Today in motorcycle hstory, March 29, 1983

Tragedy strikes the Bugatti Circuit during the 1983 French Grand Prix.  During a free practice Japanese  rider Iwao Ishikawa is killed when his Suzuki collides with Loris Reggiani's Aprilia at the Virage de la Chapelle.     Sadly, the French MotoGP also claimed the life of the 1982 Champion, Swiss rider, Michel Frutschi when his Honda went down on April 3.  Both riders were in the 500cc class.         Bugatti Circuit or Circuit des 24 Heures, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe, located near Le Mans, France, is a semi-permanent race course. The track uses local roads that remain open to the public most of the year.   Le Mans is a race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine and drivetrain components. However, the times spent reaching maximum speed also mean immense stress on the riders.

Today in motorcycle history, March 27, 1979

                                          

 

 

  Philip Conrad Vincent dies in Ashford, Middlesex, England.  Flags are hung at half-mast at garages and racetracks around the world.

 

 

  Philip Conrad Vincent was born in Wilbraham Gardens, Fulham on March 14, 1908.  Seemingly born with an unusually keen interest in motorcycles, so keen that by the time he was 18 he had his own workshop and was designing and building his own machines.   It was there that he developed his first "Vincent Special" and at the age of 20 he had a registered a patent for his design of cantilever rear suspension.

 

  Phil formed his first company with Frank Walker and Australian Phil Irving.  Howard R. Davies, founder of HRD and winner of the 1924 Senior Isle of Man TT, was on the verge of bankruptcy and in 1928 Phil acquired the trademark and remaining HRD tooling and parts for a song. They agreed to change the company name to Vincent HRD Co., Ltd., and the logo appeared with Vincent in very small letters over the top of the bold HRD.

  In 1928, the first Vincent-HRD motorcycle used a JAP single-cylinder engine in a Vincent-designed cantilever frame.  But after the 1934 Isle of Man TT, with numerous engine problems and all three entries failing to finish, Phil Vincent and Phil Irving threw out the idea of using JAP engines and decided to build their own.  A wiser business decision may have never been made.  In 1935 the first Vincent powered motorcycle, the 499 cc Comet model was introduced. It was then followed by the ass-kickin' 998cc Series A Rapide in 1936.  As with a lot of  British manufacturers, production was halted during WWII.  At the end of the war Phil Vincent and Phil Irving designed the seriously-fast Series B Rapide model.

 

 

  Then in 1948 at the Vincent works, Great North Road, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, the liver-quivering Black Shadow was introduced.  With relatively minor modifications, such as enlarged ports, bigger carburetors and increased compression, the Black Shadow featured several other innovations, such as "Girdraulic" front forks – which were girder forks with hydraulic damping, a sprung rear sub-frame, the extensive use of aluminium alloy and a unit construction stressed engine.  It weighed in at a relatively light 458 lb, which was about the weight of a 500cc bike at the time.

 

  In 1949 the HRD logo was dropped to prevent confusion with the "HD" of Harley-Davidson in the all-important American Market.

 

  A little known fact - inspiration for the Black Shadow was Royal Air Force pilots flying over the factory, and soldiers serving in the war.  Vincent and Irving wanted to create a motorcycle that could be operated and maintained by men who had been injured in combat.  The clutch could be operated with just two fingers, and maintenance was made far easier than anything previously available. 

 

 

  1949 The Motor Cycle magazine held a competition for the first successful all-British attempt on the World Speed Record, held since 1937 by BMW at 173.54 mph.  Reg Dearden, a motorcycle dealer at Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester fitted a supercharger to a brand new Black Lightning and made extensive modifications including strengthening and lengthening the frame by about 6 inches (15 cm).  Phil Vincent personally supervised the work. The result increased the World Record to 180.29 mph.

 

 

  Hunter S. Thompson once wrote that, "If you rode the Black Shadow at top speed for any length of time, you would almost certainly die."

     

Today in motorcycle history, March 26, 1971

 

  Everyone's favorite daredevil, Evel Knievel, begins a three-night stay at the Chicago International Amphitheatre.

  Evel is still acclimating himself to the Harley-Davidson XR-750 that he first used for a jump at Lions Drag Strip in Los Angeles on December 12, 1970 and now he finds himself performing 2 shows a day.  Six jumps, each one a little different than the last is what the fans are told. 

  And, once again, Evel Knievel delivers.

  By the end of the third day he clears 11 cars and 2 trucks much to the delight of the Chicago fans.    Especially one particular 13 year-old girl...

  Fortunately the nearby Stockyards are open and he gets a case of rib-eyes to take with him.  Ah, the perks of the job.  Leave some of your meat on the pavement but leave with some of theirs.

  The Chicago Stockyards closed on July 30, 1971.

  The Evel Knievel movie starring George Hamilton as Evel opens on September 10, 1971.

  The Chicago International Amphitheatre was closed and demolished in 1999.

