Today in motorcycle history, September 16, 1961

  



  

  

 

  Hurricane Debbie destroys Alan Gleeson's 1951 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet (and the garage it was in).

  Hurricane Debbie made landfall in Dooega on Achill Island during the morning of September 16.  Shortly thereafter, it had moved into the Irish mainland over County Mayo. When Debbie struck Ireland, it became the only known tropical cyclone to do so while still tropical.  She brought with her record winds, a few locations reporting excess of 100 mph, including at Balleykelly, Tiree and Snaefell.  A peak gust of 114 mph measured just offshore. These winds caused widespread damage and disruption, downing tens of thousands of trees and power lines. Countless structures (including garages and pubs) sustained damage or were destroyed.


  Across Ireland Hurricane Debbie was responsible for the deaths of 18 people, 12 in the Republic of Ireland and six in Northern Ireland.  It caused $40–50 million in damage in the Republic and at least $4 million in Northern Ireland.



  Alan Gleeson had bought his Bullet after Johnny Brittain won a gold medal on his 350cc in the 1950 International Six Days Trial (ISDT) in Wales.





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Today in motorcycle history, September 15, 1966

 


  

  

  The decline of domestic and British brand motorcycles begins.

  According to September 15, 1966 issue of Forbes magazine, Harley-Davidson sales went from $16,000,000 in the fiscal year 1959 to $29,600,000 in 1965.  During the same period, American Honda sales jumped from a meager $500,000 to $77,000,000. They would continue to boom in 1966, to $106,000,000.

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

Today in motorcycle history, September 13, 1972

  



  

  "One-Adam 12, One-Adam 12." In episode 1, sason 5 of Adam-12, Officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) fight to keep the streets of Los Angeles safe.

  A pair of motorcyclists on dirt bikes snatch handbags and go off-road down trails where the police cannot follow in their squad cars.  A local motorcycle club, Kings Choppers MC (Mickey Dolenz portrays "Oiler"), is suspected.  Reed invites them to a community meeting to air their complaints on their alleged constant harassment by "the man".  They show up and their leader, "Skinner" (Edd Byrnes), argues with Malloy that they're not "punk purse snatchers".  Things get heated between the two and Skinner challenges Malloy to a duel and they settle on a dirt bike race.  Jim must then teach Pete how to ride a dirt bike.  After a crash-course he figures he's ready to take on Skinner, he's not.  Malloy loses the race but seems to gain some respect from the Club.  When another purse snatching occurs, the pursuit ends at the dirt trails.  However, this time Kings Choppers are on the other end of the trail and force the thieves back to Malloy and Reed where they surrender.  Los Angeles is  safe and happy once again.

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

Today in motorcycle history, September 11, 1938

  



  

  

  Aboard an Indian Scout, Ed "Iron Man" Kretz wins the 1938 200 mile Laconia Classic. The race is held at Belknap Recreation Area in Gilford near Laconia, New Hampshire, as part of the New England Gypsy Tour.  It's the only Laconia Classic that was 200 miles, normally it's 100 miles.

  Ed "Iron Man" Kretz was hands-down the greatest American motorcycle racer of his day and the first major star of AMA Class "C" racing. He was a fierce competitor, a biker's biker, who strove to finish, and win, every race.



  Kretz's big breakthrough win came at the 1936 200-mile Road Race National Championship at Savannah, Georgia, where he beat the best riders from across the country. Ed was suddenly one of the best-known racers in the country. He was given a contract with Indian that paid him $200 per month (a nice hunk of change during the Depression) as well as travel and expense money.


  But, the ride that the Iron Man will forever be remembered for was his victory in the inaugural Daytona 200 in 1937.  It would go on to become the single most important motorcycle race in America, and Kretz's win at the very first one earned him a significant place in the history of the sport.

  

  Among his considerable accomplishments were victories at nearly all of the major national events of the late 1930's and 1940's, including the Savannah 200, the inaugural Daytona 200, the Langhorne 100 Mile and the Laconia Classic. Only one major race eluded Kretz over the years– the Springfield Mile. 

  Ed Kretz was inducted in the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.

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

Today in motorcycle history, September 10, 1936

 

  

  

  In a Match Race for the ages, Australian Lionel Van Praag wins the inaugural Speedway World Championship at London's Wembley Stadium over England's Eric Langton.

  The 1936 Speedway Championship was decided by a run-off when bonus points accumulated in previous rounds by Van Praag and Langton tied them atop the standings.


  As they lined up at the tapes to decide the champion, Langton broke them which would ordinarily lead to automatic disqualification. However, Van Praag stated there's no way he was going to win the title by default and insisted that a race should take place. At the restart Langton made it to the first bend in front and led until the final bend on the last lap when Van Praag somehow darted through a pinhole of a gap to win by less than a wheel length.




  In 2008, Lionel Maurice Van Praag was inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame.





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

Today in motorcycle history, September 9, 1956

  

  

   At Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Britain's Geoff Duke outrides Italy's Libero Liberati to win the 1956 500cc Class Nations Grand Prix by 0.1 seconds.

  In one of the most nail-biting races in the history of the Nations GP, Gilera team-mates Geoff Duke and Libero Liberati battled each other at every turn, at every straight away. So evenly matched on this Sunday that they even tied for the fastest lap at 1:50.4.

  Libero Liberati would win the 1957 500cc World Championship (Gilera).  Geoff Duke would win the 500cc World Championship in 1951 (Norton), 1953 (Gilera), 1954 (Gilera) and 1955 (Gilera).






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

Today in motorcycle history, September 8, 1971

 




  

  Buyers line up outside Suzuki dealers across Japan as the much anticipated GT750 arrives on the showroom floor.

  The prototype Suzuki GT750 was shown at the 17th Tokyo Motor Show in October of 1970 and after almost a year of fine tweeking it's launched in Japan. Billed as a sports touring bike (GT = Grand Tourismo), it was developed from the highly popular T500 with an extra cylinder and liquid cooling thrown in to quell the rider's hunger pangs.  

  The 739cc two-stroke three-cylinder engine was marketed as the Le Mans in the United States and Canada. A heavy bastard, it tipped the scales at 550 lbs, it was rumored to be nicknamed the "Kettle" in Britain and the "Water Buffalo" in the United States. It had it's pluses though, a five-speed tranny, three-into-four exhaust, 32 mm Mikuni's, 67 bhp with a top-speed of 110 mph.  It also featured Suzuki's SRIS (Suzuki Recycle Injection System) which was a method for lowering the visible exhaust smoke by collecting and burning residual oil/gas lying in the bottom of the crank chambers. This was a first for any two-stroke. A point of pride for Suzuki engineers.

  In 1973 Suzuki  announced that two 295 mm discs were replacing the drum front brake. Making Suzuki the only manufacturer that was offering dual front disc brakes at the time. By 1974 it had increased the top-speed to 120 mph but, as with all the late 1970's big two strokes the GT750 succumbed to stricter emission regulations and competition from technical developments of the invading four-strokes. Suzuki GT750 production finally ended in 1977. 

  The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, includes the 1971 Suzuki GT750 as one of their 240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology.

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