Today in motorcycle history, January 9, 1999

  SWAT teams from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Broward County Sheriff's Department raid a warehouse and bust an illegal bar allegedly ran by a local motorcycle club in Pompano Beach, Florida, and arrest 6 men, including a former Sheriff's Deputy. 

  The cop's ordered a Lite Beer, but instead got 13 guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, 10 pounds of marijuana, 18 vials of steroids and (reportedly) $15,000 in cash. 

  Cops?! Bikers?! Drugs?! Weapons?!  Tuesdays on FX.

Today in motorcycle history, January 8, 1970

 

  Don Brown, Vice President BSA, National Sales, resigns.

  Don Brown conceived the original idea of the Triumph X75 Hurricane in 1968.  Brown felt that the BSA/Triumph triples needed a different look to succeed in the USA, and he engaged designer Craig Vetter to give the BSA A75 a customised face-lift, with a brief to make it "sleeker and more balanced". It was a secret project that was funded by Brown out of BSA, Inc. petty cash on a weekly basis.

  Vetter created the Triumph Hurricane in the summer of 1969, and in October 1969 he unveiled the prototype with "BSA" on the tank as the new ‘Rocket Three’. Peter Thornton (President of BSA/Triumph North America) and the American officials were impressed, and Vetter's bike was then sent to the UK, but the bike arrived in England just as the BSA marque was about to be ended. At BSA-Triumph's design facility at Umberslade Hall, the design was seen as too "trendy" by chief designer Bert Hopwood; but after very positive public reaction to the design when it appeared on the front of US magazine Cycle World in October 1970, the UK managers changed their minds. They realised they had a large stock of obsolete BSA Rocket-3 parts that could now be turned into a premium-priced motorcycle.

  Engineer Steve Mettam was given the job of supervising production for the 1972/3 season; and the Vetter BSA Rocket3 became the Triumph X75 Hurricane. 1,183 engines were put aside for X75 production. However, BSA was facing bankruptcy and the design went into a limited production run of 1200 as the Triumph X-75 Hurricane in 1972.  Production stopped in 1973.

Today in motorcycle history, January 7, 1972

  After not nearly enough testing, Norton releases the "Combat" engine.  With a twin roller bearing crank, 10:1 compression and able to develope 65 bhp at 6,500 rpm. Reliability immediately suffered, with frequent and early crank-shaft main-bearing failures, sometimes leading to broken crankshafts. The earlier Cammando engines had used one ball-bearing main bearing and one roller bearing main bearing but the Combat engine featured two roller bearings in a mistaken belief this would strengthen the bottom-end to cope with the higher power-output. Instead the resultant crank-bending caused the rollers to "dig-in" to the races, causing rapid failure. This fragility was particularly obvious when measured against the reliability of the contemporary Japanese engines .

  With the new engine the Commando was offered in several different styles: the standard street model, a pseudo-scrambler with upswept pipes and the Interstate, packaged as a long-distance tourer, which unfortunately became short distance very quickly if used to the full on German Autobahns with the atrocious Combat crankcase, that threw all its oil out of the breather at over 4.500rpm and stopped suddenly after all the oil had gone.

  After 1973, with the new crankcases, it actually was a very nice long-distance bike.  Too late.

Today in motorcycle history, January 4, 2002

  American Suzuki Motor Corporation unveils it's GSX-R/4 concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show. 

  The "Formula Hayabusa" -- designed for a new Japanese one-make competition series -- is an open-wheel, ultra-light race car built to showcase Suzuki's advanced automotive and motorcycle engineering, and the firm's ability to build affordable high-performance products. The race car -- powered by the engine of the fastest mass-produced street motorcycle in history, the GSX1300R Hayabusa -- has 175 horsepower at 9,800 rpm, with speeds of up to 194mph, generated with the help of double overhead cams, 16 valves, an 11:1 compression ratio, liquid-cooling and electronic fuel injection. Perfect for a quick trip to the store for a 6-pack and chips at half-time.

