Today in motorcycle history, April 15, 1972

  

  


 

  Evel Knievel's X1-Skycycle prototype makes it's first launch attempt.

  Evel Knievel had hired subcontractor and aeronautical engineer Doug Malewicki to build him a rocket-powered cycle to jump across the Snake River, and called it the X-1 Skycycle. Malwecki's creation was powered by a steam engine built by former Aerojet and Polaris Missile engineer Robert "Bob" Truax.


  Evel joined Truax at Snake River to watch the X-1 prototype's trial launch. The launch starts with such promise before losing speed, then altitude, until finally plummeting into the gorge not even halfway across the river reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote with one of his Acme rockets.



  The decision was then made to have Truax build the Skycycle X-2 and have it take off and fly more like a rocket than a motorcycle.



  Two years later on Sunday, September 8, 1974, at 3:36 p.m. MDT (Mountain Daylight Time) at the south rim of the Snake River Canyon, viewed by millions on live television the launch begins with a rumble as the steam that powers the engine is superheated to 500 °F (260 °C). The drogue parachute prematurely deploys as the X-1 leaves the launching rail and induces significant drag. The Skycycle makes it all the way across the canyon to the north rim, unfortunately the prevailing northwest winds cause it to drift back into the canyon. By the time it reaches the bottom of the canyon, it lands only a few feet from the water on the same side of the canyon from which it had been launched. Then to add insult to injury, if Evel had landed in the water, he likely would have drowned, due to a jumpsuit/harness malfunction which kept him strapped in. 

  

  As Knievel raises his fist in disappointment Meep Meep echo's thru the canyon.

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Today in motorcycle history, April 14, 1948

  

  

  "The fucker's not much for turning, but it's pure hell on the straightaway. It'll outrun the F-111 until takeoff." - Hunter S. Thompson

  The first production Vincent Black Shadow is completed.

  The Black Shadow Series B was based on an early Rapide that had been re-tuned by the legendary factory test rider/racer George Brown, his brother Cliff, and designer Phil Irvin. The Rapide was ridden, raced and sprinted for nearly a year. One journalist testing it for Motor Cycling magazine was so impressed with it's performance that he borrowed a quote from a Rudyard Kipling poem about an Indian water carrier who saved the life of a British soldier as an introduction to his report:

  ‘Tho’ I’ve belted you an’ flayed you
  By the livin’ Gawd that made you
  You’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.’

  After that, George Brown’s Rapide was known as Gunga Din. When Phil Vincent decided to build a production version, he ordered the engine to be enameled black to give the new model a dignified appearance to match the name, Black Shadow.


  Engineer Phil Irving, clandestinely assembled a brace of tuned Rapides. The prototypes incorporated gas-flowed cylinder heads, Comet cams, triple valve springs, polished valve rockers, ports, combustion chambers and connecting rods. 1 1/8" Amal 289 carbs replaced the Rapide's 1 1/16". These changes being good for an output of 55hp despite a compression ratio limited to only 7.3:1 by the 72-octane gasoline that was the best available in the UK at the time. 

  In what turned out to be a brilliant marketing move Vincent specified he wanted a 5” diameter ‘150 mph’ speedometer. A top speed of 125 mph was claimed for the Shadow, and this was soon backed by road tests. 47 mph in first gear, 64 mph in second, 86 mph in third...

  Deliveries commenced in the spring of 1948 and only around 70-or-so Series-B Black Shadows had been made before the Series-C’s introduction at that year’s Earl’s Court Motorcycle Show.

 

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

Today in motorcycle history, April 13, 1959

  


  










  The odd history of the Trail-Breaker two-wheel-drive motorcycle can be traced back to late 1958 when Charles Fehn of San Bernardino, California began wrenching on his latest invention, a "Motorcycle for slow cross-country travel over obstructions and in mountainous regions, and over snow and soft ground". A bit long-winded, perhaps, but it was the birth of the Trail-Breaker. Charlie would apply for his first patent for this beast on April 13, 1959. It wasn't until his third patent attempt, now slimmed down to a "Motorcycle having two driven wheels", filed August 20, 1963, that Charlie would finally be awarded his patent. By the date of the third filing, the bike was already in full-fledged production. It wouldn't be until three years later when on August 23, 1966 the patent would be granted. By that time the bike would be in production by an entirely different company 2,990 miles away in Wilmington, Vermont.

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

Today in motorcycle history, April 3-13, 2015

  Today in motorcycle history will be on vacation until Monday, April 13.  Flat roads, warm nights and cold beers beckon... 




