Today in motorcycle history, September 30, 1955

                                   

 

 

 

  James Dean dies at 24.

 

  Driving his Porsche 550 Spyder (nicknamed "Little Bastard") headed to a car race in Salinas, California, with his mechanic Rolf Wuetherich, when they were involved in a head-on collision with a car driven by a 23-year-old college student named Donald Turnaspeed.  Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:59 p.m. Wuetherich, who was thrown from the car, survived the accident and Turnaspeed escaped with minor injuries.  No charges were ever filed against him.

 

  Often the vehicle associated with James Dean is the Porsche but, there was a love-affair with motorcycles long before he sat behind the wheel of that Spyder.  His first experiences with a motorized two-wheeler was in 1945 on a Whizzer (basically a balloon-tired Schwinn with a 2 horse engine).  On a good day, with the wind at your back, the Whizzer could hit 30 mph and you know that 14 year-old tested its limits every chance he could.

  When Dean turned 15, his uncle and guardian, Marcus Winslow Sr., gave him a 1947 CZ 125cc motorcycle purchased from a local Indian Motorcycles dealer, Marvin Carter, just a 1/4 of a mile down the road from where they lived in Fairmount, Indiana.  His family said that in the saddle of the CZ "young Jimmy became hell on wheels".  He only knew one speed and that was wide open.

  Even though the 21 year-old actor was living in NYC, Indiana was still home and he frequently returned there for the holidays.  It was on one of those winter respites in 1953 that he traded the CZ in on a Royal Enfield 500cc twin.  Although Marvin Carter warned him to not over-stress the freshly rebuilt engine he instead bundled himself up and set off for New York at top speed in the dead of winter.  He made it to Harrisburg on the Pennsylvania Turnpike before the engine threw a valve.  Luckily, there was a motorcycle dealership that could repair the Enfield in Harrisburg, Huntzinger’s Indian Motorcycle Sales & Service.  The bike was hauled there for repairs and as Dean was casually looking over the bikes in the showroom he spotted a maroon and gold-striped 1952 Indian Warrior TT.  It was love at first sight!  Dean negotiated a trade for the damaged Royal Enfield, his agent in New York wired him the money, and the bike was his.

Back in New York with the Indian motorcycle, Dean stored it at a Greenwich Village garage where budding actor, Steve McQueen, worked as a part-time motorcycle mechanic. 

 

  It’s not known what happened to Dean’s Indian, but his next motorcycle purchase was a shell blue 1955 Triumph Tiger.  He then traded in his T110 for a 1955 Triumph TR5 Trophy at Ted Evans Motorcycles in Culver City, California.  It was shell blue, as well.  But, he had it fitted Flanders high handlebars, a straight-through off-road high exhaust pipe with no muffler, knobby tires, and a single 6T-type spring seat with a pillion pad bolted to the rear fender; backwards, the way Marlon Brando had the pillion seat on his Triumph Thunderbird in The Wild One.

 

  In the late 1980’s, Dean’s cousin, Marcus Winslow Jr., went on a quest to locate the 1955 TR5 Triumph Trophy and have it put on display in Fairmount as a tourist attraction.  After Dean’s death, his father, Winton Dean, sold it back to the original dealer, Ted Evans Motorcycles.  It was with the help of Ted Evans that the Triumph was traced to a man in Minnesota who had raced it and it was now heavily modified for that purpose.  Through estate papers and VIN numbers it was verified that this was indeed James Dean’s Triumph.  Winslow Jr. bought the bike and had it restored to as-new condition, but in the same configuration as Dean had customized it for himself.  Seriously, I don't make this shit up.

                                     

Today in motorcycle history, September 26, 1971

 

 


  On a warm, cloudy, Sunday afternoon in Hutchinson, Kansas, Evel Knievel jumps 10 Kenworth trucks at the Kansas State Fair.  The jump goes off without a hitch, the landing is one of the smoothest he'll have in 1971.  For the second day in a row (Evel also performed the same feat on Saturday the 25th),  the crowd goes home with stomachs full of fried dough, cotton candy and beer.  And the vision of a mad, airborne super-hero in red,white and blue.
                         

Today in motorcycle history, September 26, 1941

 

 An Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) motorcycle dispatch rider in Northern Ireland, September 26, 1941.