 

The Stockyards. 

Today in motorcycle history, March 25, 1899

                                  

 

  Herbert James "Burt" Munro is born in Edendale, New Zealand.

 

  At the Bonneville Salt Flats, on August 26, 1967, with his 58 cubic-inch, 950 cc, 1920 Indian Scout, he made a one-way run of 190.07 mph, the fastest-ever officially-recorded speed on an Indian.  This record still stands today.  Burt Munro was 68 years-old and was riding a 47-year-old machine when he set the record.

  Munro bought his Indian Scout new in 1920, matter of fact, it was only the 627th Scout to leave the Springfield factory. The 37 cubic-inch, 606cc bike had an original top speed of 55 mph, but for a young Burt Munro that didn't cut it, so in 1926 he decided to start modifying his beloved Indian. 

  He spent the next 20 years working from his home in Invercargill, modifying his Indian. 

  Being a man of just modest means, but with a butt-load of talent and determination, he often made the parts and tools he needed himself.  Including casting his own barrels, pistons, flywheels, etc. He then he spent much of the 1940s and 50's, setting speed records throughout New Zealand.  All-the-while keeping his eye on Bonneville.

  His attempts, and eventual success, are the basis of the motion picture The World's Fastest Indian directed by Roger Donaldson.  Donaldson also directed the 1971 short documentary film Burt Munro: Offerings to the God of Speed.

  All-in-all, Burt made ten visits to the salt flats and in three of them he set speed records.

  In 2006, he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

  Burt Munro died on January 6, 1978.

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, March 22, 1981

 

 

  Champion British TT and Grand Prix racer, Alfred Robert "Fearless Bob" Foster dies.

 

  Born in Gloucestershire, UK, in 1911, Bob Foster was one the great "all-rounders" of motorcycle racing.  In a career that began in 1932, he competed in everything he could find his way into, road racing, trials and scrambles.  In a time when many riders dabbled in a variety of races trying to find their niche, "Fearless Bob" Foster excelled at all of them.

 

  Like Evelyn next door, it was road racing stole his heart.  While acting as an honorary mechanic to a friend competing in the Manx Grand Prix he knew the Isle of Man was for him.  Determined not to be the one on the outside looking in, he purchased a Grand Prix 350 New Imperial.

 

  Four years later Bob Foster would win at the Isle of Man.  Sadly, his win on he unit-construction New Imperial in the 1936 Isle of Man TT would prove to be the last occasion when a British machine would win a Lightweight TT at the Isle of Man.  Following the TT New Imperial withdrew official support from racing. It was a major disappointment to Foster, so from 1937 to 1939 he piloted an AJS 350cc R7 single, plus the supercharged 500cc V4.  This was a fearsome evil-handling bastard, and its one claim to fame was a memorable 100mph lap by team mate Walter Rusk at the 1939 Ulster GP.  Rumour has it that that's how he acquired the nickname 'Fearless'; a tribute to his courage in handling the more fearsome models being raced at the time.

 

  For the first two years following WWII he competed on the continent in scrambles and road races.  He rode a Velocette and won the 1947 Junior TT.  In 1948 Bob kicked serious ass in the 350 Belgian Grand Prix against strong opposition.  Once again he rode a Velocette in the '49 Junior TT and, in the Senior he opted for a twin Moto Guzzi, similar to Stanley Woods’1935 TT winning model.  In the Junior he finished in a very disappointing 6th place, and was looking forward to a better result in the Senior. After disposing of the early Norton and AJS challengers, Foster had things in hand and by lap 5 it seemed the race was his but alas, it was not to be.  A screwed-up transmission problem brought with it yet another Senior early-retirement.

 

  1950 was a memorable year for Bob and for racing, for it heralded the appearance of the ‘Featherbed’ Norton.  Their Isle of Man results were reminiscent of the 1930 glory days, with 1-2-3 finishes in both Junior and Senior TTs.  At the Belgian GP, Foster surprised the all-conquering Nortons with a masterly win in the 350cc event, ahead of Artie Bell and Geoff Duke.  To reinforce Velocette’s dominance he repeated the performance at the Dutch TT and Ulster GP . These wins, plus second place at the  rain-soaked Swiss GP ensured a World Championship for Alfred Robert Foster and the Manufacturers Championship for Velocette.

Today in motorcycle history, March 21, 1909-Part II

   Premier Motorcycles introduces it's first V-twin motorcycle. 

 

   Originally founded as a bicycle manufacturer in Coventry, UK, by W. H. Herbert and William Hillman in 1876, the "Hillman and Herbert Cycle Company" was renamed the "Premier Cycle Co." in 1891 and their first motorcycle was produced in 1908, with a White & Poppe side-valve engine and Chater-Lea front forks.

