Today in motorcycle history, August 4, 1956

   

    

  The Delphin III becomes the first motorcycle to break 200 mph at Bonneville.

  To break the 200 mph barrier was the desired, but seemingly untouchable goal of many Bonneville motorcycle riders in the early 1950's.  That barrier is finally broken by the legendary German racer, Wihelm Herz.  Riding on a 500cc, supercharged, double overhead cam, V-Twin, NSU streamliner, Herz is clocked at 210.896 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

  With its nearly 211 mph speed, the NSU "Delphin III" was the first bike to cross the 200 mph threshold. It was part of a concentrated onslaught on Bonneville by the German manufacturer, which was fixated on breaking the land speed record. The bike featured an experimental, three-lobe Wankel supercharger rotary device that helped to inspire the Wankel engine. Looking more like a fish out of water than a motorcycle, NSU reduced drag by redesigning the shape of the streamliner to give it its distinctive aerodynamic look. When the day came NSU needed a rider they could trust and that rider was Wilhelm Herz.



  Wilhelm Herz started his racing career in 1932 with DKW and switched over to NSU in 1939. He gained his reputation racing on  national and international courses like the Berlin AVUS, Grenzlandring, Isle of Man, Hockenheimring, Monza, Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Schleizer Dreieck, Helsinki, Schottenring, Nurburgring and Solitude. 

  Herz was honored for his merits in the field of motorsports by former German President Theodor Heuss who presented him the Silbernen Lorbeer in 1952 and in 1972 he received the Order of Merit by former Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl. The city of Hockenheim presented him with the Goldene Verdienstmedaille for his achievements at Hockenheimring, which he not only raced on, but managed from 1954 until 1992.

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Today in motorcycle history, August 1, 1997

      

    

  

  

Joe Haile's, "Motorcycle Turbocharging, Supercharging, & Nitrous Oxide: A Complete Guide to Forced Induction and its use on Modern Motorcycle Engines" is published by Whitehorse Press.

  Remember the turbo trend that began in 1978 with the awesomely powerful Kawasaki ZIR Turbo. Capable of shattering itself into a thousand pieces in less than a quarter mile, the Z1RTC was followed by the Yamaha Seca 650 Turbo, the Suzuki 650cc XN85, the Kawasaki 750 Turbo and the Honda CX550 -all sold on ebay as collectors' items nowadays.


   "The turbo bikes seemed to disappear, hampered by their heavy weight and complexity, and virtually outlawed by insurance companies. Yet they may just be coming back-certainly as a means of boosting performance without breaking (too many) laws, depending on what city/state/country you live in.

   Many other motorcycles, maybe even yours, are now equipped with air scoops as a simple and free form of supercharging. If you do own an early ZX-11, this book tells you how to convert it to a dual scoop system. If you own anything else, the book tells you how to buy enough add-on power to beat a ZX-11, twin scoops or no.

  This volume gives a good overview of modern performance technology, tuning methods, and the reasons for destructive engine detonation. While he is an expert on turbos, Haile doesn't claim to be an expert engineer, which is good, meaning that explanations are made graphically, using photos, charts and illustrations, rather than relying upon dry and confusing mathematical equations." - Rider 

  Author Joe Haile has been involved with high performance cars and motorcycles all his life. He has published two books on turbocharging motorcycles and is the publisher/editor of Turbo Bike and Motorcycle Performance magazine.

  Of course you could always just add a nitrous oxide system and expect 300 horsepower from that slow old Ninja in your garage.

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Today in motorcycle history, July 31, 1900

      

  

  The first American production motorcycle? Indian? Harley-Davidson? Orient.

  Hard-core Indian fans always like to remind the Harley folk that their Springfield machines preceded their Milwaukee rival by two years; Indian in 1901, Harley-Davidson in 1903.


  But both Indian and Harley were upstaged by a bicycle company called the Waltham Manufacturing Company founded in 1893 by Charles H. Metz. The name of his machine, and rightful heir to the title “first American production motorcycle” was the Orient-Aster, better known simply as the Orient. The Aster relates to the machine’s French-built engine, a copy of the ubiquitous *DeDion-Bouton.

