Today in motorcycle history, September 26, 1971

 

 


  On a warm, cloudy, Sunday afternoon in Hutchinson, Kansas, Evel Knievel jumps 10 Kenworth trucks at the Kansas State Fair.  The jump goes off without a hitch, the landing is one of the smoothest he'll have in 1971.  For the second day in a row (Evel also performed the same feat on Saturday the 25th),  the crowd goes home with stomachs full of fried dough, cotton candy and beer.  And the vision of a mad, airborne super-hero in red,white and blue.
                         

Today in motorcycle history, September 26, 1941

 

 An Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) motorcycle dispatch rider in Northern Ireland, September 26, 1941.

 

From the Imperial War Museum collection.

Today in motorcycle history, September 24, 1948

 


 

 

 

  Motorcycle builder Soichiro Honda incorporates the Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu, Japan.

 

  In the 1960's, the company achieved worldwide fame for its motorcycles but, before he founded the company that bores his name, Soichiro Honda was a bit of a drifter and a dreamer.  He bounced from one mechanic's job to another, and also worked as a babysitter, a race car driver and an amateur distiller.  Even his wife said he was a "wizard at hardly working."  In 1946, he took over an old factory that lay mostly in ruins from wartime bombings, though he did not have much of a plan for what he would do there.  First he tried building what he called a "rotary weaving machine"; next he tried to mass-produce frosted glass windows, then woven bamboo roof panels.  Finally, after he came across a cache of surplus two-stroke motors, he had an idea: motorbikes.

  Honda adapted the motors to run on turpentine and affixed them to flimsy cycle frames built by workers at the Hamamatsu factory.  The bikes sold like hotcakes to people desperate for a way to get around in postwar Japan, where there was virtually no gasoline and no real public transportation.  Soon enough, Honda had sold out of those old engines and was making his own.  In 1947, the factory produced its first complete motorbike, the one-half horsepower A-Type (nicknamed "The Chimney" because it was so smoky).  After the company's incorporation, Honda produced a more sophisticated bike: the 1949 steel-framed, front and rear suspended D-Type that could go as fast as 50 miles per hour.  At the end of the 1950's, it introduced the Cub, a Vespa clone that was especially popular with women and was the first Honda product to be sold in the United States.  The Super Cub had a four-stroke single cylinder engine ranging in size from 49cc to 109cc.  Having been in continuous manufacture since 1958, with production surpassing 60 million mark, the Super Cub is the most produced motor vehicle in history. The Super Cub's US advertising campaign, "You meet the nicest people on a Honda", had a lasting impact on Honda's image and on American attitudes about motorcycling, and is considered a classic case study in marketing.

  Then came the Dream...ahh, the Dream and its 305cc engine and it's cousin the Scrambler.  Did you know the engine was studied, and developed and enlarged by the Laverda factory as the basis of their 650cc and 750cc twin cylinder engines.

  To add to their growing legacy, the 1969 CB750.  The bike is recognized as the four-cylinder sport bike that had a lasting impact and is often called the first superbike. 

  In 1974 Honda's next attempt at world domination would come as the GL1000, the Gold Wing. 

 

  Soichiro Honda was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1989 (don't forget he also is responsible for the Civic).  He died two years later at the age of 84.

Today in motorcycle history, September 23, 2007

                                          

  On September 23, 2007, Casey Stoner clinched his and Ducati's first Grand Prix World Championship.

  Ducati rejoined Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 2003, after a 30-year absence.  In 2007 MotoGP had changed its rules reducing the four-stroke engine size to 800 cc (49 cu in), and Ducati proved to be the fastest with a bike that was markedly quicker than its rivals as was especially evident on tracks with long straightaways.  In other words, Ducati smoked 'em.

   Ducati's rich history with motorsport began with speed records on Cucciolo motorized bicycle factory racers in 1951, followed in 1954 with bringing in Fabio Taglioni to found a road racing program with the 100 Gran Sport (a beautiful machine that still puts an extra thump in your heartbeat).  Ducati still pursues the "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" business model and spends 10% of company revenues on its racing business.  It appears to be working as the company has won 13 rider's World Championships since the championship's inception in 1988.  It has been argued that Ducati has amassed more wins than any other manufacturer because the rules are deliberately set to favor their bikes through manufacturer lobbying; this, of course, is a matter of dispute as displayed by the frequent arguments and fist-fights in cafe's and taverns across Europe and in the UK.  In 2006, Troy Bayliss' championship winning 999R was said to have 10 to 15 hp  LESS than the Japanese four-cylinder rivals, despite the fact that the Ducati V-twin had fewer limitations imposed for tuning its engine (afforded due to the two-cylinder configuration).

 

  To date, there are more than 400 Ducati clubs worldwide and nearly 25,000 registered users of the Ducati Owners Club web site.  Enthusiasts and riders are informally referred to in the motorcycling community as Ducatista or Ducatisti.

   

Today in motorcycle history, September 20, 1965

                           


                                    
                                                  

 

  One of the roughest ISDT (International Six Day Trial) races takes place.  At the Isle of Man, inclement weather is partly to blame for only 82 out of 299 riders finishing, with no American riders getting past Day Three.  The first ISDT American club team in 1961 was Lloyld Lingelbach,  Jim Brunson and Bud Ekins.  Bud was on a 650cc Triumph while both Lloyd and Jim were on 246cc Greeves.

