1936 New Imperial 492cc V-Twin Works Racing Machine

It used to be said that this motorcycle should be designed to look as if it was doing 100 mph when it was standing still. Arguably, this V-Twin racing New Imperial is the most handsome machine of the thirties. It looks as if ti could do more than 100 mph and in fact it was capable fo at least 120 mph (a version took the Brooklands Track lap record at 115.82 mph in 1935). An earlier model ridden by Ginger Wood was the first 500cc multi cylinder machine to cover over 100 miles at Brooklands in an hour winning the prestigious Motor Cycle Tropht.The concept was impeccable. New Imperial, a Birmingham firm with a long racing record, had developed their 250cc push rod engine to the point when it was one of the fastest in its class Worldwide. Why not build a V-Twin out of two of these engines? Each cylinder would have its own carberettor, exhaust and cam gear. The twin should produce double the power of the single. It did and was probably the faster that the all conquering Norton singles.

There was one problem, it did not steer or handle like a Norton. Above 100 mph it buckled and wobbled over bumpy road circuits like the Isle of Man TT races and its power could simply not be used. In fact, onlyone rider Ginger Wood was prepared to risk his life in trying to tame it. In practice for his attempt on the 100 miles in the hour record it went into a tank slapper wobble over the notorious bumps and he waa thrown off at over 100 mph but escaped with minor injuries and it did not put him off.Every effort was taken by the makers to overcome the steering problem and the machine was rebuit with a lighter engine and shorter frame in 1935. Ginger rode it in the Senior TT but failed to finish. It was rebuilt again for 1936 in the form seen here. The most conspicuous feature is the light alloy 4.5 gallon petrol tank. Because previous welded alloy tanks had suffered from splitting New Imperials adopted current aircraft construction methods of rivited seams with an interleaving strip of thin rubber to seal the joint.

The oil tank for the dry sump system was moved to a position low down in front of the engine.Apart from improved cooling the new location may have been an attempt to move weight lower and forward. Hindsight suggests that the steering problem might have been solved by moving engine weight further forward. There was no exact science of motrocycle design in those days, merely trial and error and a V-Twin is not the easiest engine to move about in a frame. This machine retired in the 1936 Isle fo Man TT and it was the end of the V-Twin experiment and New Imperial's interest in racing. Ginger Woodm the one man who had been brave enough to try and tame the twin went on to gain two second Lightweight TT places on Excelsiors. His last TT ride was on a Norton, he finished 8th.