   In 1898 Charles Metz had been screwing around with various tricycle and quadracycle versions, eventually focusing on a heavy-duty version of his bicycle into which he fitted with an Aster/DeDion-Bouton engine. Apparently it handled like crap, but it moved under its own power. No pedaling, no leg cramps.


  Metz would make history when his 1899 catalog listed his machines as “Orient Motor-cycles” apparently the first published catalog usage of the term 'motorcycle'.


  The official public debut of an Orient motorcycle took place on July 31, 1900 when Metz launched his invention at the Charles River Race Park in Boston which also happened to be the occasion for the first officially recorded motorcycle speed contest in the United States. The Orient won. Not Indian. Not Harley. Orient.

  *The De Dion-Bouton engine is considered to the first high-speed lightweight internal combustion engine. At one point it was licensed to more than 150 manufacturers. The small lightweight four cycle engine was used on many pioneering moto-bicycle brands and was widely copied by many makers including Indian and Harley-Davidson.

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Today in motorcycle history, July 30, 1972

  


 

  Riding a Munch-URS powered machine, the British Team of Chris Vincent and Mike Casey win the 1972 Finnish Grand Prix in the 500cc Sidecar Class at Imatra. 

  One of the legends of sidecar racing, Chris Vincent left school at the age of fifteen and joined the BSA factory race team in Birmingham. In 1954 he would join the Norton race shop and started racing on grasstracks and then in Speedway. It was during his time at Norton that Chris became friends with the well-known sidecar racer Cyril Smith. Smith would prove to be a big influence on the young Speedway rider introducing him to the world of sidehacks. 

  Summoning his inner Dr. Frankenstein, Chris Vincent would eventually meld his loves together, resulting in the "Norbsa".  A Manx Norton frame, swingarm, forks and wheels with a 646cc BSA A10 motor and tranny.  He would then pilot it to the 1958 National Sidecar Championship.

  He won the 1962 Isle of Man TT with passenger Eric Bliss establishing the first all-British Sidecar TT win since 1954, the first mountain circuit win by a British machine since 1925, and the first-ever International TT victory by a BSA.



  Unfortunately, the Norbsa was short-lived as the World Championship status including the TT were to be restricted to 500cc. Chris later used the reliable, competitive engine for Grand Prix and UK 500cc events, the flat-twin BMW RS54 Rennsport.

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Today in motorcycle history, July 29, 1972

  

   

   

    At U.S. 30 Dragstrip in Hobart, Indiana, T.C. Christenson becomes the first man to exceed 180 mph in the quarter mile aboard his double-engine Norton 'Hogslayer'.

   On Nov. 19, 1972, racing against 10 of the top motorcycle dragsters at Ontario Motor Speedway in California, Christenson achieved an 8.52 second quarter mile. His bike — known as "The Worlds Fastest Norton" later broke its own marks with a 7.93 second, 176.12 mph run, also at the famous California dragstrip.

  It was at the 1969 Bowling Green motorcycle drags that Christenson saw Boris Murray’s double-engine Triumph. That bike inspired him and his partner, John Gregory, to begin building their first twin-engine Norton at their shop in *Kenosha, Wisconsin.


  "Kenosha was the perfect place to build racing motors," Christenson said. "It was a factory town with machine shops everywhere and it seemed like the whole town got behind us and pitched in to help build our double-engine bikes."



  Three different versions of the double-engine Norton were built in 1970 and '71. By 1972 the third version of the Hogslayer (named for its ability to beat the dominant Harley-Davidson drag racers of the day) became the most advanced drag racing bike in the country at the time. It featured many firsts, including the first slipper clutch, fuel injection, a two-speed transmission (based on an overdrive unit from a Rambler), revolutionary aerospace materials used in an aerodynamic frame that utilized a rear racing slick specially made for the Hogslayer by M&H Racemaster that was eight inches wide, twice the then normal tire width.


  With the 300-plus horsepower in the 1,620cc nitro-burning Hogslayer, Christenson ultimately ran in the mid-7's at 180 mph and for most of the early-to-mid-1970's he was the fastest drag racer on  planet earth. In 1972, he won the NHRA U.S. Nationals in the first year Fuel Bikes were part of the program. In 1973, he lost only once and set the A/Fuel Bike elapsed time record with a 7.83-second run en route to his Top Fuel win at the NHRA National Motorcycle Record Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He set numerous world records and was featured in wide array of bike magazines. Christenson won the official NHRA Fuel Bike National Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1976.




