Art Deco avant-garde
The Ascot-Pullin was full of brilliant ideas and the result of a creative mind, but its rush to market before being fully developed sealed its unfortunate fate.
The recent passing of the great Peter Williams has justly highlighted Peter’s well-earned place in the pantheon of rider-engineers — men who proved the validity of their own innovative designs by racing them to victory against more conventionally-mounted rivals. Pee Jay’s legendary win in the 1973 Isle of Man TT on the JPN Monocoque he had personally created epitomised his ability to successfully think outside the box — an ability which led to top design jobs at Cosworth and Lotus after injury sadly cut short his racing career in 1974.
But 60 years earlier another such man had achieved comparable success, when youthful London-born
Cyril Pullin, aged 22, won the 1914 Senior TT on his own modified Rudge Multi — a single-speed design whose variable belt drive transmission, giving an effective option of more than 20 gear ratios, uniquely addressed the challenges of gradient imposed by the ACU’s decision from 1911 on to stage the motorcycle TT races on the same 37.40-mile Mountain Course as used since 1908 by cars. Pullin took advantage of his short stature to redesign his Rudge’s frame so as to lower the seating position — not so much for aerodynamic purposes as might be done today, but to lower the centre of gravity to make the Rudge more controllable over what was then little more than a potholed, rutted cart-track, as just seven miles of the TT course were then tarred.
This enabled Pullin to go the distance, grabbing the lead on the last of six gruelling laps to win the 224-mile four-hour race by just six seconds ahead of two rivals who actually dead-heated for second place — previous race-winner Oliver Godfrey (Indian) and another successful rider-engineer, Howard R Davies, a future TT winner also, who’d later establish the HRD concern that duly morphed into Vincent-HRD.
During the First World War, Pullin worked in the Admiralty as a marine technician, when he evolved plans to meet what he rightly expected to be substantial postwar demand for affordable transportation, leading to the boom in motorcycle sales of the early 1920s.
Working with designer Stanley Groom, Pullin developed a 216cc two-stroke stepthru motorcycle with horizontal cylinder, two-speed gearbox and chain final drive, which was unveiled to the Press in March 1920. To reduce manufacturing costs for intended mass production, this employed pressed-steel manufacture for the two chassis spars welded together to form the frame, as well as the two girder fork blades and rear swingarm — for it already had rear suspension, at the start of the 1920s. Its many novel features, including the extensive use of steel pressings in its manufacture, anticipated by almost 40 years similar designs like the Ariel Leader in Britain, and, most notably, the world’s most popular motorcycle ever, the Honda Super Cub, which both debuted in 1958.
Sadly, despite the lavish brochures, expensive West End London offices and favourable Press coverage, the money ran out before Pullin could put the bike bearing his name into production, although he did spend some of it on obtaining a total of 20 global Pullin-Groom patents for its various design features. However, in 1923 the model was revived by the Pullin Motor Cycle Co. now run by W.M. Brooks, and with engine capacity increased to 310cc, production began early in 1924. It failed to last the course and the company was later wound up.
Meanwhile, Cyril Pullin had intensified his racing efforts at Brooklands, where a good living could be made breaking records and obtaining product bonuses aboard his self-tuned 998cc Zenith-Anzani V-twin. This brought him to the attention of Douglas Motorcycles’ Works Manager, Les Bailey, an Australian who in due course would marry Pullin’s sister — but not before persuading Cyril to turn his tuning talents to the 500cc Douglas Model 3½ flat-twin with fore-and-aft cylinders, rather than BMW’s crossways Boxer format, whose low-down weight made it handle well on the bumpy Brooklands bankings.
On this bike in March 1922, Pullin became the first person in Britain to break the 100mph barrier on a 500cc motorcycle, an achievement which duly led to him to opening a depot at Brooklands, where he prepared and tested each new Douglas 3½ motorcycle so it could be sold with a certificate affirming it would exceed 100mph. (Now we know where George Brough got the idea for guaranteeing the speed of his SS100 Brough Superiors!)
This led to Pullin joining Bristol-based Douglas in October 1923 as chief designer where, in between continuing to set new records (such as becoming the first man driving a motorcycle and sidecar to cover 1000 miles in 24 hours), he produced the best-selling EW 350
“Even today, almost a century after its launch, the AscotPullin still appears far-sighted and remarkable.”