Today in motorcycle history, January 31, 1952

 

 

 

  Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his friend, Alberto Granado set out on a journey to reach the United States in 1951. The pair navigate a Norton through the lands of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela.

  On January 31, 1952 they arrive in San Martín.  Che Guevara describes the location, "San Martín lies on the yellow-green slopes that melt into the blue depths of Lake Lacar".

   Guevara has a very crucial revelation in this location.  He writes, "Although often on our travels we longed to stay in the formidable places we visited, only the Amazon jungle called out to that sedentary part of ourselves as strongly as did this place.  I now know, by an almost fatalistic conformity with the facts, that my destiny is to travel...".

San Martin de los Andes, Neuquen, Argentina

Today in motorcycle history, January 30, 2002

  Indian Motorcycle Corp. announces it will complete its journey back into the marketplace this year with the introduction of the 2002 Chief, outfitted with the first Indian-designed engine in 45 years.

  The new 100-cubic-inch V-twin was engineered at Indian's headquarters in Gilroy, Calif.--near Monterey--and is being built by a custom-engine manufacturing contractor in Livonia, Mich.

  The new Chief, due in dealerships this spring, will be the flagship of Indian's line, which includes the sport-styled Spirit and the cruiser-styled Scout. Both models will continue using the 88-cubic-inch engine Indian has been buying from Wisconsin motorcycle engine maker S&S Cycle Inc.

Indian, headed by former HBO Video President Frank O'Connell, is a resurrection of the original Indian Motorcycle Co., which built the first American-made, mass-produced motorcycle in 1901 and went out of business in 1953.

  The new Indian was started in 1998 and began selling motorcycles in 1999.

  By using an engine of its own design, Indian regains the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) status that went to the grave with its predecessor.

  The new Powerplus 100 engine replicates the design of the original Indian V-Twin, with rounded cylinder heads and serrated rocker covers, but uses modern technologies such as computerized electronic ignition.

 

  So much for completing the journey, someone must have forgot to fill the tank because this version of the Indian Motorcycle Corporation went into bankruptcy and ceased all production operations in Gilroy on September 19, 2003.  50 years since the original ceased production. 

  Happy anniversary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, January 29, 1999

  Excelsior-Henderson today announced that on Saturday, January 30, 1999, it will ship the first revenue 1999 Super X motorcycle to one of the Dealers in the Excelsior-Henderson National Dealer network.  Production and shipment of the Super X will now ramp-up slowly during the remainder of the first quarter of 1999.  A portion of the initial production bikes will be designated for the Excelsior-Henderson Demo Team and marketing events, such as the World of Wheels Show in St. Paul on Febuary 12-14, and Daytona Bike Week on February 27-March 7.  The Excelsior-Henderson Road Crew Demo Team will conduct demonstration rides for visiting bikers during Daytona Bike Week.  Dealer shipments will accelerate during March and the second quarter of 1999.
  "It was truly exciting to see the first Super X complete final quality testing, crated in the Excelsior-Henderson branded shipping crates, and loaded on a truck to be delivered to one of our nationally recognized Excelsior-Henderson dealers," stated CO-founders Dan, Dave and Jenny Hanlon.  "We now look forward to publically showing the new Super X at the  World of Wheels Show in St. Paul, and at Daytona Bike Week," added the Hanlons. 

  Before their steel-toe Chippewa boots could kick it into third gear the impending financial market collapse of 1999-2000 resulted in Excelsior-Henderson having difficulty completing the next scheduled capital infusion, and became an indirect casualty of the financial marketplace. Therefore, on December 21, 1999, Excelsior-Henderson filed for a Chapter 11 reorganization.   Then like a hot-potato, the company was sold to a Florida investment group, which later filed for reorganization. Production of motorcycles never commenced.

   In case you're interested there is an official Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycles website still out there cruising the cyber-highway, which is about all the highway they ever saw.

   The bikes are gone, but an Excelsior-Henderson book was published,  ironically titled "Riding The American Dream". 

Today in motorcycle history, January 25, 2003

I came across this article while in search of the must-know motorcycle information that I feel obligated to tell you about. 