  By the way, Hayabusa is Japanese for "peregrine falcon", one of the world's fastest birds.  They also just happen to prey on blackbirds which was what Suzuki's original target was, the Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird.  The CBR1100XX was the World's Fastest Production Motorcycle until the Hayabusa (GSX1300R) blew it out of the water by more than 10mph.

Today in motorcycle history, January 3, 1963

     Mustang Motorcycles introduce a Heavy Duty Dellorto air cleaner (D-1874) to their new bikes for 1963.   

   Mustang Motorcycles were the two-wheeled brain-child of engineer John Gladden, whose Glendale, California, company manufactured aircraft parts during World War II.

When the war came to an end and Gladden had to figure out what to do with his now-quiet plant, his thoughts turned to his favorite pre-war activity: motorcycles. What was needed, Gladden decided, was an inexpensive, lightweight bike that could serve as a transition between a motor scooter and a full-sized motorcycle.

   The bike, scheduled for sale in 1945, was to be powered by a 125cc Villers two-stroke Single. A few of these machines, called the Colt, were produced, but with limited availability of the British-built Villers engines prompted a redesign of the Colt to accept Gladden's own engine.

The result was the Model 2, which became available in the fall of 1947. It featured a single cylinder, 320cc side-valve engine, a three-speed Burman transmission, a tubular front fork, a solid rear suspension, disc wheels and 4.00x12 tires. Mustangs also placed well in the lightweight division at the Catalina Island Grand Prix, ridden by Fulton, Jim Phillips, Tom Bizzari and Ed Kretz, Jr.

The little bikes were active at drag strips, as well; and in the hands of a racer named Tom Beatty, a highly modified Mustang routinely turned 90 mph, with clocking in the low-12-second range.

   By the 1960s, Mustang had an expanded model line. There was the basic, front-suspension-only, solid wheel, three-speed Pony, backed up by the Bronco and the Stallion, which sported wire wheels and front brakes. Top of the line was the Thoroughbred, with a swingarm rear suspension and a Burman four-speed transmission. They were available in various paint schemes, such as Brilliant Red, Rocket Green, Lustre Black and Galaxy Blue.

   Though the marques continued to sell well in the early 1960s, the clock was running. Gladden continued to rely on the British-built Burman transmission, a steady supply of which became impossible to obtain. But by then, Honda's toehold in the American Motorcycle market, was so strong that Gladden's simple little post war design didn't have a chance. As a result, though new Mustangs were sold until 1965, the last one to roll off the production-line in Glendale was 1963. 

Today in motorcycle history, January 2, 2003

  Patsy Quick beomes the first ever British woman to enter the Dakar Rally.
It turns out to be a real baptism by fire for Patsy as she crashes her XR-650 hard in the desert, where she is temporarily blinded and unable to walk. Fortunately she is spotted by a media helicopter which transports her to a makeshift hospital. She is then flown to Cairo where she underwent life-saving surgery to remove her spleen.
   Despite her harrowing experience in 2003 she is desperate to compete again. She enters in 2004, one of only 2 women to enter, sadly after Day 9 she is unable to continue due to treacherous weather conditions. In the 2005 Rally her KTM has mechanical failures forcing her into early retirement. Despite all the setbacks, her strong will and determination won through and in 2006 Patsy Quick becomes the first ever British woman to finish the grueling 5,314-mile Dakar Rally.

Today in motorcycle history, December 31, 1967

  In one of his most famous, or infamous, stunts, Evel Knievel, attempting a year-ending jump at Caesar's Palace Fountain, Las Vegas, Nevada, crashes hard. The landing doesn't quite goes as planned crushing his pelvis and femur, fractures his hip and a wrist, both ankles and rattles his brain giving him a concussion.
   The injuries would only sideline Evel until May of 1968 (five months?!) when he jumps at Beeline Dragway in Scottsdale, Arizona. The result? Keep your dial tuned in on May 25th...