 

  The company made their first V-twin, a 500cc, in 1909, then in what seemed like a strange step backward, they follow their V-twin with a 499 cc single-cylinder machine in 1910.  The smaller bike proves to be successful and it brings good times to Premier Cycle.  In 1913 they introduce another V-twin, a larger more powerful 998cc.  The good times continue at the Coventry plant and also at the local pub as the pints flow. 

 

  The company changed their name to "The Premier Cycle Company, Coventry Premier Ltd." in 1914. 

 

  The good times come to an abrupt end as WWI brought very hard financial times to Premier and they found themselves unable to resume production.  Sadly, the company is sold to Singer & Co. in 1921.

 

   Premier motorcycles were produced under licence in Czechoslovakia throughout the 1930s.

Today in motorcycle history, March 21, 1965

  The 17th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season gets underway with the United States Grand Prix at Daytona, Florida.  

 

  The 1965 season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc.  It began on March 21, with United States Grand Prix and ended with Japanese Grand Prix on October 24.

 

  Britain's Mike Hailwood easily claimed his fourth successive 500cc class crown for MV Agusta.  Hailwood would continue his legendary career by winning eight out of the ten 500cc Grand Prix races this year, losing only to Northern Ireland's Dick Creith and his Norton on August 7th at the Ulster Grand Prix and to fellow MV Augusta team-mate Italy's Giacomo Agostini in the Finnish Grand Prix on August 22.

 

  Mike Hailwood would end the season by winning the 250cc class at the Japanese Grand Prix aboard a Honda.  Much to the dismay of Count Agusta.

                                                                               

Today in motorcycle history, March 20, 1887

   

  Indian Hillclimb champion/motorcycle legend Orie Steele is born in Ridgewood, New Jersey.  His father, John Steele, had an Indian dealership in Paterson, New Jersey, where Orie's passion for two-wheels first took hold.

 

  Orie Steele was the leading AMA Hillclimb Champion of the 1920s and early ‘30s, at a time when the sport was at its height of its popularity.  Steele was a factory Indian rider for much of his career and was one of the best known riders of his era. 

  The storied career of Orie's racing began in 1913 where he won the prestigious Crotona (New York) Motorcycle Club Endurance Race.  Steele earned victories in several major endurance runs in and around New York and New Jersey in the 1910's, including winning the 500 mile 1914 Yonkers Endurance Run.

 

  With the onset of World War I he stopped racing and enlisted in the Army, outfitting motorcycles so they would be able to handle the rough terrain they would face and training soldiers on how to ride them.  After the war's end he returned to competition and began winning hillclimb races all over the country.

  In 1922, Steele won his first M&ATA (the predecessor to the AMA) National Hillclimb Championship at the national meet held in Egypt, New York.  The hillclimb was the biggest of its day and featured racers from across the country, including well known stars such as Colorado’s Floyd Clymer, Harley-Davidson’s Oscar Lenz from Michigan, Pennsylvania's Chas. "Peggy" Temple (a one-legged rider who raced an 80" Harley-Davidson), Reggie Pink on a Reading-Standard and Excelsior’s ace, Paul Anderson, from Chicago.  That victory thrust Steele into the national spotlight so much that Indian began heavily advertising Steele’s accomplishments and he became the face of Indian's hillclimb team.  Indian even produced an “Orie Steele Special” hillclimb machine in the late 1920's.

  Steele followed up his 1922 national championship success with a national title in 1923 in the 37-inch class.  In 1926, he swept all three national championship classes.  He also won the Eastern National Hillclimb Championship in 1927.


  Orie Steele was simply, one of the best damn hillclimbers ever.  Ever.  

  Notable was the fact that Steele won all his national titles while he was in his 30s and 40s.

  Steele retired from competition in the mid-1930s. 

 

  Orie Steele was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2007. 

Today in motorcycle history, March 19, 1916

 

  Pope Motorcycles introduces it's newest innovation, the cylindrical toolbox mounted on the rear fender.

The Pope Manufacturing Company had been building bicycles with small "clip-on" single cylinder engines and then in 1912 introduced their first V-twin, and by 1918, Pope's reputation was well-known for quality construction and innovative engineering and they were suddenly giving Indian and Harley a reason to look over their shoulders.   The V-twin in the 1918 Pope L-18, with it's 3 21/64" bore and 3 1/2" stroke give it a displacement of 61 cubic inches (1000cc) and it's 7.5 horsepower gave it a max speed of between 60 and 65 miles an hour.  Considering a large percentage of the roads at that time were still unpaved that was some dirt-eatin', bug-chewin' speed.   It featured overhead valves, an Armored Magneto ignition, heads containing nickel-steel interchangeable intake and exhaust valves, an oil tank with a capacity of two quarts that was compartmented with a toolbox beneath the seat, but perhaps the most intriguing feature was the presence of a rear suspension (say what?!), a comfort virtually unheard of at that time.   The rear-suspension design of the L-18 was uniquely Pope's.  Pope mounted the rear axle in a carrier that moved up and down between two posts, compressing a pair of springs on impact. Wheel travel was minimal, but, what the hell, something was better than nothing.   Unfortunately, their motorcycle innovations wouldn't last long and the 1918 Pope L-18 represents the last of the line.   With World War I raging in Europe, Pope suspended motorcycle production late in 1918 to concentrate on building machine guns.  After the war, only the bicycle portion of its business was revived.