 

From the Imperial War Museum collection.

Today in motorcycle history, September 24, 1948

 


 

 

 

  Motorcycle builder Soichiro Honda incorporates the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu, Japan.

 

  In the 1960's, the company achieved worldwide fame for its motorcycles but, before he founded the company that bores his name, Soichiro Honda was a bit of a drifter and a dreamer.  He bounced from one mechanic's job to another, and also worked as a babysitter, a race car driver and an amateur distiller.  Even his wife said he was a "wizard at hardly working."  In 1946, he took over an old factory that lay mostly in ruins from wartime bombings, though he did not have much of a plan for what he would do there.  First he tried building what he called a "rotary weaving machine"; next he tried to mass-produce frosted glass windows, then woven bamboo roof panels.  Finally, after he came across a cache of surplus two-stroke motors, he had an idea: motorbikes.

  Honda adapted the motors to run on turpentine and affixed them to flimsy cycle frames built by workers at the Hamamatsu factory.  The bikes sold like hotcakes to people desperate for a way to get around in postwar Japan, where there was virtually no gasoline and no real public transportation.  Soon enough, Honda had sold out of those old engines and was making his own.  In 1947, the factory produced its first complete motorbike, the one-half horsepower A-Type (nicknamed "The Chimney" because it was so smoky).  After the company's incorporation, Honda produced a more sophisticated bike: the 1949 steel-framed, front and rear suspended D-Type that could go as fast as 50 miles per hour.  At the end of the 1950's, it introduced the Cub, a Vespa clone that was especially popular with women and was the first Honda product to be sold in the United States.  The Super Cub had a four-stroke single cylinder engine ranging in size from 49cc to 109cc.  Having been in continuous manufacture since 1958, with production surpassing 60 million mark, the Super Cub is the most produced motor vehicle in history. The Super Cub's US advertising campaign, "You meet the nicest people on a Honda", had a lasting impact on Honda's image and on American attitudes about motorcycling, and is considered a classic case study in marketing.

  Then came the Dream...ahh, the Dream and its 305cc engine and it's cousin the Scrambler.  Did you know the engine was studied, and developed and enlarged by the Laverda factory as the basis of their 650cc and 750cc twin cylinder engines.

  To add to their growing legacy, the 1969 CB750.  The bike is recognized as the four-cylinder sport bike that had a lasting impact and is often called the first superbike. 

  In 1974 Honda's next attempt at world domination would come as the GL1000, the Gold Wing. 

 

  Soichiro Honda was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1989 (don't forget he also is responsible for the Civic).  He died two years later at the age of 84.

Today in motorcycle history, September 23, 2007

                                          

  On September 23, 2007, Casey Stoner clinched his and Ducati's first Grand Prix World Championship.

  Ducati rejoined Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 2003, after a 30-year absence.  In 2007 MotoGP had changed its rules reducing the four-stroke engine size to 800 cc (49 cu in), and Ducati proved to be the fastest with a bike that was markedly quicker than its rivals as was especially evident on tracks with long straightaways.  In other words, Ducati smoked 'em.

   Ducati's rich history with motorsport began with speed records on Cucciolo motorized bicycle factory racers in 1951, followed in 1954 with bringing in Fabio Taglioni to found a road racing program with the 100 Gran Sport (a beautiful machine that still puts an extra thump in your heartbeat).  Ducati still pursues the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" business model and spends 10% of company revenues on its racing business.  It appears to be working as the company has won 13 rider's World Championships since the championship's inception in 1988.  It has been argued that Ducati has amassed more wins than any other manufacturer because the rules are deliberately set to favor their bikes through manufacturer lobbying; this, of course, is a matter of dispute as displayed by the frequent arguments and fist-fights in cafe's and taverns across Europe and in the UK.  In 2006, Troy Bayliss' championship winning 999R was said to have 10 to 15 hp  LESS than the Japanese four-cylinder rivals, despite the fact that the Ducati V-twin had fewer limitations imposed for tuning its engine (afforded due to the two-cylinder configuration).

 

  To date, there are more than 400 Ducati clubs worldwide and nearly 25,000 registered users of the Ducati Owners Club web site.  Enthusiasts and riders are informally referred to in the motorcycling community as Ducatista or Ducatisti.

