Today in motorcycle history, August 22, 1954

  


 
     

  Austrian Rupert Hollaus wins the 250cc Class Swiss Grand Prix at Circuit Bremgarten in Bern, Switzerland. 

  Hollaus dominated the 1954 125cc Class by winning the first four Grand Prix aboard his NSU Rennmax Twin. Tragically, on September 11, 1954, Rupert Hollaus was killed during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He became the first posthumous World Champion in 1954, in the 125cc Class and was runner up to his NSU team-mate, West German Werner Haas, in the 250cc Class.

  He is the only Austrian to win a road racing World Championship.




  The Circuit Bremgarten was built as a motorcycle track in 1931 in the Bremgartenwald (Bremgarten forest) in the north of Bern. The circuit itself had no true straight, instead it was a collection of high-speed corners. In 1934, it's first auto race claimed the life of driver Hugh Hamilton. In 1948 it claimed the life of Italian racer Achille Varzi.  From Day One, Bremgarten's poorly-lit, tree-lined roads and dramatic changes in road surface made for an extremely dangerous track, especially in wet conditions.

  Bremgarten has not hosted an official motorsport event since 1955, when spectator racing sports, with the exception of hillclimbing and rallying, were banned in Switzerland following the 1955 Le Mans disaster.

   During the 24 Hours of Le Mans a crash caused large pieces of debris to fly into the crowd. Eighty-three spectators and driver Pierre Levegh perished at the scene with 120 more injured in the most horrific accident in motorsport history.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 21, 1966

  Now held on Memorial Day weekend and again over the Labor Day holiday, the Springfield Mile was once held on the last day of the Illinois State Fair.  The once-a-year AMA National would be no more after it's 1966 race, and what a farewell it would be.

  The race then was 50 miles long, twice the distance of today’s final, and the winner, more often than not it seemed, was decided by mechanical failure. Let's be honest, race-bike engines 50 years ago were not known for their durability when cranked flat out for any length time. Sure enough, the leader, then nearly 20 seconds ahead of the pack, blew a piston with one lap to go. Four riders had a chance and fought tooth-and-nail all the way to the finish, with Oklahoma's Gary Nixon finally taking it at the line without his protective steel hot shoe, which had come off 10 laps earlier. The future AMA HOFer collected $3,230 in winnings before a rabid crowd of nearly 30,000.


  But the day would begin on a sad note when Bill Corbin of Marion,Ohio, and San Francisco's Rick Vetter, would tragically die in a five-bike wreck while competing in the first heat for the Five Mile Amateur race held in conjunction with the AMA Grand National event on the mile oval.  It remains the deadliest day in the history of the Springfield Mile. There was no race for the next 15 years.





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Today in motorcycle history, August 20, 1971

  

       

  On Friday, August 20 at 8:47am, production begins on the 1972 Triumph TR6 in Meriden. A partial solar eclipse should have served as an omen.

  The 1972 Triumph TR6 was being billed as the 'sister-bike' to the  Bonneville and was the second year for the oft-complained about, rarely complimented on, oil-in-frame.



  A year earlier both the 1971 Bonneville and the TR6 got an entirely new one-piece, all-welded steel frame that held the engine oil in its huge 3" diameter backbone, instead of in a separate oil tank, like normal. Great idea in concept, but somehow the boys at Umberslade Hall couldn't figure out how to keep the oil from foaming up and spilling over, so they relocated the filler cap from just behind the steering head to just under the front of the seat, lowering the oil level and abandoning all that internal oil in the large portion of the backbone under the tank. So this enormous 'drain pipe' of a backbone that was supposed to be filled with oil was now only filled about halfway, leaving the new bike woefully in short supply, (read as; ran way too fucking hot).

  Another big problem with the oil-in-frame was that it raised the seat height to 32-1/2", too tall for many riders.  Yet, with all the complaints BSA (Triumph's parent company) did it again in '72. Thanks.


  Triumph did offer four TR6 models for '72: TR6R (the standard Roadster); TR6C (with high pipes running along the left side); TR6P (UK Police version); TR6SS (US Police version) and TR6RV (a Roadster with optional 5-speed). Engine & frame numbers ran from JG033084 to EG057252, built from August 20, 1971 to May 17, 1972.

  Thomas Simpson, British mathematician was born on August 20, 1710.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 19, 2013

     

  



  

  Steve McQueen's 1946 Indian Chief sells for *$143,750 at the first-ever California Auctions America at the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, California.

