with no square edges. In 1921, the shift quadrant was moved to
the top of the gas tank, and a new straight-through exhaust was
introduced.
The 1921 twins had 71.57-cubic-inch (1,173cc) engines, among
the largest motorcycle engines built at the time. Like most con-
temporary motorcycles, the lubrication system was total loss,
with an auxiliary hand pump to deliver extra oil for climbing hills
and fast riding. The transmission was a 3-speed with a hand shift
and the large clutch was made by Eclipse. It was operated by a
foot pedal and an auxiliary hand lever, which was especially use-
ful on hills. Like all motorcycles of the time, the R-S twins had
a manual spark advance, but R-S’s advance had a return spring.
Mike Terry says the stock setup lets the advance go wide open if
you let go of the grip. He has modified it so that the spring closes
the advance mechanism instead.
Although R-S had been making its own engines for some time
by this point, many components were outsourced, standard
practice then and today. In addition to the Eclipse
clutch, the solo seat was made by Mesinger, a well-
known motorcycle and bicycle seat manufacturer,
the magneto was built by Bosch, the generator by
Splitdorf and the carburetor by Schebler.
A big reason that the R-S made as much power
as it did was the engine’s Ricardo heads. English
engineer Harry Ricardo had conducted experiments
with internal combustion flame propagation, and
discovered a way to shape the flathead combustion
chamber that sped up combustion and allowed
higher compression ratios. This was known as the
“squish” principle, which involved concentrating
the combustion chamber area over the valves and
minimizing the area over the pistons. Ricardo sold licenses to
use this technology and Harley-Davidson purchased a license
from Ricardo when it started to build flathead singles in the mid-
1920s. Reading Standard did not buy a license from Ricardo, and
so did not use his name in advertising.
Concerned that the company was falling further behind Indian,
Excelsior/Henderson and Harley-Davidson, Reading Standard
management decided in 1921 to field a race team. The company
hired well-known speedster Ray Creviston and invested a lot
of money in resurrecting and upgrading a Cyclone overhead
cam racer. Unfortunately, the engine was never properly tested
and developed, and Creviston suffered through breakdown
after breakdown. The race team that was going to put Reading
Standard on the map turned into an expensive liability.
Reading Standard’s racing debacle happened at the worst
possible time. America suffered through a mini economic
depression in the first years after World War I. Although it hadhttp://www.MotorcycleClassics.com 29
The Reading Standard’s ample foot boards were the norm in 1921 (left). Owner Mike Terry aboard the 1921 Reading Standard.