition on release, having more power than its predecessor. Rudge engineer George Hack is said to have taken his design idea from the four-valve
Triumph Ricardo The Triumph Ricardo was a British single-cylinder motorcycle manufactured by the Triumph Engineering Co Ltd between 1921 and 1928. Named after engine designer Sir Harry Ricardo it featured an innovative four valve head design and was capable o ...
(produced from 1921 to 1928). He designed a four-valve head for Rudge, and in 1924 they produced their first four-valve cylinder head on a 350 cc engine. The valves were arranged in parallel, and were not radial. In 1925, a 500 cc version with linked front and rear brakes appeared, and the big end bearings were now fed oil through the crankshaft pin. The old 350 cc was dropped in 1926. For 1928 Rudge motorcycles were fitted with saddle tanks, and 8-inch internal expanding
drum brakes A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating bowl-shaped part called a brake drum. The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press on the inner surface o ...
. Stanley Glanfield designed a Rudge for dirt racing, marketed from 1928 as the Glanfield Rudge.


Racing


Ulster Grand Prix

In 1928 Graham Walker won the
Ulster Grand Prix The Ulster Grand Prix is a defunct motorcycle racing, motorcycle road racing, road race which took place on the Dundrod Circuit made up entirely of closed-off public roads near Belfast, Northern Ireland. Due to the races having the fastest aver ...
averaging over 80 mph. This prompted the release of the Rudge Ulster, as well as a JAP-engined 250 cc and parallel 4-valve 350 cc. The Ulster was one of their most famous models.


1930s Isle of Man TT victories

Rudge bikes finished first, second and third at the 1930 Junior TT using prototype radial 350 cc 4-valve engines. They also took first and second in the Senior TT. The road bike engines were changed to dry sump lubrication. The JAP 250 and the parallel four-valve 350 cc ended production in this year. In 1931 Rudge released its first 250 cc and 350 cc road machines with the radial-valve layout. TT Replicas were available in 350 cc and 500 cc. The parallel-valve 50 cc was also available in Special and Ulster models, the Ulster now having a 100 mph guarantee. First and second were taken in the 1931 Lightweight TT, and in
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
, second and third. A radial-head 500 cc was produced for 1932 only. A 250 cc TT Replica was built, and the road bikes were fitted with proper oil bath primary chains, and a stand that could be operated "with just one finger".


Motorcycle speedway

During the 1920s and early 1930s, Rudge motorcycles were also popular in
motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...
. Those who rode them during their career included 1938 World Champion
Bluey Wilkinson Arthur George "Bluey" Wilkinson (27 August 1911 – 27 July 1940) was an Australian speedway rider. Wilkinson was Speedway World Champion in 1938 after narrowly missing out on winning the inaugural Championship in 1936. Early life Born in ...
of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, who started his speedway career in 1928 on a battered old belt-driven Rudge.


Rudge Cyclecar

Between 1912 and 1913 the company entered the booming
cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...
market. Their car used the Rudge multi-speed transmission, with belt drive throughout, offering ratios ranging from 14 to 1 to 3.5 to 1. The ratios were selected by a lever working in a gate which divided the gear range into ten different ratios. The engine was an air-cooled 750 cc single cylinder engine with a bore of 85mm and stroke of 132mm fitted with a Senspray carburettor. The price in 1912 was 135 guineas."The Motor Cycle and Cycle Car Show at Olympia", The Automotor Journal, 30 November 1912, p1450 There are reports that the two seat bodies had the seats staggered to fit in the narrow body, but this is not evident from the photograph taken at the 1912 Olympia Motor Cycle and Cycle Car show.


Decline

With the depression biting, 1933 was the last year of production for dirt-track bikes, and the TT Replicas. The Ulster 500 cc was fitted with a "semi-radial" (parallel valves with radial ports) cast-iron head. For 1934 the Ulster had its head cast in aluminium bronze, and a radial four-valve 250 cc Sports was released. Rudge motorcycles took the first three places in the 1934 Lightweight TT. A two-valve 250 cc was produced in 1935, and in 1936 the last of the radial four-valve 250 cc model were produced, while round-tube forks were introduced on other models. In 1937 the valve gear became fully enclosed on the 500 cc models, but finances were bad and Rudge was bought by EMI, and production was interrupted, being moved to
Hayes, Hillingdon Hayes is a town in west London. Historically situated within the county of Middlesex, it is now part of the London Borough of Hillingdon. The town's population, including its localities Hayes End, Harlington and Yeading, was recorded in the ...
in
Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...
. A 250 cc two-valve Sports was released in 1938, and for early 1939 the Ulster had an RR50 aluminium cylinder head.
The Rudge Enthusiasts Club Rudge Model Range (retrieved 11 October 2006)
Production ceased in December 1939, to convert to
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
production for the war effort.


See also

*
List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom :''This list is incomplete. You can help by adding correctly sourced information about other manufacturers.'' Major current marques Current manufacturers ;A *AC Cars, AC (1908–present) *Action Automotive (2004–present) *Aeon Spo ...


References


External links


Rudge precisRudge Enthusiasts Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudge-Whitworth (motorcycles) 1894 establishments in England Year of disestablishment missing Motorcycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Defunct cycle manufacturers of the United Kingdom Cyclecars Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1894 British companies established in 1894 Wheel manufacturers Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1946