                                                A victim of fashion
  TOKYO: This season’s fad for extra long scarves claimed another fashion victim when a Japanese woman fell from her motorcycle after her two-metre long muffler got caught in the bike’s rear wheel, police said Tuesday.

  The 20-year-old college student was in a coma after the accident but regained consciousness on Tuesday. Still her condition remains serious as her scarf almost choked her to death.

  “Long, long scarves became fashionable among young women after Hidetoshi Nakata, the football player, wore one that almost touched the floor,” a spokesman said.

  The motorcycle accident followed a similar incident in November, when a 26-year-old Japanese woman suffocated to death after her long scarf was caught in the engine of a go-cart.

 

  Do you think they had long, long gloves and long, long hats to go with the long, long scarves?

Today in motorcycle history, January 24, 1901

  Edward Turner is born.  Or dare I say Triumph is born.  Edward Turner was not just a British motorcycle designer but he created motorcycle history time and time again.

  He was born in Camberwell in the London Borough of Southwark, on the day King Edward VII was proclaimed King.

  In 1915, Turner had his first ride on a motorcycle, a Light Tourist New Imperial.  Ten years later in 1925 "The Motor Cycle" published drawings by Turner of an OHC single he had designed, using a series of vertically stacked gears to drive the overhead camshaft.  A subsequent redesign used bevel gears to drive a vertical camshaft, operating the valves through rockers.  The only shared aspects of the two designs were the bore and stroke, 74 mm × 81 mm (2.9 in × 3.2 in), with the barrel being sunk into the crankcases.  The head could be removed from either design complete with undisturbed valve gear.

  Turner built his first bike in 1927, using his second design, a 350 cc OHC single.  "The Motor Cycle" published a photograph of Turner's patented engine, mounted in his motorcycle called the Turner Special.  The Special was registered for road use with the London County Council as YP 9286.  It used Webb forks and a three-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox. 

   In 1928, while working for a motorcycle shop on Peckham Road, he conceived the square four.  The idea was laughed at by BSA, but Ariel jumped at it.  It would become the legendary Ariel Square Four.

  In July 1937, Turner introduced the 500 cc Speed Twin.  The 5T Speed Twin became the standard by which other twins were judged, and its descendants continued in production until the 1980s.

  In 1901 Edward Turner was born and the world rejoiced.

Today in motorcycle history, January 23, 1966

   It all begins with the simple twist of the throttle and a dream.  And a bottle of Private Reserve.

   Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevils debut at the National Date Festival in Indio, California.  Evel jumps two pick-up trucks parked back-to-back (an estimated 45 feet) riding on a Norton Atlas. 

   The show was a huge success. 

    Knievel received several offers to host the show by himself after their first performance.  He turns it down.  Their next performance is on February 10, 1966 in Barstow, California.  During the performance, Knievel attempts a new stunt where he would jump, spread eagle, over a speeding motorcycle.  Unfortunately, he jumped too late and the motorcycle hit him in the groin (high-pitched ouch), tossing him fifteen feet into the air.  After his release from the hospital, he returned to Barstow to finish the performance he had started almost a month earlier.

   Evel Knievel and His Motorcycle Daredevil's broke up after the Barstow performance because injuries prevented him from performing.  After recovering, Knievel started traveling from small town to small town as a solo act.  To get ahead of other motorcycle stunt people who were jumping animals or pools of water, Knievel started jumping cars.  He began adding more and more cars to his jumps when he would return to the same venue to get people to come out and see him again.  Knievel hadn’t had a serious injury since the Barstow performance, but on June 19, 1966 in Missoula, Montana, he attempted to jump twelve cars and a cargo van.  The distance he had for take-off didn’t allow him to get up enough speed.  His back wheel hit the top of the van while his front wheel hit the top of the landing ramp.  Knievel ended up with a severely broken arm and several broken ribs.  The crash and subsequent stay in the hospital were a publicity windfall.

