The arrival of rear suspension – because it was part of the contract
º After the 1935 IOM TT, where he won the 500cc and 250cc races on Moto Guzzis, Stanley Woods was asked by Velocette if he’d ride for them in 1936. A racer of Woods’ high calibre was needed to challenge the rival Norton team but he agreed to sign only if Velocette adopted a frame with rear suspension like his 500cc Guzzi, the first TT winner to boast the novel refinement. Velocette bon Harold Willis devised a system unlike Guzzi’s cantilever method. With a swinging arm controlled by twin shocks, it set a pattern copied by almost every manufacturer for decades.