Today in motorcycle history, March 18, 1961

   

   A production Velocette Venom Clubman (single-cylinder, four-stroke, 499cc) sets the 24-hour endurance world record with an average speed of 100.05 mph.

   It was the first motorcycle of any size to top 100 mph in the 24-hour endurance, and in 52 years and counting no other machine of the same capacity has been able to match or beat this record. The record attempt took place at the Montlhery Speed Bowl, a 2.7 km (1.67 mile) concrete track about 15 miles outside Paris that was well-known to riders as a track to have a very uneven surface and piss-poor lighting.

   A team of six French riders were accompanied by motorcycle journalist Bruce Main Smith, who himself achieved the best lap time of 107 mph despite the track conditions.  After securing the 12 hour record at more than 104 mph, the team then only stopped to change riders and refuel,  and went on to set the 24 hour endurance record.

  The publicity was huge for Velocette, as the success revived sales of the Venom which went on to become, alongside the Thruxton (worthy of a tale itself on another day), one of Velocette's best selling motorcycles.

  However, the records were only set at the track not the cash register and in 1971 poor sales forced the company into voluntarily liquidation, with all the remaining stock and tools being sold off to pay creditors who had been lining up outside their door since the fall of 1969.                         

  The Venom which set the 24 hour world record is now on display at the British National Motorcycle Museum.   If for some reason you're going to be in the Birmingham area on holiday or for business the address is Coventry Rd, Bickenhill, Solihull, West Midlands B92 0EJ.  The museum is open every day from 9:30am-5:30pm and in case you get lost or have a question the lads in the local can't answer just give 'em a call at 01675 443311.

Today in motorcycle history, March 15, 2002

The Triumph motorcycle factory, (in Hinckley, between Leicester and Coventry, England), suffers what many consider to be one of the worse – if not the worst – industrial fires in British peacetime history.  The intense gasoline fuelled fire reduced aluminum engine components to blobs of metal and it took nearly three days to completely extinguish.  Damage was estimated at over $100,000,000.   John Bloor had bought the rights to the Triumph name in 1983 with the intention of making England a world class motorcycle manufacturer again.  And, damn it, he was not about to let this horrific event stand in his way so instead of pissing and moaning he immediately set to work the following week with a strategy committee, and with the full co-operation of his insurance company, plans were put in place to rebuild the factory.  Since  Bloor owns the company outright, there were no government departments, no red-tape bullshit, no partners or investors to account to in his decision making.  Not only did he have the money, but he had the experience to map out exactly what he wanted and how to rebuild quickly.   Fortunately, the Triumph factory was housed on two separate sites and it was only the final assembly plant that was destroyed.  Much of the critical tooling and machinery was salvaged and design, development and engine assembly continued.    It took only four weeks to clear the debris. The heat from the fire had weakened the steel supports holding up the building and it had to be completely torn down.  New steel was soon rising and closed in followed by machinery, tooling and assembly lines by the end of July 2002.  Not a single employee was laid off and many even volunteered their time to assist with the recovery.  This was a wise investment in their own future and typical of the British and their attitude in times of adversity.    By September Triumph's were being produced on a limited scale and full production was reached by December 2002.    The factory is now known as one of the most efficient motorcycle factories in the world, and now produces 46,000 motorcycles per annum.

Today in motorcycle history, March 13, 1919

  I came across this article from the March 13, 1919 issue of the"Motorcycle and Bicycle Illustrated" magazine that detailed the objectives and rules for the Gypsy Tours for New York and New England.  Being the kind sort I am I thought I'd share...

 The objectives were first, "to provide a good time for the riders, and theirs wives, sisters, and sweet-hearts" (say what?); and second, "to create a more favorable public opinion of the motorcycle and motorcycle riders." 

  These early Gypsy Tours were really, really organized, dare I say a precursor to the modern mc's, with a "Tour Master" and two aides leading a large group of riders sectioned into "companies" of 10 riders and a captain; and "pathfinders" scouting out and marking the route up ahead.  The riders wore visible numbers and were supposed to ride in numerical order, with the sidecars taking up the rear of the company.  The riders were also required to carry documentation; these "checking cards" were reviewed each morning by the "Tour Master" or his aides.  This way there was no confusion over who's got the beer.

 

Erwin "Cannonball" Baker in New York with his Indian motorcycle after his 1912 international journey.

 

Today in motorcycle history, March 12, 1882

 

  Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker, the man, the myth, the legend, is born in Dearborn County, Indiana.

