Winter is the time for club night quizzes and a favourite question is often: ‘Who made the first ‘whatever’?’ If I were a question master, I’d always avoid this topic, because someone will always know of earlier examples. However, me being me, I will now break this rule.
Thirty years ago, and then successively more recently, I’ve penned: “BMW designed and manufactured the first modern-type, oil-damped telescopic front fork, which many rivals later examined before designing their own Roadholder, Teledraulic, BSA et al variations on the theme.”
At least half a dozen souls will respond that this accolade should go to the Danish maker Nimbus and there is some value in their claims, but I’ll stick with BMW, who first used them on factory racers before later, in 1935, offering a hydraulic (oil-damped) front fork of modern design. But, in fact, our claims and counter claims could be arguably nearly three decades off the mark. And the same applies to who made the first swinging arm rear suspension and, likewise, monoshock type design. So let’s put heads on the chopping block for the ‘who’s first’ game.
Pioneer telescopic front fork design
Billy and Harold Williamson began making cars and tricars at their Birmingham workshop in 1899, before moving the operation to Earlsdon, Coventry, a year later, as they built their first motorcycles, under the Rex name. Initially, they focused on cars, although developed their motorcycles too and their launch of a telescopic front fork, first marketed in quantity