   With each successful jump, the public wanted him to jump one more car.  On May 30, 1967, Knievel successfully cleared sixteen cars in Gardena, California.  Then he attempted the same jump on July 28, 1967, in Graham, Washington, where he had his next serious crash.  Landing his cycle on a panel truck that was the last vehicle, Knievel was thrown from his bike.  This time he suffered a serious, brain-rattling concussion.  Then after nearly a month, he recovered and returned to Graham on August 18 to finish the show. 

Today in motorcycle history, January 22, 1970

  Floyd Clymer dies in Los Angeles at 74.

  Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Floyd Clymer was a pioneer in the sport of motorcycling, as a racer, a motorcycle dealer and a distributor.  He was a magazine publisher, a racing promoter, an author, and a motorcycle manufacturer.

  In 1904, at the age of 10, Floyd was selling new Reos, Maxwells and Cadillacs in his hometown of Berthoud, Colorado, to which his father, a physician, had moved the family after Floyd was born in Indianapolis.

  Clymer and his younger brother, Elmer, made an unsuccessful reliability run from Denver, Colorado, to Spokane, Washington, in 1904 that ended with their Flanders 20 breaking down repeatedly on the open plains of Wyoming and eventually being hauled to Washington aboard a railroad flatcar.  By then, however, Clymer had discovered motorcycles and he knew immediately he had the bug.  

   By 1916 he had become a member of the Harley-Davidson factory team.  He set a world 100-mile record that same year, in addition to a Pikes Peak record, but was eventually forced out of competitive motorcycle riding by a back injury.  Undaunted, he turned to promoting AMA motorcycle races in the Midwest and elsewhere.

   In the mid-1940s, Clymer, perhaps unknowingly, created a new genre of journalism. He put together a selection of photos, text, statistics, and articles on old cars first published when they were new into a single, thematically chaotic volume called Floyd Clymer's Historical Motor Scrapbook.  In the early Forties, magazines covering automotive history were virtually nonexistent in the United States, unless someone stumbled onto one of the great British publications such as The Motor or Autocar.  His widely distributed opening volume created a sensation, earning Clymer a glowing 1944 book review in Time and written testimonials from luminaries including California governor Earl Warren, Charles W. Nash and Orville Wright.

   Floyd Clymer was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

Today in motorcycle history, January 21, 1905

   Small ads are placed in the "Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal". These advertisements offer Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April of 1905, complete motorcycles were in production on a very limited basis. That year, the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Carl H. Lang of Chicago, sold three bikes from the dozen or so built in the Davidson backyard shed.
   Some years later the original shed was taken to the Juneau Avenue factory where it would stand for many decades as a tribute to the Motor Company's humble origins.
   Unfortunately, the first shed was accidentally destroyed by contractors in the early 1970s during a clean-up of the factory yard.
     

   Oops.

Today in motorcycle history, January 20, 2007

   The New Year's Classic, Victorville Speedway, Victorville, California

 Nate Perkins of Bullhead City, AZ, won a dramatic Main Event to take home 1st place in the 2007 New Years Classic, at Wheel 2 Wheel Raceway.

  Perkins shot out of gate 2 into the lead, with Buck Blair, winner of the last 2 Victorville Mains hot in pursuit. The previously unbeaten 'Fast' Eddie Castro who started from the penalty line after a tapes offense, made quick work of US Under 21 Champ Neil Facchini, though Castro's race ended after a rare lap three fall. Meanwhile, Blair chased Perkins hard, the two literally side by side for 4 laps. Perkins always had the edge though and won by half a bike length in a race that had the cold crowd on it's feet!

Today in motorcycle history, January 19, 1949

Champion motorcycle racer Otello Buscherini is born in Romagna, Italy.   Buscherini could have been mistaken for a horseracing jockey not a motorcycle jockey.  Weighing barely 110lbs, he was well-known for his nerves of steel, though some would call it recklessness, when racing.   His racing career began in 1966 on a Minarelli and then moved to a Malanca to win the Italian Hill Climb title in 1968 and 1969.  By 1972 he'd won the Italian 50cc Championship, but a bad crash in a 125cc race at Brno, Czech Republic, resulted in the need for a lengthy recuperation.   Finally recovered, he returned in 1974 to win the Italian 125cc Championship on a Malanca and moved up to the 350cc class winning at Brno on a Yamaha-Diemme.   The next year at the GP of Nations at Mugello in the 250cc event, his Yamaha crashed at the Arrabiata Uno corner and Otello was struck by his own bike.  On May 16, 1976 Otello Buscherini died from chest injuries suffered in the crash.