   

Today in motorcycle history, September 20, 1965

                           


                                    
                                                  

 

  One of the roughest ISDT (International Six Day Trial) races takes place.  At the Isle of Man, inclement weather is partly to blame for only 82 out of 299 riders finishing, with no American riders getting past Day Three.  The first ISDT American club team in 1961 was Lloyld Lingelbach,  Jim Brunson and Bud Ekins.  Bud was on a 650cc Triumph while both Lloyd and Jim were on 246cc Greeves.

                                       ****************************************

  The original Greeves company was founded by Bert Greeves.  One morning while Bert Greeves was mowing the lawn of his home in Worcestershire, West Midlands, he had the idea of fitting the lawnmower engine to his disabled cousin's wheelchair and-BAM!- the Invacar was invented.  Soon Invacar Ltd was set up and won a major contract to provide motorized three-wheeled invalid vehicles to the UK Government Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.

  Encouraged by his disabled cousin Derry Preston-Cobb and by the success of his Invacar, Bert decided to diversify into motorcycle production.  Known as a very capable trials rider in his spare time and also as a collector of vintage motorcycles he thought he could produce a bike that would not only sell but, compete.

  Preston-Cobb was made Sales Manager for the motorcycle business and they started with three models, a scrambler, a three speed road bike and a four-speed version.  At the 1954 Earls Court Show, they also launched the 'Fleetwing', a two-cylinder two-stroke with a 242 cc British Anzani engine developed from the same as those used for motor boats and featuring a crankshaft with a hollow midsection that acted as a rotary inlet valve.  With a top speed of just 61 mph, the Fleetwing continued in production until 1956 when the stock of British Anzani engines was finally exhausted.  The Fleetwing name was brought back in 1957, however, it was fitted with a 249cc Villiers engine.  This was more powerful than the earlier Fleetwing and now had a top speed of 70 mph.  Albion Engineering Co. of Birmingham, supplied the gearboxes ( Greeves would later replace them with one of their own designs from 1964 forward).  The lightweight high powered package made them successful in the trials market place against Triumph and BSA models.

  But, the '70's came and saw Suzuki dominating the European Championships and soon sales began to slow.  They were successful in winning an important order to supply the Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team with motorcycles and developed the 'Greeves Griffons' motocross model, but a change in the law meant that the Invacar, which had been the mainstay of the company was no longer legal for road use so the Ministry of Pensions decided to replace it with a four-wheeled car.  Wise decision,  I might add.  Bert Greeves decided that it was time to retire and after a fire at the factory they were unable to resume production and went into receivership in 1976.

  Oscar Bertram Greeves was appointed MBE in 1972, in recognition of the work he had done for the disabled through Invacar.

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, September 19, 2003

          

  The end of WWII brought joy to the world except on Worthington Street in Springfield, Massachusetts.  During The War, the US Army requested experimental motorcycle designs suitable for desert fighting. In response to this request, Indian designed and built the 841. Approximately 1,056 models were built.  Approximately 1,054 would sit in the warehouse fighting off dust instead of Germans. The Indian 841 was tested by the Army, but even though the motorcycle was adopted for wider military use it was determined that the Jeep was more suitable for the roles and missions for which these motorcycles had been intended.

 

  In 1945, a group headed by Ralph B. Rogers purchased a controlling interest of the company.  On November 1, 1945, duPont formally turned the operations of Indian over to Rogers.

  Under Rogers' control, Indian discontinued the Scout and began to manufacture lightweight motorcycles such as the 149 Arrow, the Super Scout 249, both introduced in 1949, and the 250 Warrior, introduced in 1950.  Production of traditional Indians was extremely limited in 1949, and no 1949 Chiefs are known to exist.

  The manufacture of all products was halted in 1953.

 

  Continuing the trend, The Indian Motorcycle Company of America was formed from the merger of nine companies (yes, I said nine!), including manufacturer California Motorcycle Company (CMC) and IMCOA Licensing America Inc., which was awarded the Indian trademark by the Federal District Court of Colorado in 1998. The new company began manufacturing motorcycles in 1999 at the former CMC's facilities in Gilroy, California, better known as the "Garlic Capital of the World".  The first "Garlic Indian" model, I mean "Gilroy Indian"model was a new design called the Chief (hmm, imagine that).  Scout and Spirit models were also manufactured from 2001.  These bikes were initially made with off-the-shelf S&S engines, but used the 100-cubic-inch (1,600 cc) Powerplus engine design from 2002 to 2003.

