Английская Википедия:Charles Franklin

Содержание

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Текст

Charles Bayly Franklin (13 October 1880 – 19 October 1932) was an engineer and a motorcycle racer. He designed motorcycles for the [[Indian (motorcycle)|Indian Шаблон:Not a typo Company]], including the original Indian Scout of 1920, the original Indian Chief of 1922, and the Indian 101 Scout of 1928. Prior to this, he had been part of the Indian motorcycle team that won first, second, and third place in the 1911 Isle of Man TT, finishing in second place. Franklin was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life

Franklin was born on 1 October 1880 to Lorenzo Bruce Clutterbuck Franklin, a shipwright and iron merchant, and his wife, Annie Honor Wrixon, née Bayly.Шаблон:Sfn He was born at 1 St. Patrick's Villas, Whitworth Road, Drumcondra, Dublin;Шаблон:Sfn which became 18 Whitworth Road after the road was renumbered in 1883 or 1884.Шаблон:Sfn Three of his siblings died from scarlet fever in the previous year, and another, a sister, died from the disease and was buried four days after he was born.Шаблон:Sfn

Franklin had already survived his own bout of scarlet fever when, in his teens, he contracted pneumonia and nearly died from it. Despite his illnesses, he became his parents' first child to survive to adulthood. Two of his younger brothers would also survive to adulthood.Шаблон:Sfn

While at St. Andrew's College, Dublin, in which he enrolled in its foundation year of 1894, he lived with his paternal grandfather, Robert Franklin.Шаблон:Sfn Upon leaving St. Andrew's Franklin was accepted into the civil service and began training as an electrical engineer. Upon completion of his training Franklin was appointed to the post of engineer at the power station at Rathmines.Шаблон:Sfn

Motorcycling career

Ireland (1903–1916)

In 1903 Franklin began competing in reliability trials, hill climbs and beach racing.Шаблон:Sfn On 24 September 1904 he participated in the Auto Cycle Club's annual race meeting at Crystal Palace, London; his first track event and his first event outside Ireland. He won one of the five heats and finished third in the final.Шаблон:Sfn His first motorcycles were Belgian FN single-cylinder machines, which he rode in the reliability trials and beach speed trials in 1903 and 1904Шаблон:Sfn and at the 1904 Crystal Palace event.Шаблон:Sfn As at May 1905 he had also ridden Humber and Royal Progress motorcycles.Шаблон:Sfn

On 29 May 1905, Franklin competed as a private entrant at the Auto Cycle Club's trial on the Isle of Man on a "special" with a JAP V-twin engine in a Chater-Lea frame.Шаблон:Sfn The trial was used to select Britain's team for the Coupe International races of 1905.Шаблон:Sfn Only Ariel rider J. S. Campbell and Matchless rider (and co-owner) Harry Collier finished the trial; Franklin was selected as the third team member based on his speed and consistency during the trial.Шаблон:Sfn His participation in the 1905 Coupe International made him the first Irishman to participate in international motorcycle competition.Шаблон:Sfn Franklin competed with the British team in the 1906 Coupe International on another JAP special, this time with Harry Collier and his brother Charlie on Matchlesses.Шаблон:Sfn

Discussions during the team's return from the 1906 Coupe International on the shortcomings of the organisation of the race led to the creation of the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, which was first run the next year.Шаблон:Sfn Franklin entered the inaugural 1907 Tourist Trophy, but withdrew his entry two weeks before the race meet.Шаблон:Sfn

Franklin entered every Isle of Man T.T. race from 1908 to 1914. When he finished, he finished in the top ten, but he did not finish in 1910 and 1912. His best finish in the Isle of Man T.T. was second place, where he was part of the Indian team that finished first, second, and third.

Franklin began racing Indian motorcycles in 1910, and competed on one in the Tourist Trophy in May of that year.Шаблон:Sfn The riders of Indians at that race had persistent tyre problems; Franklin and three other Indian riders had tyre failures and did not finish.Шаблон:Sfn That August Franklin left his job at the Rathmines power station and became a dealer in Indian motorcycles.Шаблон:Sfn He rode and tuned Indians exclusively from then on. In June 1912 he rode an Indian eight-valve model at Brooklands to become the first man to cover 300 miles in 300 minutes.Шаблон:Sfn

Franklin was recruited into the Indian company in late 1914 and tasked with establishment of an Indian depot in Dublin.Шаблон:Sfn The depot had opened by May 1915.Шаблон:Sfn The imposition of the McKenna duties in September 1915 led to the closing of Indian's Dublin depot in October 1916.Шаблон:Sfn Franklin, the manager of the depot, was given a position in the Indian's design department at their headquarters in Massachusetts, and left for the United States in November 1916.Шаблон:Sfn

In June 1916, in his last race in Ireland, Franklin rode a Featherweight Model K two-stroke single, winning the prize for best performance by a motorcycle under 300 cc.Шаблон:Sfn

United States (1916–1932)

Although Franklin has been credited with the design of the 1917 Model O as one of his earliest assignments, it is not known for certain who designed this model and Franklin himself had only been at the factory for three months when it first went on sale at Indian dealerships in February 1917.Шаблон:Sfn A lightweight motorcycle with a Шаблон:Convert flat-twin engine, this model was not successful and went out of production in 1919.Шаблон:Sfn Franklin certainly developed a high performance version of Charles Gustafson's Powerplus engine, to the extent that the side-valve engine became the main design used in American high-performance motorcycles, supplanting more expensive overhead valve, multiple valve, and overhead camshaft designs used earlier on racing motorcycles,Шаблон:Sfn and persisting well beyond World War II in Class C racing in the United States.Шаблон:Sfn

Franklin then designed the 1920 Scout, a mid-sized motorcycle with a Шаблон:Convert engine. Design improvements over Indian's larger motorcycles included a gearbox bolted to the engine and driven by helical-cut gears instead of a primary chain. Franklin's 1922 Indian Chief used a larger version of the Scout's drivetrain design.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Compared to the Powerplus-powered motorcycle it replaced, the Chief had dual camshafts, gear drive similar to that of the Scout, and a wet clutch.Шаблон:Sfn

After designing the 1925 Indian Prince, a single-cylinder Шаблон:Convert lightweight motorcycle which preceded Harley-Davidson's equivalent single-cylinder models by one year Шаблон:Sfn Franklin generally approved Arthur Lemon's development of the Ace four-cylinder motorcycle design, which Indian acquired in 1927,Шаблон:Sfn and he redesigned the Scout for 1928. The resulting Indian 401 four-cylinder motorcycle and Indian 101 Scout had the same frame geometry,Шаблон:Sfn which, in the lighter 101 Scout, resulted in exceptional handling and stability.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Franklin later designed a three-wheeled utility vehicle, the 1931 Dispatch Tow, based on the Model 101 frame.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Franklin also designed highly successful racing motors in a range of valve configurations from side-valve to overhead-valve (both 2-valve and 4-valve) and overhead-cam.Шаблон:Sfn

Death

In the second half of 1931 Franklin took a leave of absence from Indian to rest and recover his health, although at first he continued to work from a drawing office at his home. He died from complications due to intestinal cancer during the night of 19 October 1932.Шаблон:Sfn He left behind his wife Annie (a.k.a. Nancye),Шаблон:Sfn whom he had married in Dublin in July 1907,Шаблон:Sfn and his daughter Phyllis, born in Dublin in September 1908.Шаблон:Sfn Nancye and Phyllis Franklin had arrived in the United States in May 1920.Шаблон:Sfn

References

• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite web
• Шаблон:Cite book
• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite journal
• Шаблон:Cite journal