Hydraulic brakes
With reference to the OEC feature ( TCM, October 2020, pages 64-69), I thought some readers would write letters for the November issue after spotting the Duplex Girling Wheels Hubs (page 67). They haven’t, so I am, as this is the first time I have seen mention of such a thing on a motorcycle prior to the late 1960s.
Often one should flesh out features such as the Closer Look column, but space prevent this, thus the sketch of ‘The New
OEC Girling Wheel Hub’ was published alongside my copy without further comment. After reading your email I mentioned my omission to a friend, who, after glancing at the 1939 OEC catalogue from which the image was scanned, uttered: “You may regard it as forward thinking, but really it’s madness.”
Brainwave, or bonkers, OEC were by no means the first on the block with hydraulic brakes. As far as the UK is concerned, the first production motorcycle to boast hydraulic brakes was the Cyril Pullin-designed 496cc ohv single cylinder Ascot Pullin, launched for the 1929 season, manufactured by the Ascot Motor and Manufacturing Company of Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
Former IoM TT victor Cyril Pullin was designer of the advanced Pullin-Groom with pressed steel frame. After this, he carried out work for Douglas Motors, including race engine preparation, especially for Brooklands action.
By the late 1920s, the business interests of Pullin included being landlord of a pub in Baldock, Hertfordshire, just two miles from Letchworth. A certain scribe, then rugby player, downed the odd pint (underage) in said inn and although Cyril was long gone, many of his photos remained on the walls. On a much later return visit, I discovered the premises had been updated and the photos had gone.
An estimated 200 to 500 AscotPullins – with pressed steel fully enclosing frame, low centre of gravity thanks to its low slung horizontal engine and large fuel tank for real long distance touring – were built before bankruptcy in 1930. Cyril Pullin designed the model’s coupled hydraulic brakes.
Malcolm Loughead (later Lockheed) is accepted by many as the first developer of hydraulic brakes and these are believed to have been first fitted to Duesenberg racing cars before the First World War, then later hydraulic brakes were fitted by American car maker Knox to tractors circa 1915. Lockheed patented his designs in 1917 and Duesenberg were the first to fit them to production cars in 1921.
In 1925, Triumph – then associated with the motorcycle maker of the same name – were the first in the UK to fit hydraulic brakes to a production car, the 10/20 with Harry Ricardo designed 4-cylinder side-valve engine, albeit to the rear wheels only.