1938 Rudge Race Bike

Nulli Secundus

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What tyre pressures are you running ?, The bike looks light, I would not run more than 24 lb, My bikes get skittish if too high.
I played the same game with the standard damper, Had a laugh with a friend, Did it up a bit more, Same place !!, I won't tell you what happened next, Gulp !!.
Cheers Bill.
24 front (it is skinny) and 26 rear. Although the head and barrel are heavy, the bike is really light.

Not sure I can ride it like Eddie's brother rode the Sunbeam with elbows and knees locked together on the tank.
 

Bill Thomas

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Ron Kemp told me how to fit, Taper Roller steering head bearings on a Vin', Would it be poss' on yours ?. He said you can get away with just the lower one, Because the weight of the bike is is pushing it up, I found that made the steering a bit better. Cheers Bill.
 

BigEd

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24 front (it is skinny) and 26 rear. Although the head and barrel are heavy, the bike is really light.

Not sure I can ride it like Eddie's brother rode the Sunbeam with elbows and knees locked together on the tank.
You will need to experiment to find what works for you and your Rudge. e.g. Tyre pressures. On my Sunbeam we used 20 psi front and 19 psi rear. Avon said they would recommend a minimum of 26 psi. The Sunbeam, like many late 20's motorcycles, is minimalist and quite light compared with later machines. It was run as a virtually rigid bike, Druid girder forks with the friction dampers tightened so that there was virtually no movement and the rear end has no suspension anyway. What suspension there was came mostly from the tyres so we found the pressures that worked for us. I'm not suggesting that this kind of setup will work for you but it just goes to show that sometimes you have to try different things however unlikely. Trying to work within what is allowed can be very difficult and you often end up with what you can have rather than what you would like and keep within the rules.
 
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vibrac

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I am so sorry to hear that about Merv, when I was a young apprentice of 16 riding to work on my Norman B3 along White lion road Amersham a young Merv would flash by in the traffic on that same 250 Rudge!. I have seen him blow Yammaha stink wheels in the dust in a straight 250 race and win. You speak on alignment I remember telling him that his wheels on one of his 250 Rudges were out of line, his reply was 'thats my cadwell club circuit bike there is only one lefthander'. Merve was never a guy to take silly risks, years ago when Ben stated racing on his BSA C15 his ambition was to beat Merve in the upto 58 250 class. Finaly in his last year on the BSA he did come first in a race and Merve was second, Ben was over the moon! I saw Merve later in the day and he said (and I belive him) 'I could have overtaken him but he looked a bit to hairy and unstable'.
 

chankly bore

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For those who read the Sussex Section survey in MPH you may remember Dick Sherwin mentioned that I had purchased a Rudge racer that has an illustrious history. Well it has won a BHR (Britain Historic Racing) championship although the machine is based on a 1938 500cc Rudge Special, which all said and done was the cooking model of the 500cc Rudge range.

It was built and ridden by Tony Perkin, who has since built a methanol burning sister machine and now races other bikes including a Manx Norton.

I entered and took the Rudge to the Mallory Park Test Day on Friday 24th March. I had some fun and dramas. The latter included the primary chain guard falling off during the first session, which was recovered, bashed straight, and refitted, plus a disconcerting front end wobble around Gerrards on most laps.

Not deterred I entered the Mallory Park BHR race meeting over the Easter weekend. I did not set the world alight, but came away satisfied with the results. I had even more dramas, including a rear brake rode clevis pin falling out on the fast aproach to the hairpin (the retaining clip had probably been dislodged, or damaged when the primary chain guard fell off at the test day) and a massive wobble near the exit to Gerrards. Not quite a full on speed wobble, but close.

I am not sure if I am allowed to fit a hydraulic steering damper, but may just do that without asking and see what happens. Not being able to go as fast as I liked around Gerrards, which is a long and fast corner, was hurting my lap times.

Any suggestions or advice?
I would try handlebars that bring your hands back in line, or slightly behind, the steering head. I think Davidd remarked on this problem. Just a thought from a non-racer and non-engineer; I have had three tank-slappers, though!

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greg brillus

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I do wonder with some of these odd suspension issues that it is parts of the frame, forks that are flexing under those load conditions. Especially with modern tires being more sticky than the tires of yesteryear. I've seen pictures of close modern day racing of early 70's Honda four's and the like where on very hard cornering you can see the rear end bucking and weaving. To me this must be the rear swing arm flexing, and when I was racing the twin others would ask of the bike was bucking and weaving on the corners. I replied that "No it wasn't" and they replied "Oh well you can't be pushing it hard enough" but this would lead me to believe that parts of the bike are flexing enough to cause this issue. I had automatically assumed that the rear swing arm on a Triton or similar would flex quite readily when the bike is pushed hard, and that the rear frame on a Vincent would not suffer from this due to it's huge strength over a conventional swing arm which is quite weak by comparison. I know it is a front end wobble you are concerned about, but it can start at the rear unknowingly.
 

Mike 40M

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When I raced speedway, I found that the JAWA bikes was way better handling than the JAP-engined bike I rode before. On a practice, me and a friend changed bikes. His was way better behaving than mine. So two identical looking JAWA frames can differ much in handling. This was in the sixties, so I guess that the prewar frames can differ more in handling. A rigid frame is not (and shall not be) rigid. What matters is how much and in what directions it flexes.
 

chankly bore

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Try something simple first. Handlebars that bring your hands back to about the line of the steering head. I think Davidd mentioned this in another post. I had a mate who production raced a 750 Kawasaki triple in the 70's. He welded 10mm. square bar along the underside of the swingarms where the scrutineers couldn't see it. Improved the handling and the aroma of his leathers no end!
 

Bill Thomas

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Try something simple first. Handlebars that bring your hands back to about the line of the steering head. I think Davidd mentioned this in another post. I had a mate who production raced a 750 Kawasaki triple in the 70's. He welded 10mm. square bar along the underside of the swingarms where the scrutineers couldn't see it. Improved the handling and the aroma of his leathers no end!
Handle bars are funny things !, When I was having a bad time, I always liked short one's, Then thought I didn't have enough control, So I went to standard type, I remember Silverstone, It made it Worse !!, I found I was putting too much action into the bars, It made it a bit too nervous, Or was it me !!. Cheers Bill.
 

vibrac

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If you want to see flexing follow a ridged back end 650 Triumph sorted for racing round Cadwell, that is a sight to behold!
Note the rigid velo racers (MAC MSS & KSS_TT) varients often fitted external tubular braces from the front engine plates to the rear bolted assembly.
 
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