Cotton Motorcycles

Cotton Motorcycles Company
legal form	Company
founding	1918
resolution	1980
Reason for dissolution	insolvency
Seat	Gloucester , UK
management	Frank Willoughby Cotton
Branch	Motorcycle manufacturer

The Cotton Motorcycle Company was a British motorcycle manufacturer. The company was founded in 1918 by lawyer Frank Willoughby Cotton and was located at 11 a Bristol Road in Gloucester . The founder managed the company until he retired in 1953. The company was renamed E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd and existed until 1980. In the late 1990s, the brand was revived by an entrepreneur who made replicas of the earlier motorcycles.

The triangular frame

In 1913 Frank Willoughby Cotton took part in hill climbs and trials . He recognized the disadvantages of the parallelogram frame for motorcycles, which differed little from a bicycle frame. So he designed his own frame construction and had a few copies made by Levis . Cotton had the triangular frame patented. This frame was a feature of Cotton motorcycles until World War II . The First World War came and the Cotton Motorcycle Company was not founded until 1918. The new company launched the first motorcycle in 1920.

Stanley Woods and the TT

In 1922 Stanley Woods drove a Cotton with a Blackburne engine and came fifth in the Junior TT (350 cc class of the Tourist Trophy ). The following year he won the TT with an average speed of 89.28 km / h and thus exceeded the performance of Manxman's Tom Sheard , who won the senior TT (500 cm³ class of the Tourist Trophy) on a Douglas with an average of 85, Had gained 15 km / h. Cotton motorcycles took second and third place in the ultra-lightweight TT (175 cm³ class of the Tourist Trophy) and second place in the lightweight TT (250 cm³ class of the Tourist Trophy) in 1924. In 1925 it was only enough for a second place in the junior TT, but in 1926 the brand took the first three places in the lightweight TT. With these victories, the Cotton gained a reputation as a real winner. It had exceptionally good driving characteristics for the time.

The victory of 1923, and consequent high demand, enabled the company to move into new premises at the Vulcan Works on Quay Street . In 1927 the dimensions of the frame were changed.

Engines and model range

A 1930 Cotton motorcycle after an accident

After the onset of the global economic crisis , Cotton offered several different engines in their patented framework, usually combined with Burman gears.

In 1930 the following models were built:

• 247 cc two-stroke engine from Villiers
• Side-steered four-stroke engines with 295 cm³, 348 cm³ and 495 cm³ displacement from Blackburne
• Blackburne four-stroke overhead control engines with 348 cc and 495 cc
• Overhead steering four-stroke engines with 292 cm³, 348 cm³ and 495 cm³ from JAP with single port or double port
• Blackburne's side-controlled engines disappeared in 1931. Instead, engines with 348 cm³ and 499 cm³ cubic capacity from Rudge- Python and an engine from Sturmey-Archer were offered.
• In 1932 all models had saddle tanks and there were also side-controlled engines from JAP There were two 150 cc engines, one side-controlled from JAP and a two-stroke from Villiers. The largest model was 596 cc and came from Blackburne. So there were three overhead, one side and one two-stroke engines.
• In 1933 there were 250 cc engines, a two-stroke engine from Villiers, a side-controlled four-stroke engine from JAP and a top-controlled four-stroke engine from JAP or Rudge-Python. There were now 17 different cotton models.
• In 1934 overhead Blackburne engines with 150 and 250 cc were added as well as overhead JAP engines with 245 and 596 cc. The number of motorcycle models rose to 19.
• In 1935 the Rudge Python motor and the side-controlled JAP motors disappeared. But there was a choice between models with battery or magneto ignition, so a total of 16 different models.
• In 1936 a “Super Sports” with a 500 cc JAP engine and a Blackburne 25B engine were released.
• In 1937 the only available Blackburne engine was the 250cc engine. There were three new models with overhead camshafts and 250, 350 and 500 cc from JAP. They had four-speed gearboxes with foot shift.
• In 1938 the 150 cc model was equipped with Blackburne engines from other stocks instead of JAP engines. Blackburne itself no longer produced engines.
• In 1939 there was no longer a 150 cc model.

In 1939, JAP had changed its engine range and offered new ohv engines with 500 and 600 cm³ displacement without externally attached push rod tubes, but with cooling fins up to the cylinder base. These motors had external hairpin valve springs that were mounted in the center and operated a valve at each end. There were standard and deluxe versions. The JAP engine with the overhead camshaft and 250 cm³ displacement and the 150 cm³ two-stroke engine from Villiers continued to exist. Immediately before the start of World War II , there was a lighter, smaller Cotton with a 122 cc Villiers 9D two-stroke engine.

When the triangular frame was introduced in 1920, it was ahead of its time. In 1939, however, such rigid frames became obsolete after the swing arm frames appeared . Vincent patented a cantilever frame in 1928.