  The Indian Motorcycle Corporation went into bankruptcy and ceased all production operations in Gilroy on September 19, 2003.

   

Today in motorcycle history, September 18, 1986

 


 

 

  The first Yamaha FZR 1000 Genesis is presented to a much-awaited public at the Cologne IFMA motorcycle show in Germany on September 18, 1986.

  Yamaha continued the success of it's Supersport predecessors the RD 350 and RD 500.  The FZR 1000 Genesis is considered a milestone model as it marked the transition from 2-stroke to 4-stroke Supersport motorcycles. This shift represented a new generation of high performance big bikes, which employed Yamaha racing technology from the track and in the process, changed people's lives forever.

  However, truth be told, the FZR 1000 layout had already made its debut 2 years earlier. The first YZF 750 Genesis endurance racer was entered at Suzuka 8h race and at the Bol d'Or on the Paul Ricard track in France to "race proof" the "Genesis" technology.

 

 

 

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, September 17, 1969

                    

        

 

  The man, the myth, the motorcycle, the series.  "Then Came Bronson" debuts on television.

 

  The first TV series to feature a motorcycle as one of the main characters.  Previously, there had been series made with a dog (Lassie, 1954), a horse (Mr. Ed, 1958) and a car (My Mother the Car, 1965), but never a bike.  Michael Parks starred as the protagonist, James "Jim" Bronson, a newspaperman who becomes disillusioned after the suicide of his best friend Nick (Martin Sheen, yes that Martin Sheen) and, after a heated argument with his editor, he had enough of "working for the man."

  In order to try to cleanse his soul, Bronson becomes a vagabond, a nomad, searching for the meaning of life and seeking all of the experiences life has to offer.   Mile after mile, he shares his values with the people he meets along the way and lends a helping hand when he can.  Bronson drives a Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle and, as such, he was viewed by some as a romantic version of the solitary cowboy wandering the American west.  The motorcycle had previously been sold to Nick by Bronson and after it is left at the suicide scene by his friend, Bronson buys it back from the widow.

  Though the opening promises a journey of self-discovery, the premise of each episode is that Bronson enters someone else's life at a crucial point and acts as a catalyst for change.  When Bronson encounters an Amish community, for example, a local boy becomes hot for the outside world and steals Bronson's motorcycle to run off to Reno, Nevada.  Jim and a few biker friends track down the boy and cut off the fingers on his right hand (just kidding but, he should have).  In another episode, located in Reno, Nevada, Bronson meets his cousin Eve on her wedding day and lends her money for the wedding service, but she runs off to the casinos and blows it.  "Rotten whore." Jim curses.

  Jim Bronson was committed to pacifism and often redirects an antagonist's anger into self-examination (similar to what David Carridine would do on "Kung Fu" three years later in October, 1972).  Always, like a true catalyst, he rolls out of every episode unchanged.

  The show was sometimes accused of being a knock-off of the movie Easy Rider, but the "Then Came Bronson" pilot actually preceded the release of that movie (TCB pilot-March 24, 1969, ER movie-July 14, 1969).

  The first three episodes, including the end credits scenes, were shot in and around Jackson, Wyoming.  The premier pilot movie was also shown at the town's then only theatre to give the locals a sense of what the series was about, since they were shooting in town and at many of the popular local spots.

 

 

  Bronson's bike was a 1969 XLH 900cc Harley-Davidson Sportster.

  The fuel tank is illustrated with the Eye of Providence, a.k.a. the All Seeing God or the Back of a Dollar Bill.

Today in motorcycle history, September 16, 1935

 
 

  With higher ground clearance for use on poor quality roads, the Norton Model 16H (490cc side-valve) was first offered for military evaluation in 1932, together with a Model 18 (490cc) and a  Model 19 (588cc ohv).  The Norton designers began working with the War Office on a range of developments and modifications. The first evaluation Norton Model 16H was completed on September 16, 1935. Military orders were placed for the 16H (designated WD16H for War Department use) and by December of 1935 total military production was 308. Impressive number for only 3 months work.  By December of 1936 it would be over 2200. The military orders for the 16H from 1936 throughout the course of the Second World War, set a ten-year record for the longest time the War Office procured a single make of motorcycle. The entire staff of the Norton factory in Bracebridge Street, Birmingham, were needed to meet demand - even the racing team found themselves on the WD16H production line.  And often at the local for a pint of Tetley's.

