The famous Brumm-Rudge
Friedrich Brumm was a Rudge-Dealer located in Berlin
and an excellent Tuner who makes his Rudges quicker then the Works-racers. His
Driver Hans Richnow won the German Championship in 1933 on the 350cc
Brumm-Rudge. Even He was able to get Works- Material in the early Thirties he
has his own Ideas how to makes them faster. The 1933 Brumm had a lot of german
Parts inside and a special made Works Bronze Head
Schleiz 1937
Here You can see Aluminium- Rims on both Wheels, Megaphones, the Front Forks are modified and a big Shield to protect the rear Tyre from Oil ....
... but not the famous Two- Carb- Cylinder- Head! The
Head and Aluminium-Cylinders where casted after Models of Brumm at BMW!!! in
Munich (BMW had the modernst Foundry for casting Aluminium) for the price of
27 Reichsmark for the Kilogramm. He used the 500 cc Ccrankshaft for a shorter
Stroke of 88 mm instead 90,5 mm. The Bore increased from 70 to 71 mm, and He
used Dural-Pushrods
The Aluminium- Rims don´t had the Rudge System of the Spokes. Engine- and Gearbox- Plates in Aluminium, the later Gearbox- Case with the longer Oil-Filler, Right-Hand- Gearchange- Pedal , TT-Carbs, bigger Oiltank, Rudge-Forks but no cuppled Brakes, front Engine Plates longer then standard...
the Weight of the Bike was
reduced from 140kg to 118kg but the Chassis was made stronger
.
(Sachsenring
1938
Motorrennsportarchiv Jordan)
last Evolution before the War was the Use of the BMW R5-Front- Forks (1939):
(Sachsenring 1939
Motorrennsportarchiv Jordan)
Schotten
here it looks that front Engine Plates and Cradle Plates are made of one Piece and there is an extra Stay from the Rear down to the Plates! Look at the Spark-Plug-Spanner on his Leg and the little Windshield
The Forks made the Weight a little bit higher but made it faster. After the
War Richnow tried to do a Comeback:
This was in 1950, no TT-Carbs and the Angle to the
Head looks different. Little Front Engine Plates, so it looks that they used
another Frame and of course built up a new Bike with some of the Brumm-Parts
( both pictures Sachsenring 1950
Motorrennsportarchiv Jordan)
here in the last Stage with Rear Suspension, made by Muench! A Shock-Absorber with name Muench on it still exists!!
Richnow had no big Sucess after the war, maybe because there was not Brumm Knowhow "inside" the Engine....
Parts of the bike that Richnow used after the War were bought by an well known Rudge Enthusiast from Austria for little money and a nice Motorcycle was built around one original Double- Carb- Head (it was an unmachined blank Casting, because it had an Crack), this Bike was presented as Brumm-Rudge faultly:
this Picture was taken at Zolder HGP 1987 by Patrick De Maeyer
who was so kind to give it to me (Thanks Patrick!)
Why is the Brumm still a famous Bike? Maybe because Brumm was only a little Man against the Works- Riders from NSU and DKW... and it was not easy in that Times to use nongerman Motorcycles... and there was one Race where the whole DKW- Works- Crew drove home on Saturday after they saw Brumm´s time in practice not to blame themselves on Sunday. That Story has survived from Generation to Generation. Even if it looks like the original Brumm was destroyed from the Bombs in the War...the Legend never dies....