  A natural born entertainer, Erwin Baker began his career as a vaudeville performer, but turned to driving, riding and racing after winning a dirt-track motorcycle race in Crawfordsville, Indiana in 1904.

  Baker's road to fame began with his record-setting point-to-point drives, in which he was paid to promote the products of various motorcycle and automobile manufacturers.

  In 1908, with money from his promotional drives/rides,  Baker bought imself an an Indian motorcycle and began entering, and winning, local races.  He actually won the in first race ever held at the then newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1909. 

   Bored, Erwin felt he needed a road trip, so in January 1912 he bailed Indianapolis on a two-speed Indian and covered 14,000 miles in three months, traveling through Florida, down to Cuba and Jamaica, and then to Panama (and your buddy is still going on and on about his 507 mile trip).   He then took a steamer up to San Diego where he based himself for a while and from there he competed in several endurance runs in both California and Arizona.  It was during this time that Baker decided he would attempt to break the transcontinental record.  After a record-setting transcontinental drive in 1914, he received his nickname "Cannon Ball" from a New York newspaper writer who compared him to the Cannonball train of the Illinois Central Railroad made famous by Casey Jones.

  His best-remembered drive was in 1933. From New York City to Los Angeles in a Graham-Paige model 57 Blue Streak 8, setting a 53.5 hour record that stood for nearly 40 years.  This drive inspired the later 'Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash', better known as the "Cannonball Run", which itself inspired at least five movies and a really crappy television series.

  The owner of many driving/riding records, his first was set in 1914, riding coast to coast on an Indian motorcycle in 11 days.  Guaranteeing sponsor's "no record, no money".

  When all was said and done, he made 143 cross-country motorcycle speed runs totaling about 550,000 miles.

  Did you know, Erwin later became the first commissioner of NASCAR. Seriously.  Look it up.

  Nearly 40 years after he died (in 1960) Erwin Baker was inducted into the American Motorcycle Association Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.  That long?  Really? You weren't sure if he qualified?

Today in motorcycle history, March 11, 1958

  Eddie "Steady Eddie" Lawson is born (1958-03-11)in Upland, California.

  Eddie Lawson began his motorcycle racing career on the famous Southern California dirt track circuit.   1978 he found himself with a need for speed so he switched his attention to road racing.  The next season Eddie finished second behind Freddie Spencer in the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship.  Soon afterwards, he was offered a ride with the Kawasaki Superbike team and won the AMA Superbike Series in 1981 and 1982.  He also won the AMA 250cc road racing National Championship in 1980 and 1981 for Kawasaki.

  Feeling the need for more power, and no loyalty to Kawasaki, Eddie accepted an offer from Yamaha to ride in the 500cc World Championship as Kenny Roberts' team-mate for the 1983 season.  Lawson spent all of the 1983 season learning the ropes of the Grand Prix circuit and it paid off as he won the 1984 World Championship.  It would mark the first of four world titles "Steady Eddie" would go on to win.

  After winning two more titles for Yamaha in 1986 and 1988, Lawson shocked the racing world by announcing he would be leaving Yamaha to sign with their arch-rivals Honda fulfilling his desire to work with Erv Kanemoto.  He went on to win the 1989 title for Honda, becoming the first rider in history to win back-to-back championships on machines from different manufacturers.  

  Eddie Lawson also won the ABC Superbikers event at Carlsbad, California, in 1983 and 1985.  It's a race which pitted the best riders from several disciplines against each other on a combined dirt and paved course.  He was riding a specially equipped factory YZ 490 Yamaha and it rekindled his long-forgotten love for dirt.

  In 1990, Lawson won the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race on a Yamaha FZR750R paired with Japanese rider Tadahiko Taira. 

 When he retired from GP racing in the early 1990s, he ranked third on the all-time 500cc Grand Prix wins list with 31.

R

Today in motorcycle history, March 8, 1909

  Beatrice Shilling is born, the daughter of a butcher in Waterlooville, Hampshire, UK.

  After being encouraged by her employer (she worked for an electrical engineering company) she received a degree in Electrical Engineering at Manchester University.  She then went to work as a research assistant at the University of Birmingham before being recruited as a scientific officer by the Royal Aircraft Establishment.

  During the Battle of France and Battle of Britain in 1940, it became apparent that the Rolls-Royce Merlin powered RAF fighters had a serious problem with their carburetors while manuevering in combat.  Sudden lowering of the nose of the aircraft resulted in the engine being flooded with excess fuel, causing it to lose power or shut down completely.  Not such a good thing while on the chase of-or being chased by-a Messerschmitt. 

  Beatrice Shilling devised a simple, yet ingenious, solution that was officially called the R.A.E. restrictor.  This was a small metal disc with a hole in the middle, fitted into the engine's carburetor. Although not a complete solution, it allowed the pilots to perform quick manuevers without loss of engine power.  By March 1941, she had led a small team on a tour of RAF fighter bases, installing the devices in their Merlin engines.  The restrictor was immensely popular with pilots, who affectionately named it 'Miss Shilling's orifice'.

