Peter Williams in memoriam

Was it Ken Sprayson who was making Seeley frames in the 1970s ? When Rod Tingate was in the UK, he worked for Colin Seeley. He mentioned all the Seeley frames had 27 degree rake.

acotrel said:

Peter Williams raced the Arter Matchless which was a Seeley. The steering geometry probably meant it did not handle similarly to many other motorcycles. It is a detail which is not easy to get at. The difference between a Seeley frame and a Featherbed is quite dramatic. They handle very differently.

Wagon Wheels: The Arter Matchless G50 - Motorcycle Classics

The Arter Matchless G50, also known as Wagon Wheels, was the first bike to wear cast magnesium alloy wheels.

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YET AGAIN, NO, IT WAS NOT A SEELEY

acotrel said:

Was it Ken Sprayson who was making Seeley frames in the 1970s ? When Rod Tingate was in the UK, he worked for Colin Seeley. He mentioned all the Seeley frames had 27 degree rake.

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NO

Do you know what the steering geometry of the Arter Matchless and the John Surtees 7R was or is ? You tell me I am wrong - what is correct ? I would like to know. For Peter Williams to beat a TZ750 in a F750 race, he must have been doing something very different. A TZ750 has around 100 BHP.

Peter didn't beat TZ750s , or even race against them with the Matchless, which was a 500

I am not talking about PW competing in a F750 race with a Matchless 500. I meant the John PLayer Commando. The first road-going Commandos had steering geometry which was specified by PW. A few kids crashed them, usually after riding over cat's-eyes in the middle of wet roads. Apparently experienced riders would have simple ridden through the problem. PW was embarrassed; however I seriously believe he would not have made a mistake. Norton changed the fork yokes - fitting a steering damper might have been an admission their bike did not handle. But anyone who rides a bike which has road-race steering without the hydraulic damper, is an idiot.
My comment about the 750 race was a Commando 750 has 80 BHP max. A TZ750 has around 100BHP - to win PW must have had something different going for him, especially on a large circuit.
I have read a bit which PW has written, but that steering geometry thing was not really explained.
I think the geometry of the John Player bikes might have been the same as on the Arter Matchless.
It can make a really big difference to a bike's competitiveness. The bike can be used in a completely different way.
On small circuits the rider is more important than they are on large circuits.