After the Second World War

During the war, Cotton continued his construction work, which secured the factory's existence, but did not return to the motorcycle market after the war. The company fought to survive until the 1950s, when Frank W. Cotton retired in 1953. In the same year it renamed E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd (after FW Cotton's first wife Elsie Ellen) and Pat Onions and Monty Denley took over.

E. Cotton (Motorcycles) Ltd

As before, Cotten made his own frames, bought the rest of the bike, assembled everything. The new company's first machine was the Cotton Vulcan with a Villiers two-stroke engine, which was built until 1957.

• In 1955 the Cotton Cotanza came out with a 242 cm³ engine from British Anzani and a new frame with rear suspension on a pivoted fork. This frame was also used on the new Vulcan model from the same year, which was equipped with a Villiers 9E engine and three-speed transmission.
• In 1956 there was a four-speed gearbox instead and the Cotanza was also available with a 322 cm³ engine, also from British Anzani. New was the Cotton Trials , a simplified version of the Vulcan with off-road tires and without lighting. The original Vulcan ran out.
• The only change in 1957 was an additional two-cylinder two-stroke engine from Villiers for the Cotanza.
• It was not until 1959 that the model range changed again. All models got front forks with pushed Armstrong short swing arm and the model with the two-cylinder two-stroke engine from Villiers was phased out.

Other models by Cotton were the Herald , the Messenger , the Double Gloster , the Continental , the Corsair and the Conquest . Cotton took part in motorsport competitions and by the late 1960s there were a number of street, trial and scrambler models.

Motorcycle racing in the 1960s

In 1961, the Scrambler Cougar 250 was launched and a factory racing team was built with riders like Bryan “Badger” Goss and John Draper . The Villiers-Starmaker racing engine was introduced in 1962 and Cotton took part in road races with it. The racing models Telstar and Conquest with 247 cc engines were launched in 1962 and 1964, respectively. Cotton won races again for the next two years.

Task of Villiers

Villiers withdrew from the engine market and Cotton was forced to procure its two-stroke engines elsewhere. The Cavalier trial motorcycles had Minarelli engines, but few were built. Cotton had been selling motorcycle kits at a good profit, but changes in the law proved detrimental to business.

In 1970 the factory moved to Stratton Road . The Cotton Sturdy , a three-wheeled cart for factories, was also built. In the following decade production moved several times and a good 250 cc racing machine with a Rotax engine was built. In addition to the difficulties of finding a suitable engine supplier after Villiers gave up, there was the appearance of large-scale Japanese motorcycles on the market in the 1970s.

Closure of the Gloucester factory

In 1980 the Gloucester factory closed. After a series of successful Cotton exhibitions at Gloucester City Museum in the 1990s, the Cotton Owners Club , an international organization, was founded. He organizes a rally every summer.

Replicas

Cotton 250 Cobra Replica

In the late 1990s, AJS Motorcycles Ltd in Goodworth-Clatford ( Andover ) manufactured a number of Cotton Competition Replicas, such as: B. the Scrambler Cotton Cobra 250 , the Scrambler Cotton-Triumph 500 , the road racing machine Cotton Telstar 250 and the trial motorcycle Cotton 250 Starmaker .

These replicas are exact copies of the old frames. The frames were TIG-welded and either had AJS Stromer hubs, British hubs or Grimeca hubs. Front forks from Marzocchi or Betor were installed , mostly with rear shock absorbers from Sebac .

These replicas were successful in vintage motorcycle races before 1965 in the hands of classic racing drivers. Nick Brown of AJS Motorcycles Ltd owns the name rights to Cotton.

• 

  Cotton 250 Trials (Starmaker) Replica

• 

  Cotton 250 Telstar Replica

• 

  Cotton-Triumph 500 Replica

Web links

Commons : Cotton Motorcycles  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cotton Owners Club

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Gloucester Cotton History . LivingGloucester.co.uk. ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 22, 2009.  
2. ↑ 1922 Junior TT Results . IOMTT.com. ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2006.  
3. ↑ 1926 Lightweight TT Results . IOMTT.com. ( Memento of the original from March 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 15, 2006.  
4. ↑ Cotton . Wanadoo.nl. ( Memento of the original from August 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 14, 2006.  
5. ↑ Ian Chadwick: Chadwick British Bikes , June 6, 2003. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
6. ^ ^{A b} Erwin Tragatsch: The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Motorcycles . Quantum Publishing, London 2000. ISBN 1-86160-342-8 . P. 560.
7. ^ ^{A b} British 'Rotax' in Motor Cycle News February 4, 1981. p. 3 .: "Is Cotton's Wilson behind new GP racer? The 250cc Austrian Rotax engine lies at the heart of a number of British built racing bikes ranging from the Armstrong to the Waddon. The man who started that Rotax bandwagon was Terry Wilson whose company, E Cotton Motor Cycles collapsed last year " .