                                       ****************************************

  The original Greeves company was founded by Bert Greeves.  One morning while Bert Greeves was mowing the lawn of his home in Worcestershire, West Midlands, he had the idea of fitting the lawnmower engine to his disabled cousin's wheelchair and-BAM!- the Invacar was invented.  Soon Invacar Ltd was set up and won a major contract to provide motorized three-wheeled invalid vehicles to the UK Government Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance.

  Encouraged by his disabled cousin Derry Preston-Cobb and by the success of his Invacar, Bert decided to diversify into motorcycle production.  Known as a very capable trials rider in his spare time and also as a collector of vintage motorcycles he thought he could produce a bike that would not only sell but, compete.

  Preston-Cobb was made Sales Manager for the motorcycle business and they started with three models, a scrambler, a three speed road bike and a four-speed version.  At the 1954 Earls Court Show, they also launched the 'Fleetwing', a two-cylinder two-stroke with a 242 cc British Anzani engine developed from the same as those used for motor boats and featuring a crankshaft with a hollow midsection that acted as a rotary inlet valve.  With a top speed of just 61 mph, the Fleetwing continued in production until 1956 when the stock of British Anzani engines was finally exhausted.  The Fleetwing name was brought back in 1957, however, it was fitted with a 249cc Villiers engine.  This was more powerful than the earlier Fleetwing and now had a top speed of 70 mph.  Albion Engineering Co. of Birmingham, supplied the gearboxes ( Greeves would later replace them with one of their own designs from 1964 forward).  The lightweight high powered package made them successful in the trials market place against Triumph and BSA models.

  But, the '70's came and saw Suzuki dominating the European Championships and soon sales began to slow.  They were successful in winning an important order to supply the Royal Artillery Motorcycle Display Team with motorcycles and developed the 'Greeves Griffons' motocross model, but a change in the law meant that the Invacar, which had been the mainstay of the company was no longer legal for road use so the Ministry of Pensions decided to replace it with a four-wheeled car.  Wise decision,  I might add.  Bert Greeves decided that it was time to retire and after a fire at the factory they were unable to resume production and went into receivership in 1976.

  Oscar Bertram Greeves was appointed MBE in 1972, in recognition of the work he had done for the disabled through Invacar.

 

 

Today in motorcycle history, September 19, 2003

          

  The end of WWII brought joy to the world except on Worthington Street in Springfield, Massachusetts.  During The War, the US Army requested experimental motorcycle designs suitable for desert fighting. In response to this request, Indian designed and built the 841. Approximately 1,056 models were built.  Approximately 1,054 would sit in the warehouse fighting off dust instead of Germans. The Indian 841 was tested by the Army, but even though the motorcycle was adopted for wider military use it was determined that the Jeep was more suitable for the roles and missions for which these motorcycles had been intended.

 

  In 1945, a group headed by Ralph B. Rogers purchased a controlling interest of the company.  On November 1, 1945, duPont formally turned the operations of Indian over to Rogers.

  Under Rogers' control, Indian discontinued the Scout and began to manufacture lightweight motorcycles such as the 149 Arrow, the Super Scout 249, both introduced in 1949, and the 250 Warrior, introduced in 1950.  Production of traditional Indians was extremely limited in 1949, and no 1949 Chiefs are known to exist.

  The manufacture of all products was halted in 1953.

 

  Continuing the trend, The Indian Motorcycle Company of America was formed from the merger of nine companies (yes, I said nine!), including manufacturer California Motorcycle Company (CMC) and IMCOA Licensing America Inc., which was awarded the Indian trademark by the Federal District Court of Colorado in 1998. The new company began manufacturing motorcycles in 1999 at the former CMC's facilities in Gilroy, California, better known as the "Garlic Capital of the World".  The first "Garlic Indian" model, I mean "Gilroy Indian"model was a new design called the Chief (hmm, imagine that).  Scout and Spirit models were also manufactured from 2001.  These bikes were initially made with off-the-shelf S&S engines, but used the 100-cubic-inch (1,600 cc) Powerplus engine design from 2002 to 2003.

  The Indian Motorcycle Corporation went into bankruptcy and ceased all production operations in Gilroy on September 19, 2003.

   

Today in motorcycle history, September 18, 1986

 


 

 

  The first Yamaha FZR 1000 Genesis is presented to a much-awaited public at the Cologne IFMA motorcycle show in Germany on September 18, 1986.

  Yamaha continued the success of it's Supersport predecessors the RD 350 and RD 500.  The FZR 1000 Genesis is considered a milestone model as it marked the transition from 2-stroke to 4-stroke Supersport motorcycles. This shift represented a new generation of high performance big bikes, which employed Yamaha racing technology from the track and in the process, changed people's lives forever.

  However, truth be told, the FZR 1000 layout had already made its debut 2 years earlier. The first YZF 750 Genesis endurance racer was entered at Suzuka 8h race and at the Bol d'Or on the Paul Ricard track in France to "race proof" the "Genesis" technology.