   Prior to World War II she was an avid motorcycle racer.  She beat professional riders such as Noel Pope on his supercharged Brough Superior.  She also made her name known by lapping the Brooklands circuit at 106 mph on her cammy Norton M30, earning herself the Brookland Gold Star in the process.

  Beatrice raced her M30 untill 1939, at one time even fitting it with a supercharger.  But with the declaration of war racing ended at Brooklands and the Norton was returned to a road machine to become Beatrice's chief means of transportation for the next fourteen years.

 

Her Norton in the picture above, taken in 1935, is a 490cc M30.

R

Today in motorcycle history, March 7, 2011

  One of my favorite East Coast bike bars of all-time, the Sawmill Tavern in Schenectady, New York, serves it's final Sunday free brunch.

 

  After spending the past 1,500 or so Sundays making sure he had enough food to give a lot of people a free, hot meal, Don Birch took a Sunday off — a casualty of the same hard times he tried to make easier for others.

  The longtime owner of the Sawmill Tavern served up what he said was the last of the free buffets he has offered every Sunday afternoon since 1980, two years after opening his biker bar in the Little Italy neighborhood in this economically depressed city on New York's Mohawk River.  

  Anyone who needed a meal — the homeless, the unemployed, the elderly, whole families struggling to make ends meet — could show up at the Sawmill Tavern on the corner of South Avenue and North Jay Street no questions asked.

 

  As Schenectady's economy worsened, the number of people who showed up each Sunday rose to about 200.  Birch says he can no longer afford to pay for the free meals out of his own pocket, even with food donations from local businesses and a farmer who provided potato's.  He lost his job as an assistant plant manager at a locomotive factory when it shuttered two years ago amid a cratering economy and rising unemployment.  A typical Sunday spread featured chicken, ribs, meatloaf or spaghetti and meatballs, vegetables and mashed potato's.

  For the final meal, Birch served prime rib to about 180 people that showed up despite a cold, steady rain. 

  If you're ever in Schenectady, on a bike or not, make time to down a few at the Sawmill.

R

 

 

 

Buffalo, NY circa 1966

Today in motorcycle history, March 6, 1900

  Gottlieb Daimler dies.

 

  Daimler and his lifelong business partner Wilhelm Maybach were two inventors whose goal was to create small, high-speed engines to be mounted in any kind of locomotion device.  In 1885 they designed a precursor of the modern gasoline engine which they subsequently fitted to a two-wheel, wooden rigid frame ("Swingarms are for pussies!", Maybach would scream) which became known as the first internal combustion motorcycle (a version with a 10" over springer, drag bars, a king/queen seat and flame paint job was in the works for spring, 1889) and, in 1886, they attempted to fit their engine to a stagecoach, and then a boat.

Today in motorcycle history II, March 5, 1990

  Jimmy Carter's sister, Gloria Carter Spann, dies from pancreatic cancer.  Gloria and her second husband, Walter, spent much of their time out of the spotlight and in the saddle on coss-country trips aboard their Harley-Davidson.

  During their years as motorcyclists, Gloria and her husband became "den mother" and father to the younger riders.  The Spanns planted a large garden for the bikers each year and canned the vegetables to serve as they often had unexpected guests.  Their farmhouse was arranged for multiple cots or sleeping bags.  Walter constructed a four-hole outhouse to accommodate bikers who were cruising through the South or headed down to the races at Daytona.

  When she died she was buried in the Lebanon Church Cemetery near Plains, Georgia where her parents and brother, Billy Carter, are also buried.   Gloria Carter Spann's tombstone reads, "She rides in Harley Heaven."

R

Today in motorcycle history, January 21, 1905

  Another past tale to tell...

  Small ads are placed in the "Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal". These advertisements offer Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April of 1905, complete motorcycles were in production on a very limited basis. That year, the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Carl H. Lang of Chicago, sold three bikes from the dozen or so built in the Davidson backyard shed.
   Some years later the original shed was taken to the Juneau Avenue factory where it would stand for many decades as a tribute to the Motor Company's humble origins.
   Unfortunately, the first shed was accidentally destroyed by contractors in the early 1970s during a clean-up of the factory yard.
   Oops.

   R

Today in motorcycle history, November 2, 1934

   I'm on vacation so here's a blast from the past...