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

Today in motorcycle history, April 2, 1940

  

  The man many call the greatest roadracer ever, Mike Hailwood, is born in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, UK.

  Mike Hailwood was a nine-time World Champion, including four 500cc titles in succession. In six years he won an astounding seventy-four Grand Prix. He won Grand Prix races in each of the 250cc, 350cc and 500cc classes, including winning Grands Prix in all three classes in the same season, a record five times. Five times he won all three classes in a single day.

  At Daytona in 1964 Hailwood set a new one-hour speed record on an MV 500cc, recording an average speed of 144.8 mph at Daytona.

  He came out of retirement at the age of thirty-eight and won the Isle of Man two years in a row.


   A natural-born rider and owner of steely determination, there is no better example of that than the 1965 Isle of Man Senior. At Sarah’s Cottage he crashed his MV, yet somehow managed to restart the engine. With a broken wind-screen and flattened exhaust megaphones, not to mention a bloody nose - he slid in for a pit stop to straighten his bent handlebars and then blasted off to win the race.

  He would win the Isle of Man fourteen times.

  Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM (April 2, 1940-March 23, 1981. 

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

Today in motorcycle history, April 1, 1905

    

  

  The short-lived Black Diamond Motorcycle announces it's arrival to the motorcycle-hungry masses with a Press Release in "Cycle and Automobile Journal".

  Black Diamond was manufactured by Reeser & Mackenzie (R&M) who decided to enter the new motorcycle market after being a successful builder of air compressors and light machinery. They were located at 1100 Betz Building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally on the corner of Broad and Penn Square the building was demolished in 1926 to make way for the Lincoln-Liberty Building.


  R&M's Black Diamond featured their innovated "flexible chain-drive", friction clutch, 22" loop frame, 2" tires and a 52" wheelbase, 2 5/8" bore x 3 3/8" stroke, 2hp, 300cc (18.26 c.i.) single-cylinder motor. All this for only $185.00.






  Kiss has a song called "Black Diamond" which was included on their self-titled first lp. The song has no mention of motorcycles.









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

Today in motorcycle history, March 31, 2010

 


  





  

  "Anti-lock Brakes On Motorcycles Prevent Crashes", is released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Status Report, Vol. 45, No. 3. 

  The following is the Insurance Institute's (US) 2010 report on anti-lock brakes. 

  The best motorcycle crash is the one that never happens. One technology designed to reduce the chance of crashing is anti-lock braking. The Institute first reported on the effectiveness of motorcycle anti-locks in 2008. Now 2 new studies, one by the Institute and one by the affiliated Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), provide more evidence that anti-locks reduce fatal crash risk and lower insurance losses.


  Stopping a motorcycle is trickier than stopping a car. For one thing, the front and rear wheels typically have separate brake controls. In an emergency, a rider faces a split-second choice to either brake hard, which can lock the wheels and cause an overturn, or hold back on braking and risk running headlong into the emergency. This is when anti-locks can help by reducing brake pressure when they detect impending lockup and then increasing the pressure again when traction is restored. Brake pressure is evaluated multiple times per second, so riders may brake fully without fear of locking up.


  Institute researchers compared the fatal crash experience of anti-lock-equipped motorcycles against their nonanti-lock counterparts during 2003-08. The main finding is that motorcycles with anti-locks versus without are 37 percent less likely to be in fatal crashes per 10,000 registered vehicle years. Bolstering this finding is a separate HLDI analysis of insurance claims filed for damage to motorcycles. Bike models with anti-locks have 22 percent fewer claims for damage per insured vehicle year than the same models without anti-locks.


  The frequency of claims for crash damage to bikes is 9 percent higher in urban areas with heavy traffic than in moderately congested locales. There were 13 percent fewer claims in the least populated areas than in medium-density ones. The effects of anti-locks on claims were estimated only after controlling for these and other factors.


  Anti-locks are gaining traction among motorcycle manufacturers and wider acceptance among riders. More than half of motorcycle owners recently surveyed by the Institute said they'd get anti-locks on their next bike. Buyers can find them now on at least 60 new models.


  "Motorcycle anti-locks do make a difference," says Institute president Adrian Lund, who also is president of HLDI (Hmm...). "They help make traveling on 2 wheels less risky by reducing the chance of overturning a bike and crashing. Passenger vehicles still are safer, but if you're going to ride we'd recommend getting a motorcycle with anti-locks." 

  My pan has a rear drum and no front brake. Maybe it's time I should consider up-grading my braking system.

 

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