Today in motorcycle history, January 18, 1986

   At the 1986 Anaheim Supercross, in front of 71,000 fans at Anaheim Stadium, David Bailey outduels Team-Honda team-mate Rick Johnson in what is considered one the most epic battles in Supercross history.

   He rode his Honda CR500 to the win at the Motocross Des Nations that fall. The performance by the US team, Bailey, Johnson and Johnny O'Mara, is regarded as one of the most dominant in Supercross history.

   Then prior to the start of the 1987 Supercross season, David was injured in a practice crash in Lake Huron, California. He suffered significant spinal cord damage causing him to become a paraplegic, paralyzed from the waist down. Bailey was forced to withdraw from the industry and sport he loved.

   He would re-emerge in 1994 as a supercross commentator for ESPN.

   The role as a TV broadcaster he continues to this day.  He is also active in many non-profit organizations dedicated to helping others with spinal cord injuries and contributing to finding a cure.

   After years of rehabilitation and with incredible determination, on February 14, 2006, David Bailey rode again. Aboard a new Honda CRF450R, outfitted with nerf bars, hand brakes, and a seat to hold him in place, he completed several laps of the track in Lake Elsinore, California.

   David Bailey was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

   And what lame-ass excuse did you have for not riding today?

 

...A fool couldn't ride the Vincent Black Shadow more than once, but a fool can ride a Ducati 900 many times, and it will always be a bloodcurdling kind of fun. That is the Curse of Speed which has plagued me all my life. I am a slave to it. On my tombstone they will carve, "IT NEVER GOT FAST ENOUGH FOR ME."

Today in motorcycle history, January 16, 1971

  In Season 3, Episode 15 of 'Adam-12', "Log 26: LEMRAS"-- Reed and Malloy admire the bikes not the "bikers".

  The LAPD introduces the LEMRAS (Law Enforcement Manpower Resource Allocation System) to assist in identifying high-crime streets, including part of Officer Pete Malloy and Officer Jim Reed's patrol area, which was used in stopping a rash of burglaries involving motorcycle-riding suspects.

  "Oh Dear Lord!  It's Hollister all over again!", cries one woman.

Today in motorcycle history, January 15, 1999

  The "British Bulldog", Anthony Barlow, of Merseyside, England, wins his third ICE race in a row. This time he totally dominates at Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria, Louisiana.

   Motorcycle ICE racing is the equivalent of Speedway Racing on ice. Bikes race counter-clockwise around oval tracks between 260 m (0.16 mi) and 425 m (0.264 mi) in length. The tracks and the scoring is also similar to that of Speedway Racing.

   The bikes bear a slight resemblance to those used for Speedway, but have a bit longer wheelbase and a more rigid frame. The sport is divided into classes for full-rubber and studded tires. The studded tire category involves competitors riding on bikes with spikes up to 1.2 inches in length screwed into each tread-less tire, each bike has 90 spikes on the front and 200–500 on the rear. The use of these spikes in this discipline necessitate the addition of special protective guards over the wheels which extend almost to the ice surface. The spiked tires produce an incredible amount of traction and this means two-speed gearboxes are also required.  And as with speedway, the bikes do not have brakes.

   There is no broadsiding around the bends due to the grip produced by the spikes digging into the ice.  Instead, riders lean their bikes into the bends at an angle where the handlebars just skim the track's ice surface.  With speeds approach 80 mph on the straights, and 60 mph on the bends it takes some balls. The safety barrier usually consists of straw bales or banked-up snow and ice around the outer edge of the track.  All make for nice soft landings.  Yeah, you bet.

  The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme sanctioned teams and individual meetings are held in Russia, Sweden and Finland, but events are also held in the Czech Republic, Germany and since 2000 in Hungary.