   Englishwomen Theresa Wallach and Florence "Blenk" Blenkiron, set out on a Phelon & Moore 600cc single-cylinder Panther motorcycle equipped with a sidecar and a trailer and rode from London to Cape Town, South Africa. No modern roads, no plan B, just a giant set of balls that any man would envy. Both women were already accomplished competitive racers, who were savvy enough to raise corporate sponsorship– which just goes to show how seriously they were taken as motorcyclists. The duo rode straight across the Sahara through equatorial Africa, and South to the Cape, on the long and brutal trek without so much as a compass. Undeterred by nomads, sand drifts, heat, rain, breakdowns and politics. A feat that no man had dared to even attempt. Keep in mind this was 1934.
   Theresa Wallach was elected to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2003. Other than being a motorcycle adventurer, she is an author who founded Easy Motorcycle Riding Schools, Inc. and published a training manual of same name and was the first Vice President of Women's International Motorcycle Association (WIMA).
Her life-long love affair with motorcycling is summed up in a quote from a 1977 interview with Road Rider Magazine.
   "When I first saw a motorcycle, I got a message from it," she said. "It was a feeling – the kind of thing that makes a person burst into tears hearing a piece of music or standing awestruck in front of a fine work of art. Motorcycling is a tool with which you can accomplish something meaningful in your life. It is an art."
   Theresa Wallach remained an active member in WIMA up until her death in 1998 at age 90.

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Today in motorcycle history, March 5, 1976

 

  Steve McLaughlin wins the very first AMA Superbike Championship Series race held at Daytona International Speedway on March 5, 1976.

  McLaughlin won this historic event in a photo finish riding a Butler & Smith BMW R90S slipping past BMW teammate and eventual series champ Reg Pridmore by mere inches. 

  As impressive as McLaughlin’s racing career was, he is even better known for being one of the true visionaries in the history of the sport.  He was a driving force behind getting the AMA to grant national championship status to Superbike racing.  McLaughlin also later became known as the father of the World Superbike Championship, which launched in 1988.

  Born on September 13, 1948 in Pasadena, California, you could say racing was in his blood.  His grandfather was an early car racer and his father, John, also an AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame member, was a leading desert racer in Southern California who came to national acclaim by winning the Catalina Grand Prix in 1953.  The elder McLaughlin also helped form the American Federation of Motorcyclists (AFM) roadracing organization.

   1976, BMW approached McLaughlin, (who had been racing ill-handling Kawasaki Z1s in Superbike Production for the previous couple of seasons), and asked him to ride a factory-backed Superbike.  It came as a big surprise that the conservative German company, then known for its touring machines, decided to enter the new roadracing series.  With a lot of engine work and chassis innovation by master builder Udo Gietl, combined with the riding of McLaughlin, Pridmore and Gary Fisher, BMW was successful from the start.

  "What the BMW lacked in horsepower to Japanese multi-cylinder machines it more than made up for in handling," McLaughlin explained years later. "I rode both and I can tell you those early Z1s were more than just a handful.  Those bikes would get into tremendous high-speed wobbles and it’s not a pleasurable experience to have handlebars shaken out of your hands at 125 mph. The BMWs presented unique challenges on their own, but were certainly more civilized."

 

  So much for loyalty and the "civilized bike",  McLaughlin returned in the 1977 season racing for Yoshimura, at first aboard Kawasakis, and later on the first of the famous Yoshimura Suzukis.  With Yoshimura, McLaughlin earned another important first, at Laguna Seca Raceway in 1977 he gave Suzuki its original AMA Superbike victory.

 

  Steve McLaughlin was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2004.

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Today in motorcycle history, March 4, 1941

  Malcolm Smith is born on Saltspring Island, British Columbia, Canada.

  Considered by many to be one of, if not the greatest off-road motorcyclist of all-time.

  Remember "On Any Sunday"?  Now close your eyes, listen closely and you can hear the theme song: On Any Sunday, stretching up, reaching high, leaving my Monday world behind…

  Okay, what scene plays across your internal movie screen?  Mert Lawwill broadsliding a Harley-Davidson XR-750 on the Mile?  Steve McQueen masquerading as Harvey Mushman at the Elsinore Grand Prix?  Freckle-faced Jeff Ward wheelying a Honda Z50?  There's a good chance it's Malcolm Smith blasting across Baja on a red-and-chrome Husqvarna?

  A liitle bit of history for you...at thirteen, Malcolm Smith purchased his first motor scooter, a Lambretta. At the time he was living close to the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest and would regularly explore the area on his scooter.  Being an ingenious bastard, Smith converted his scooter into an off road machine by screwing the used cleats from the local high school football team into the Lambretta's tires.

  Two years later he purchased his first real dirt bike, a 1949 500cc Matchless G9. Small for his age he had difficulty kick starting it and would often push the bike to the top of a hill in order to jump-start it.  Despite his difficulties getting the bike going, he took it to enter his first race.  In 1956 he entered a scrambles race in Riverside, California.  His only strategy was to hold the throttle wide open and figure shit out as the race went on.  His well-planned strategy lead to numerous crashes, but yet somehow Smith finished in second place.   It occurred to him on the way home from the race if he had utilized his normal riding technique which did not involve a lot of crashing, he probably could have won the event!

  By the time the sixties arrived his name had become one with Husqvarna. 