  A popular dispatch machine, the WD16H was also used for training, reconnaissance, convoy control and escort duties.

  Pre war, the RAF ordered many hundreds machines with a non driven 'box' or Model G (person carrying) side-car.  Military motorcycles left the Norton factory in Army Service green, Khaki green, Khaki brown or Olive green, depending on color specified at time of production.  Prewar RAF machines (up to September 1939) were delivered in RAF Blue. Wartime RAF bikes were identically colored as the "Army" bikes. A number of machines were painted sand 'desert camouflage' by local workshops in the Middle East and used in Palestine and the North Africa Campaign.

 

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  Also on September 16, 1991 Jay Leno crashes one of the 2,715 bikes he owns.  Leno was riding his motorcycle along Mulholland Highway above Calabasas when the accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, fire officials said.

  According to wire service reports, Leno was making a U-turn to help another motorcyclist when he was hit by a third cycle, driven by Jeffrey Flaherty, 48, of Hermosa Beach.

  Leno said Sunday that he swerved to try to avoid Flaherty's motorcycle. He cut and bruised his left leg, and was treated at Westlake Medical Center and released.

  Jay Leno was not riding a Norton Model 16H.

                                              
                    

Today in motorcycle history, September 13, 1961

 

  In one of the most interesting, and to racing, important, days in motorcycle history, Ernst Eugen Wotzlawek defects to the West, taking MZ's tuning techniques to Suzuki, and winning Suzuki's first Grand Prix championship.

 

  Ernst Degner arranged for his family to escape on the weekend he was racing in the Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad.  In a race that could have secured the 125cc World Championship for himself and for MZ his engine suddenly failed early into the race.  So, right after the race, Degner slipped out and drove to Gedser, Denmark where he caught the ferry to Holstein-Grossenbrode, West Germany.  From there he continued on to Dillingen on the France/German border where met up with his wife and family who had already safely defected to West Germany a few days earlier.

  When the MZ team had discovered his defection, the East Germans accused him of deliberately destroying his engine in the Swedish race and lodged a complaint with the FIM.  The East Germans' accusations resulted in Degner's East German racing license being revoked.  Degner had however acquired a West German racing license and with the help of Dr. Joseph Ehrlich, who owned EMC motorcycles, he was entered to ride a 125cc EMC at the Argentine GP.  But, determined to keep him out of the race, the East German government pricks sent cables to the carriers of the bike that resulted in the machine being delayed on its journey to Argentina.  Ernst was thus prevented from racing in the final 125cc World Championship round in Argentina.  Months later, a FIM court in Geneva, Switzerland, dismissed MZ's complaint against him.

  In November of  1961 Degner moved to Hamamatsu, Japan to work for Suzuki racing.  Using the specialist two-stroke knowledge he had gained at MZ, he designed Suzuki's new 50cc and 125cc racers.  

  In 1962 Ernst Degner won Suzuki's first World Championship in the 50 cc class.

  Degner, Ernst Degner.

                              

Today in motorcycle history, September 12, 1954

                          

 

  At Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Geoff Duke thrills the home crowd, winning the 1954 Nations Grand Prix (Italian Grand Prix) aboard his 500cc Gilera. 

  Duke continues his dominance that began on a Norton winning both the 500cc and 350cc World Championship in 1951 and the 350cc World Championship in 1952.  Switching to Gilera in 1953 he would win the 500cc World Championship in '53, '54 and '55. 

 

  Also today in motorcycle history, September 12, 1966, the Triumph-riding, wool hat-wearing Michael Nesmith and his "pals" Davey Jones, Peter Tork and Mickey Dolenz debut on American television as 'The Monkees'.  At the auditions in October of 1965 Nesmith wears a wool ski-hat 'to keep the hair out of his eyes' while riding his Triumph Trophy.  The producers gave him the nickname "Wool Hat", realizing how dumb that sounds they dropped it after the pilot but, kept the hat.