   By the way, in case you're thinking about building a bike for the next ice race in your neighborhood and your wondering what to use, the Czech-made Jawa 4-strokes have dominated the sport for years.  But, that doesn't mean your H2 won't work, I'm just sayin'.

Today in motorcycle history, January 14, 1983

Tragedy strikes the Dakar Rally as Frenchman Jean-Noël Pineau is killed at Leo, Haute-Volta during the In-Gall-Korhogo stage.
In his fourth rally, Team Yamaha-France rider Pineau was killed on a section of tarmac near Leo when his Yamaha XT 550 collided with a military vehicle.   There have been nearly 60 deaths at Dakar.  The causes can vary as it is a long distance rally, these can range from accidents between vehicles and people to persons being caught up in conflicts between forces, which have happened twice in its history.

"There are some things nobody needs in this world, and a bright-red, hunch-back, warp-speed 900cc cafe racer is one of them - but I want one anyway..."

                                                                                 HST

Today in motorcycle history, Janury 12, 1964

  Elvis Presley arrives on his 1957 Harley-Davidson FLH at RCA's Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee, at around 6:30 p.m to begin recording.

  Elvis decides that he and everybody else is hungry and starts off this 5 hour session by sending out for a take-out order for all. After re-recording "Ask Me" and "Memphis Tennessee", from the May 1963 session, he delivers a moving performance of "It Hurts Me".

  This ballad would remain a personal favorite for several years, the 1957 Harley-Davidson panhead would remain a personal favorite right up until he died.

Today in motorcycle history, January 11, 2004

The 2004 Cycle World International Motorcycle Show makes it's stop at the Convention Center in Washington, DC, giving the Capital motorcycling population their first look at the 2-wheeled marvel,  the Triumph Rocket III.

  It appears to have very little in common with the 740cc, air-cooled, Amal-powered  BSA Rocket-3 where the name was borrowed from.  This version has a boastful 2,294 cc (140 cubic inch), fuel-injected, 12-valve,  DOHC, liquid-cooled, shaft-drive straight three, 140 bhp @ 6000 rpm.  It is 98" long and 38" wide (not for the short-legged), 774 lbs (wet) with 6.3 gallon fuel capacity.

 Triumph's hard work paid off with the critic's at least,  being awarded Motorcycle Cruiser Magazine's 2004 Bike of the Year and Motorcyclist's 2004 Cruiser of the Year.

 The 2004 Rocket III is one of the newest models to be on exhibit at the UK National Motorcycle Museum.

  Yesterday, January 10, I wrote about the only known Leo Motorcycle that was to be auctioned at Bally's Las Vegas by Bonham's Auction House. Much to my surprise it sold for only $27, 600, yet at the auction a 1978 Ducati NCR, frame no. DM860SS088923 engine no. 090013, sold for $69,000.
   Being the caring sort I am, I just thought I'd let everyone know.

Today in motorcycle history, January 10, 2013

 What is believed to possibly be the last remaining Leo motorcycle, made 108 years ago by the L.A. Mitchell Manufacturing Company in Oakland, California, is scheduled to be auctioned Jan. 10 in Las Vegas.

 The motorcycle, found in complete and original condition in the storage area of a Massachusetts museum, represents the earliest surviving example of an American two-stroke motorcycle, according to the auction firm Bonhams that's selling the bike.

  Leo Motorcycles were thought to have been produced for just one year, 1905. 

 The Leo was a purpose-built motorcycle utilizing a motorcycle frame, that is to say a frame specifically built for the motorcycle rather than using a bicycle frame which would have been the norm.

  Its lightweight, compact motor was way ahead of its time as two-cycle engines were not commonly used in American motorcycles until after World War I.

It appears the bike was not a prototype, either, as it has signs of many miles of use.

  Discovered in the warehouse of a museum where it was hidden and forgotten for decades, the motorcycle is in extraordinary condition, according to Bonhams.

  It has a freely-turning motor, strong compression and original components such as spokes and rims, Thor pedals and a Troxel leather saddle.

  The bike will be auctioned at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, along with other motorcycles including Steve McQueen's 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross.

   If I win the auction I'll let you know. 

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.