  Malcolm Smith won eight Gold Medals between 1966 and 1976 in the International Six Day Trial, the European cross-country event.

  He is also a six-time winner of the Baja 1000, three times on a motorcycle and three times in a car; a four time winner of the Baja 500; has twice won the Mint 400 in Nevada and the Roof of Africa Rallye; participated in the Paris Dakar Rally twice; and was the overall winner of the Atlas Rallye in the mountains of Morocco.

  Malcolm Smith was inducted into the Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996 and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

  His immense talent on two wheels earned him a starring role in Bruce Brown's classic motorcycle documentary, On Any Sunday, alongside his friends, Steve McQueen and AMA Grand National Champion Mert Lawwill.

  He has been leading specialty tours for the public since 1995.  His tours, Malcolm Smith Adventures, take motorcyclists on rides in North America, Mexico along the Baja 1000 route, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America.  If anyone wants to send me on one of these bike tours DO NOT hesitate to ask.

  I'll end this with an excerpt from Motorcyclist Magazine,  "...there were numerous contenders, but in the end, our quest to name a Motorcyclist of the Century was like that scene on Lake Chapala in On Any Sunday: Malcolm Smith, all alone out front, trailing a dust cloud behind him. And casting the longest shadow of any motorcyclist in history.

Malcolm Smith: Motorcyclist magazine's Motorcyclist of the Century!"

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Today in motorcycle history, March 1, 1959

  The race season kicks off in Daytona, Florida, with the Daytona 200 Lightweight Road Race at Samsula Airport.

  Harley-Davidson hopes to make it 6 years in a row.  Since the inaugaration of the AMA point-standing in 1954 Harley has reigned as champion.

  1958 was a particularly good year for Harley-Davidson Racing with Joe Leonard setting new records in the 200-Mile Beach-Road race with a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes, 11.3 seconds and in the 50-Mile 1-mile dirt track race in 34 minutes, 33 seconds and Carroll Resweber's blistering record in the 20-Mile 1-mile dirt track race of 14 minutes, 5.2 seconds.

  Fun in the sun.

Today in motorcycle racing, February 28, 2005

Mondial Supersport 200 circa 1955

 

Mondial 125cc OHC Racer circa 1953

 

Mondial, as we all knew and loved, breaths it's last breath.

 

   F-B Mondial  was produced in Bologna, Italy, between 1948 and 1979.  Mondial built some of the most advanced and successful Grand Prix road racers of the time, winning 5 World Championships.

  The "F.B." in the name stood for "Fratelli Boselli", after the owners, the Counts Boselli, a noble family from the Milan area.  The Mondial factory in Milan was much smaller than the large Moto Guzzi, Gilera or Benelli factories.    Mondial instead specialized in high-performance, small-displacement motorcycles with much of the production of each motorcycle being done by hand, which needless to say, kept output low, with production numbers typically ranging between only 1,000 and 2,000 units per year.

  In 1949, when MV Agusta decided to produce a 4-stroke motorcycle, they purchased a Mondial 4-stroke motorcycle to use as an example.  After the 1957 Grand Prix season, the major Italian motorcycle manufacturers including Gilera, Moto Guzzi, MV Agusta and Mondial announced that they would pull out of Grand Prix competition citing increasing costs and diminishing sales.  MV Agusta later had a change of heart and wondered what the hell it was thinking and continued racing.

  In 1957, Soichiro Honda approached Mondial owner Count Boselli for purchase of a Mondial racebike, with which the firm had just won the 125 cc and 250 cc world titles.  Count Boselli gave Mr. Honda a racing Mondial; Honda used this bike as a standard to which he aspired, in order to compete on a world-scale.

  An original Mondial 125 cc racebike is the first bike on display when entering Honda’s Motegi Collection Hall.

  The last all-Mondial motorcycle left the factory in 1960.  After this, Mondial purchased engines from proprietary makers.  Motorcycles with Mondial frames and ancillary parts, but non-Mondial engines, were produced by the factory until 1979.

  Fast-forward to 1999.

  The rights to Mondial were purchased by newspaper tycoon Roberto Ziletti.  Ziletti was an avid motorcyclist in his youth, and his dream was to own a prestigious motorcycle company.  Mistake #1.

   Roberto Ziletti attempts to revive the marque, then Ziletti's father died, leaving him in charge.  Mistake #2.

  After failing to farm Mondial out to a Swiss company, the Arcore (Italy) factory was placed in the hands of the Monza bankruptcy court in July 2004, with around 35 Mondial Piega 1000s in various states of completion.  In interviews in March 2005 a south Georgia (USA) motorcycle dealership, stated that the courts had arranged to sell Mondial to their American firm, Superbike Racing, on February 28, 2005.  However, the Monza courts decided to sell Mondial Moto SPA to another buyer.

  Did you know that prior to World War II Mondial manufactured delivery tricycles.  Just thought I'd add that little morsel of knowledge.