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.

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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.

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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.

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Buffalo, NY circa 1966