  'Hogslayer' is now permanently exhibited at The British National Motorcycle Museum in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. It was one of the featured motorcycles in the grand re-opening of the museum.




  *Kenosha, Wisconsin, is home to the legendary Mars Cheese Castle.





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Today in motorcycle history, July 28, 1939

   

 

    

  

  

  Richard Allen "Dick" Hammer, the versatile motorcycle racer who excelled at road race, TT and flat track, is born in Los Angeles, California.

  Dick Hammer was a leading AMA Grand National racer during the 1960's who specialized in TT racing, but was comfortable on anything with two-wheels and a motor. As a novice aboard a Triumph T100R he once won 15 races in succession, in 1959 Dick finished as the high-point flat-track Novice in the country at Ascot Park on a Fred Moxley sponsored BSA Gold Star.


  Hammer finished as the high-point TT rider in California's heavily competitive District 37 in 1960 and 1961. His riding ability began to open eyes in Milwaukee, and in 1962 Harley offered him a sponsored ride through H-D of Long Beach with the highly skilled Jerry Branch as his mechanic. With that support, Dick won the Peoria TT, the only national victory of his career.

   In 1964, he suffered injuries while practicing for the Peoria Tourist Trophy that left him semiconscious in a hospital for 27 days. The front wheel had been installed improperly, and when Dick went over his first jump, the wheel fell off and he hit the ground head-first.

  "One of the toughest guys I have ever met."  Fellow Hall of Famer, Skip Van Leeuwen said of Hammer. "A lot of people thought he'd never ride again. But after being out cold for a month, he got out of the hospital and, the very next Saturday, there he was signing up for a race at Ascot. His eyes were still bloodshot, but he rode that night," Van Leeuwen said.

  In his 12 years on the pro circuit, Dick Hammer tallied one national victory, 12 national podium finishes and was ranked in the Top-Ten in the AMA Grand National Championship points three times, with a high ranking of fifth in 1963. He also was a leading rider in the early days of the Lightweight Class before it became a National Series as 250 Grand Prix in the mid 1970's. Winning the first-ever Lightweight Class at Daytona aboard a Harley Sprint in 1963. Then repeating in 1964 and was runner-up to Gary Nixon in '67.


  Dick Hammer retired from professional racing in 1972. He was inducted in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

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Today in motorcycle history, July 25, 1954

 


    

 

 

  Known as one of the true gentlemen of motorcycle racing, Britain's Denis Lashmar is killed during the 1954 German Motorcycle Grand Prix at Solitudering.

 


  Denis Lashmar's first race was at Dunholme in October 1948 for the BMCRC (British Motorcycle Racing Club) Hutchinson 100. Chasing Harrold Daniell on a Lancefield Norton, the inexperienced Lashmar ended up in a field of crops travelling at 80 mph. He would eventually find his way back on the circuit and finished 15th! Impressed by his tenacity Daniell lent Denis his own Norton to ride for the next few races.


  He would win the 1949 1000cc Clubmans TT on a Stan Pike prepared Vincent. More than speed, running out of gas was his major concern as three other riders ahead of him did awarding Denis the victory. Afterwards, he admitted that being a fan of speed the irksome restraint of travelling slowly to reduce gas consumption was worth it because he would take home the trophy but, it robbed  him of the thrill of a high-speed run on the mountain course.


  He competed in three TT events in 1951, his best result being 13th in the Senior on Daniell's Norton. In 1954 he was entered by the legendary Geoff Duke in both the Junior and Senior races on a Pike-BSA, finishing in both. Sadly, Denis was killed in the penultimate lap of the 1954 500cc German Grand Prix at Solitude near Stuttgart while riding a BSA A7 prepared by Stan's brother, Roland.

   BMCRC printed a tribute that read in part, “ His happy-go-lucky manner never left him whether he was enjoying a hard-fought race or wrestling with a recalcitrant machine in the paddock, and his dashing style of riding often placed him amongst the leaders, even though their models might be faster. With his death Bemsee has lost one of its keenest members, a genuine private owner who rode for the sheer joy of travelling fast.” 

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