So impressive was this achievement, that Rudge renamed its 500cc Sports model вЂњUlster.вЂќ Then in 1928, Graham Walker won the Ulster Grand Prix on the 500cc Rudge, repeating the feat in 1929 at an average speed of over 80mph. Entries in that yearвЂ™s Senior TT yielded a 13th and 15th. Though Rudge had stayed out of racing during the early 1920s, they returned for 1926 with a 500cc version of the 4-valve, pent-roof engine. And while JAP engines were widely used (the V-twins were even good enough for George BroughвЂ™s Superior), Vincent thought something more sporting than JAPвЂ™s ubiquitous 500cc overhead valve single would sell more bikes. The notoriously conservative British motorcyclist balked at the clever but unattractive frame, and treated the rear suspension with suspicion.

Sales were disappointing, and the blame fell on the triangulated frame. The engines went into a triangulated frame of VincentвЂ™s own design, built from straight tubes welded together and with the Vincent cantilever rear suspension. companies Blackburne and Villiers were also used. Ltd.Дeveloping a new engine from scratch would have taken time and considerable investment, so the first Vincent HRDs used bought in JAP engines, though engines from Motosacoche and U.K. Having bought the brand, Vincent decided to cash in on the associated goodwill, naming his new company The Vincent вЂњHRDвЂќ Co. But in a failing economy sales fell, and HRD ran out of money. HRD had a good racing pedigree, winning the 500cc Isle of Man TT in 1925, with five more top 10 finishes in the 500 and 350 TTs over the next two years. After designing his cantilever rear suspension system while at Cambridge University, Vincent dropped out of school, and with financial support from his family purchased the trademark, goodwill and remaining component parts of the defunct HRD Motors Ltd in 1928. VincentвЂ™s first foray into motorcycle manufacture is well recorded. The 4-speed, 4-valve pent-roof cylinder head 350cc вЂњRudge FourвЂќ was introduced in 1924 - the same year then 16-year-old Philip Conrad Vincent bought his first motorcycle. Engineer Harry Ricardo was working on a 4-valve engine for Triumph, and Pugh arrived at a similar solution. Four smaller valves meant lighter weight and less risk of a valve head separating, and smaller ports meant less cylinder head distortion. Unfortunately, these were more prone to breakage and the larger ports often led to cylinder head distortion. To achieve higher performance, valves were made larger. Many overhead valve engines of the day experienced valve issues. In response, John Vernon Pugh, then chief designer, decided to leapfrog the competition. The variable-speed вЂњMultiвЂќ of 1912 established Rudge as a leading motorcycle manufacturer, but by the early 1920s its design was obsolete. The single-cylinder 500cc used roller bearings for the connecting rod and had an intake-over-exhaust (F-head) valve arrangement. Rudge-Whitworth introduced its first motorcycle in 1911, using an engine of its own design. Rudge-Whitworth was soon the most successful bike builder in Britain, building 75,000 bicycles in 1906 alone. It improved performance so much that racers using Rudge wheels had to start 10 yards back! After Rudge died in 1880, his company eventually merged with Charles PughвЂ™s Whitworth Cycle Company. 520) was the adjustable ball-bearing wheel hub, which rendered obsolete the plain bushings used to that date. A keen cyclist and innovator, RudgeвЂ™s key invention (British Patent no. RudgeДuring the 1870s, the licensee of the TigerвЂ™s Head pub in Wolverhampton, near Birmingham in BritainвЂ™s industrial West Midlands, was one Daniel Rudge. One of their first customers was the fledgling Vincent HRD Company.

Hoping to capitalize on this market, in September 1930 the Rudge-Whitworth Company announced that it would make its 4-valve engines - including the race-derived bronze head models - available to bike makers under the brand name Python.

Vincent hrd