Today in motorcycle history, May 27, 1951

  



 

  Scotland's Fergus Anderson, riding a works Moto Guzzi, wins the 500cc Class Swiss Grand Prix at Circuit Bremgarten in Bern, Switzerland.

  Fergus Anderson was one of the first riders from Great Britain to make his living racing bikes on the Continent. In 1950 he signed with Moto Guzzi and competed in the 250cc class where he would share Third Place with the Italian, Geno Ruffo. He then convinced Moto Guzzi to build/race a 350cc.

  In the bike's first year of competition Fergus rode it to the 1953 World Championship, he would repeat as 350cc World Champion in 1954.

  He retired from racing in 1955 and became Moto Guzzi’s team manager. A dispute about the management led Anderson to quit the team and start racing again with the competing and ambitious BMW team.

  On May 6, 1956 at the Belgium street circuit of Floreffe, he was only a couple of miles from the finish when the streamlined "dustbin" fairing on his 500cc BMW touched the ground as he leaned too far over causing him to crash into the corner house of the Place de Buzet. He died later that day in a Namur Hospital.

  Moto Guzzi’s Bill Lomas would win the race, but the Circuit de Floreffe was closed down for good.





  The insane, legendary Moto Guzzi V8 motorcycle engine, the "Otto", was conceived by Fergus, Giulio Carcano, Enrico Cantoni, Umberto Todero, Ken Kavanagh.

  Matter of fact, only Anderson, Stanley Woods, Dickie Dale, Ken Kavanagh, Keith Campbell, Giuseppe Colnago and Bill Lomas were ever able to even ride the V8 motorcycle.

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

Today in motorcycle history, May 26, 1975

  

  Evel Knievel crashes attempting to jump thirteen London buses at Wembley Stadium.

  "You are the last people in the world who will ever see me jump," he told the crowd, "because I will never ever jump again, I am through." 

  A crowd of nearly 60,000 at London's Wembley Stadium witness Evel Knievel reach a grim end to his career when he attempts to jump over thirteen side-by-side London double-decker buses on his Harley-Davidson XR-750. Catching the last bus, Knievel somersaults just after landing and lays unconscious with his bike on top of him. 

  Evel suffers a fractured pelvis, a crushed vertebra, broken right hand and sustained a concussion.

  It was a painful ending to a Monday afternoon in which the audience happily watched other people in danger, including 71 year-old Henri la Moth who dived 40 feet into only 14 inches of water; Roy Fransen, who dived 60 feet into a blazing pool after first setting himself on fire and the Traber family, who walked the high-wire blindfolded, then rode up it on motorcycles, suspending a woman underneath.

  That bit about never jumping again? Well, that lasted until October 15, 1975 when he cleared fourteen Greyhound buses at Kings Mills, Ohio.

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

Today in motorcycle history, May 22, 1992

       

    

  

  The funeral is held for former Harley-Davidson president William H. Davidson at the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa, 1511 Church Street, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

  William H. Davidson, son of co-founder, William A. Davidson, grew up immersed in Harley-Davidson culture. He was an avid motorcyclist and won the 1930 Jack Pine Endurance Run in Michigan with the highest score ever posted. That victory earned him the title of AMA National Enduro Champion. 

  He began working for the company in 1928 on the shop floor, working his way up through the ranks, eventually replacing his uncle, Walter, as president in 1942.

  Davidson led Harley-Davidson through World War II. The company would produce thousands of motorcycles for the war effort, earning the prestigious Army-Navy “E” Award for exceptional wartime production. During the post-war era, he saw the development of the panhead, K Model, Sportster, shovelhead, FX Super Glide, and Harley-Davidson’s entrance into the snowmobile and golf cart markets. 

  William was at the helm when competition from foreign manufacturers put a strain on the company’s market share. He remained as president after the recreation company AMF  purchased the company. AMF’s shitty production strategy saw both quality and sales plummet, leading to Davidson’s resignation in 1973.

  "Beginning in the 1920's he rode his motorcycle to work nearly every day, even well into his 70's", said his son, Willie G. Davidson. 

  Even though he was no longer actively involved with the company, he would see the renewal and great success that H-D enjoyed starting in the late-1980's. 

  William H. Davidson was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 1999.



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Today in motorcycle history, May 21, 1967

  


 



  

  In front of a crowd of nearly 2,500 fans, Pat Gosch of Omaha, Nebraska wins the 3-Star AMA Sanctioned 12-lap Expert race at the Cowley County Fairgrounds in Winfield, Kansas. Bearing lucky plate #47, Pat's Triumph Daytona 500 fattens his wallet with $135.

  The half-mile racetrack at the Cowley County Fairgrounds was originally laid out in the summer of 1872. The corners were dredged out in the summer of 1883, more so near the inside of the track to give the effect of a slight banking to the turns, thus making the racetrack into a "dish" oval. The size, shape, and location of the racetrack have not been altered since but, flood sediment has filled in some of the original dish bringing the racing surface up almost to ground level. The track lies just a couple hundred yards east of the Walnut River and outside the levee protecting the city of Winfield so the racetrack is often covered by flood waters. The track surface is mostly silt which doesn't pack down very well so the racing surface was always very dusty, but riders who dig a slick groove found this racetrack to be to their liking.

