The Ascot-Pullin 500 was a
motorcycle made by
Ascot-Pullin Motorcycles in
Letchworth,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
in 1928.
As an updated version of the Pullin motor bicycle of 1919,
the Ascot-Pullin 500
overhead valve single was the first time
hydraulic brakes were used on a motorcycle.
History
In 1919, British inventor
Cyril Pullin and Stanley L. Groom produced the Pullin motor bicycle,
a wheeled machine that included a novel
two-stroke engine and extensive manufacture use of steel pressings that anticipated developments by British motorcycle manufacturer
Ariel Motorcycles in the late 1950s and Japanese motorcycle manufacturers in 1960s.
The bicycle was patented in 1920.
Since 1920, Pullin had been working with Stanley Groom to develop and patent a two-stroke motorcycle with a unique design of
pressed sheet metal frame and
forks. After working on a range of other inventions including the
Ascot, Pullin teamed up with Groom again to further develop their ideas and patent the Ascot Pullin motorcycle, with a
four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
rather than two-cycle engine. At a time when manufacturers were taking a very traditional approach to motorcycle design with conventional frames and engine layout, Pullin and Grom were keen to create an enclosed feel by mounting the engine horizontally within a pressed-steel frame. As well as the hydraulic brakes, Pullin also designed a telescopic centre stand and an adjustable windshield, complete with a windscreen wiper and rear-view mirror, as well as a fully enclosed chain and interchangeable wheels.
With estimated , the Ascot-Pullin was capable of , but approximately 400 to 500 were produced, so few survive to this day.
Pullin's influence can be seen in the emergence of the
Ariel Leader and the
Vincent Black Prince
The Vincent Black Prince was a British motorcycle made between 1954 and 1955 by Vincent Motorcycles. A year before the factory closed in 1955, Vincent produced the enclosed range of Vincent Black Knight and Black Prince. Philip Vincent describe ...
thirty years later, which both developed the enclosed concept in an attempt to attract a wider range of customers. As with the Ascot-Pullin, however, the fully enclosed look has never really led to high volume sales but instead attracts a niche market.
At present, the
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...
recognizes that the first hydraulic brakes on motorcycles occurred in 1952.
See also
*
List of motorcycles of the 1920s
References
External links
{{Commons category
Ascot-Pullinat ''Grace's Guide'' to British Industrial History
Motorcycles of the United Kingdom
Motorcycles introduced in the 1920s