Excelsior Manxman
Excelsior Manxman
Cover Classic
A Champion Rescued and Restored
WITH ADVANCED metallurgy and engineering ahead of the times, Excelsior produced a world-beater in the days just prior to World War II. The machine was the Manxman. Its feats in 1937 and 1938 included 2nd through 7th places in the Lightweight TT at the Isle of Man, gold and bronze medals in the International Six Days Trial, nine places from 1st to 13th in the Manx Grand Prix, and firsts in several grands prix and national championships. The Manx man, in 250-, 350and 500-cc piston displace ment classes, also was outright winner in a number of races in Italy, Latin America, England and Holland.
The 350-cc Excelsior Manxman, subject of this article, was brought to the U.S. in 1939 by Australian speedway rider Cliff Parkenson, who sold it to Ed Gade of Fresno, Calif. Gade held onto the Manxman for 10 years, then sold it to a Fresno motorcycle shop owner who stored the machine away in a barn -where it gathered rust for 17 years.
The 350 Manxman, now thought to be the only bike of its kind in the United States, was purchased in 1967 by Frank F. Conley, secretary of the Classic and Antique Motorcycle Association (which receives its mail at 808 S. Church St., Visalia, CA 93277). The partnership has been good for both motorcycle and owner, as accompanying photographs show.
Peeling chromium plating has been replaced with new plate; rust is gone, in favor of British Racing Green, with gold-striped red tank decals, obtained from F.P. Heath of England, founder of the Manxman Register, and secretary of the Vintage Motorcycle Club of Great Britain. New Avon racing tires and tubes, Renold chains and Amal levers and controls have been fitted to insure the bike's British heritage is maintained.
So meticulous, so thorough is Conley's restoration of the Manxman that the machine has won the World of Wheels Show Antique Class 1st place, earned a special display award at the 1967 Winternationais, was a sweepstakes prizewinner in the Concord (Calif.) Motorcycle Show (a first for a classic or an antique), and garnered Antique Class 1st place in the 1968 CYCLE WORLD Show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
If Conley's Manxman is very special, so were the great originals from the Excelsior factory. The 250, 350 and 500 were sohc Singles, constructed along identical lines. From the inside out, the engine exemplifies the best in machining and assembly practices of the pre-World War II era. Massive high tensile steel stampings form the flywheels. A wide-webbed, surprisingly light alloy connecting rod turns on a large diameter crankpin. On the drive side, the crankshaft rotates in two separate caged roller bearings of 1.125-in. diameter; on the timing side, the shaft is carried in double-row ball bearings.
Crankcases are sand cast of dense, nonporous alloy, pressure tested before assembly as nearly all oil lines are internal.
The timing side of the crankcase is stiffened by these cast-in oil leads, the timing gear case and an external web. Halves are secured by four bolts, apart from engine-toframe mounting bolts.
Cylinder fins are much deeper in front than elsewhere to help carry away heat from the exhaust side, thus maintaining even temperature and preventing cylinder bore distortion.
The cylinder head is of cast iron, with a fairly low domed combustion chamber shape. A 14-mm plug is located at the center. Four through-studs secure the head and cylinder barrel to the case halves. Valve guides are bronze.
The overhead camshaft is driven off the right side of the crankshaft, through a threegear tower, and a shaft with bevel gears. The camshaft is fitted to the upper bevel gear. The cams, with working faces specially hardened, are taper fitted onto the shaft. Rockers are fabricated of 90-ton steel, case hardened in the bore and on the inside faces of the fork which carries the roller cam follower. The camshaft case and rocker covers are of alloy material identical to that used in the crankcases. The vertical camshaft drive is enclosed in an aluminum tube.
A double gear oil pump, mounted inside the timing case, passes 14 gph at 6000 rpm.
Primary drive is duplex chain, final drive is single-row chain. Brakes are 7-in. Girling units, with Ferodo linings that provide a 30-sq. in. contact surface.
The 350-cc Manxman of 1937 vintage was said to produce 23.5 bhp at 6500 rpm. An Excelsior Manxman, in a test of the machine, and oil and fuel additives containing colloidal graphite, ran over 1000 miles at 60.65 mph. The same machine, with straight pipe and no lighting equipment, after the 1000-mile tour, accomplished an 85.75-mph mean speed for a standing start quarter mile. With muffler and lights, the Manxman was clocked at 76.20 mph mean speed for the quarter.
The Manxman was sold in ready-to-race and touring form. It was among foremost competitors of its time-a time cut short by sudden demand for military aircraft engines and other equipment of war.
The 350 Manxman survives today, a memento of great men and great races, and as a credit to antiquer Frank Conley.