  Motorcycle races were held at the Fairgrounds by various sponsors throughout the first half of the century. The Winfield Lions club sponsored races on the track in the 1950's, but too few entrants and declining crowds led the Lions club to try presenting sub-par “C” class racing in association with the Wichita (Kansas) Jeeps MC. The Winfield Lions club ceased presenting motorcycle racing in 1960, so the local horse racing interests decided to construct a steel pipe guard rail around the perimeter of the racetrack to discourage the use of the facility by motor vehicles. They were only partially successful as the Winfield Jaycees and the sneaky bikers of the Mid-West Harley-Davidson Dealers Association, headed by former Winfield resident, Hugh "Hugo" Shea, conducted the first annual Kansas State Motorcycle Rally at the Cowley County Fairgrounds in May of 1962. Shea owned Harley-Davidson dealerships in Wichita and in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. These rallies consisted of poker runs, various contests, church services, and racing on the half-mile racetrack sanctioned by the American Motorcycle Association.





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Today in motorcycle history, May 20, 1979

  South African Kork Ballington wins the 250cc and 350cc Class Spanish Grand Prix aboard a works Kawasaki at the Circuito del Jarama in Madrid, Spain.

  Hugh Neville "Kork" Ballington  raced an over-the-counter Yamaha twin for several years before getting a well-deserved place on the Kawasaki factory team.

 Riding in the 250cc and 350cc classes, Kork blew away the competition in 1978 and 1979, capturing consecutive double World Championships.







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

Today in motorcycle history, May 19, 2009

    


  


  

  "The Girl on a Motorcycle", the 1968 film starring Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull, has it's initial release on DVD.

  I'm not reviewing the film or talking about Marianne Faithfull or the Harley she's 'riding'. No, I want to tell you a little about Anke-Eve Goldmann. If you don't already know of her you should. 

  Goldman was a close friend of the French author André Pieyre de Mandiargues and the inspiration for the main character, 'Rebecca', in his 1963 book "The Motorcycle" (The book was adapted for the film "The Girl on a Motorcycle" starring Marianne Faithfull as Rebecca).

  Anke wrote for numerous international motorcycle magazines and was a frequent contributor to Cycle World, Das Motorrad in Germany and the French magazine Moto Revue.  

  She rode BMW's and actually became a spokesperson for the marque until the need for speed made her buy an MV Agusta.

   Anke-Eve Goldmann, is best remembered in Europe today for the early 1960's images of her astride a BMW in that self-designed leather catsuit. What an image, all that leather hugging her 6'6" frame. It wasn't just for looks though, Anke could ride and ride she did. In the 1950's Goldmann competed in both endurance and circuit racing, at Germany's Hockenheimring and Nurburgring but, being a woman she was barred from higher level races. Knowing it was a bullshit rule Goldmann continued to ride and race, albeit at the 'girls' level. A fiercely independent woman, she was willing to bear the scorn of the post-war German tongues, wagging at the scandal of a girl merely being herself; enjoying motorcycles, racing with the boys.

  In 1958, she helped found the Women's International Motorcycle Association in Europe.





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

Today in motorcycle history, May 18, 1947

  The Norisring Circuit in Nuremberg, Germany, on the former Nazi Party rally grounds, holds it's inaugural races.

  If there were awards for the most surreal place to hold a race, the Norisring in Nürnberg (Nuremburg) in southeast Germany would surely be a nominee.


  The track itself winds its way around around the Steintribune, an imposing concrete edifice which was originally created as a podium where Hitler would make many of his infamous Nuremberg speeches, rallying support for his cause. It was tanks and troops, not cars and motorcycles, which were more familiar sights doing lap during the 1930's.

  The former site of the Nazi Party rally grounds, also of the NSDAP party conventions, with it's lavish halls, adjoining parks and military parade grounds. Plans for the world's largest arena were never completed, though construction of a 50,000 seat Congress Hall had begun it remained unfinished by the start of the war. The area was damaged by Allied bombing, but a good portion around the Steintribune remained serviceable and soon became a focus for the city's motorcycle manufacturing.

 With the Steintribune transformed into a 25,000 seat grandstand and US occupying forces providing fuel for racing, 60,000 spectators turned out to witness their first post-war motorcycle race. Car racing would be held the following year, but it would be bikes which would dominate the early decade of racing at Norisring.

  During the growing stages a variety of different circuit layouts were tried, including Figure 8's and the use of an underpass. Racing continued until 1958 when the German factory teams withdrew from racing leading to a two-year pause. Racing resumed on a shorter course in 1960, not happy with it the track would be extended in 1961, finally setting on its current variant in 1972. Short and fast, with wide straights leading to narrow, tight hairpins. Oh, yeah!

  Between 2001 and 2007 Norisring held races for classic bikes only. 

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