1949 250cc CTS Python
Although CTS was assumed to stand for Chris Tattersall Special, the builder of this racer insisted that the S stood for his home town of St Annes, near Blackpool. The original CTS of 1931 had a JAP engine but in the postwar years, when machines were also supplied to other riders, they were Rudge-based. The engines were 250cc Rudge Python four-valve units with four-speed gearboxes of the same make. Former blacksmith Tattersall and his sole employee Bill Dawes devised plunger rear suspension for the Rudge frame. Cycle parts are known to be from the CTS Les Martin crashed when lying fifth in the 1949 250cc Lightweight TT.