  The bike is believed to be the first bike that McQueen purchased and the auction just happened to coincide with the launch of Indian Motorcycle's 2014 Chief line-up of the Classic, Vintage and Chieftain.

  The Indian was documented by the original McQueen Certificate of Authenticity to prove its ownership.

  Reminiscing about the bike in "McQueen's Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Icon", the film star wrote: "I was going with a girl who began to hate the cycle - just hated riding in the bumpy sidecar.

  "She told me, 'Either the cycle goes or I go!' Well, there was no contest. She went."

  *The auction was actually held August 1-3 but, payment was not received until the later date due to a previous agreement.
  

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 18, 1956

    

  

    From the August 18, 1956, Glasgow (Scotland) Bulletin...

    'Geoff Duke Must Finish Six Months Suspension'. The International Motor-Cycling Federation refused to let British champion Geoff Duke ride in any Grand Prix races before a six month suspension against him ends. This means he will not be able to defend his Senior TT title at the Isle of Man this year.

 The Federation, however, granted permission for the ban to be lifted in connection with smaller races. The ruling would also apply to 13 other riders suspended at the same time as Duke. The suspensions were imposed after a threatened strike by riders over starting money in the Dutch Grand Prix.

  Duke said after the verdict - "I am disappointed by the decision, as my comrades and I had asked for a non-conditional lifting of the suspension.  But I accept the F.M.I. decision.
  "It will allow us to do some public training and not be absolutely handicapped when we resume running in normal conditions."




  After winning three World Championships for Norton, Geoff Duke moved abroad to race for Gilera in 1953. With Gilera, he had a string of three consecutive 500cc World Championships. His unwavering support for a riders' strike demanding more start money led to Duke being suspended for six months, dashing any hopes for a fourth consecutive title.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disabililty (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 15, 1973

  

  

  Edward Turner dies in his sleep at his home in Dorking, Surrey.

   In July 1937, the motorcycle world was changed when Edward Turner introduced the 500cc Triumph Speed Twin.

  Turner's designs, flair and intuitions seeded a generation of motorcycles not only from Triumph but from rival manufacturers including Ariel, BSA, Norton and AMC. Edward Turner's legendary 500cc 5T Speed Twin of 1937 was, hands down, the most exciting motorcycle of its age, a bike that metamorphosed into the 650cc Triumph twin that set the world alight in 1956 when, piloted by the "Texan Tornado" Johnny Allen, it hit 214mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

  Then came the 1959 650cc T120 Triumph Bonneville, one of the most famous motorcycles of all time. Be still my heart.

  In his time Edward Turner made more progress than anyone else in the British motorcycle industry. In recognition of this, in 2008, the house where Turner lived and worked at 8 Philip Walk in Peckham, South-East London was awarded a prestigious Blue Plaque by the Southwark London Borough Council. The Blue Plaque was unveiled on October 25, 2009.

 

  When the Royal Mail issued six postage stamps on July 19, 2005 featuring classic British motorcycles, Turner was the only designer cited by name in the accompanying presentation packet liner notes. This was in relation to the stamp featuring his 1938 Triumph Speed Twin.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 14, 1988

  

  

  Enzo Anselmo Ferrari dies in Maranello, Italy, at the age of 90.

  The name Ferrari is synonymous with racing, speed, and performance of the four-wheel variety. But, Enzo Ferrari was a confirmed bike nut, riding motorcycles until fairly late in life. Surprisingly, he was not an Italian bike guy, but he rode a beautifully restored Rudge similar to the one he had as a young man.



  Ferrari chose several motorcycle racers to drive his cars, believing that racing on two-wheels was good exercise for racing on four-wheels. Two of the more noticeable names being Tazio Nuvolari and John Surtees. Nuvolari, who was the 1925 350cc European Motorcycling Champion and four-time Nations Grand Prix winner, became the first great Ferrari driver, winning Ferrari's first race after switching from Bianchi permanently in the early 1930's. Surtees is the only man to take both bike and car world titles. He was a four-time 500cc motorcycle World Champion with titles in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 and then winning the 1964 World Championship for Ferrari.

  The Italian Grand Prix was held just weeks after Ferrari's death, and, fittingly, the result was a 1–2 finish for Ferrari. 

  In 1994, Enzo Ferrari was posthumously inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.


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