Today in motorcycle history, October 18, 1941

                                  

               

 

  The Motor Maids are officially recognized as the world's first women's motorcycle club when they're granted Charter #509 by the AMA (American Motorcyclist Association).

 

 

  Linda Dugeau's boyfriend hoarded pennies during the summer of 1930 so he could purchase a $15 motorcycle. "The minute I saw it I wanted to ride," said Dugeau.

  "Girl riders", as the motorcycle magazines called them, were scarce in those days.  As motorcycling became an obsession for Dugeau, she and her friend Dot Robinson sought to unite female motorcyclists in a club modeled after Amelia Earhart's sorority for women pilots called 'The 99ers'.

 

  Dugeau, Robinson and 39 other women met for the first time in 1940. They settled on the name 'Motor Maids of America', and established two rules: A Motor Maid must own her own motorcycle, and she must at all times conduct herself like a lady.  Indeed, its original colors were pink before, in 1944, changing to royal blue and silver gray at which the same time they adopted their shield logo.  White gloves were also part of the uniform.  

  Dot Robinson would be named the first president (a position she would hold for the next 25 years) and would become one of the most influential women in American motorcycling.

  A few things have changed. You can't get a bike for $15 anymore; the large touring models favored by Motor Maids cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000.  The white gloves and ties that once distinguished club members are now donned only for parades.  The organization's name has been updated to 'Motor Maids Inc.', but the Motor Maids are still out to prove that "women who ride motorcycles can be above reproach."  Their four-page constitution and bylaws, revised in 1985, stipulate that members must be of good character and "at no time shall a member of the Motor Maids appear on her motorcycle in shorts or abbreviated costume."

Today in motorcycle history, October 10,1999

            

           

  Doug "Danger" Senecal breaks Robbie Knievel's 17 semi-truck record jump by one truck in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

  Doug Danger first began making a name for himself in 1979 when he successfully jumped 10 cars in Palmer, Massachusetts.  After 10 years of jumping assorted vehicles and obstacles in various venues  up and down the East Coast, Danger finally makes the big league when he breaks Evel Knievel's record for the longest car jump , by clearing 20 cars in Toronto, Canada in 1989.

  Two years later, Doug would break the longest ramp-to-ramp jump by an American, by clearing 38 cars at a total distance of 251 feet at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The jump lands him in the Guinness Book of World Records for the farthest jump ever completed.  The fame is coming, now for a little rent money...

 

  ... just prior to a 1992 Robby Knieviel vs Doug Danger jump-off with a purse of over *$750K Doug misses an 11 car jump at Hudson Speedway in Hudson, New Hampshire, and suffers 17 broken bones including a fractured skull, ribs, femur, tibia and fibula.  Doug remained in a coma for more than a month.  The right side of his brain was found to be damaged and it would be over 3 years before he completely regains his memory.  (*Eddie Kidd would step in and beat Robbie Knievel in the jump-off.)

 

  On March 18, 2000, Doug Danger jumped an L-1011 Jumbo Jet wing tip-to- wing tip. The jump was filmed for the "I Dare You" television show. The jump was 160' across. The takeoff ramp was 4 feet wide and 20 feet high. The fuselage of the plane was 27 feet off the ground. Doug had to reach a height of 30 feet in the air. 

  Doug "Danger" Senecal, one of the greatest motorcycle daredevil you've probably never heard of.

Today in motorcycle history, October 16, 1989

 


          
  

  C'mon, Ponch, let up...

  Since the beginning of September the CHP (California Highway Patrol) has been erecting roadblocks every Sunday along a two-mile stretch of Mulholland about 200 yards west of the Rock Store.  And although the authorities say the tactic has eliminated motorcycle racing, the Rock Store's proprietors say it is strangling their long-established business.

 "I'm down about 85%," said Veronica, who with her husband has run the Rock Store for 28 years and is usually known simply as "Vern."

  Hare Kokkinos, a Northridge resident taking a break from his latest weekend motorcycle ride, stood outside the Rock Store and described how Sunday afternoons used to be at one of the best-known biker pit stops not just in L.A., but in the world.

  "This place was packed with metal; motorcycles were everywhere," said Kokkinos, nodding at a long parking lot off Mulholland Highway that fronts the store about two miles south of Agoura Hills.

  "It was wall-to-wall bikers."

  The Rock Store, a small cafe and grocery that draws a wildly eclectic mix of motorcycle enthusiasts , patch-holding club members and upscale "yuppie bikers," including Hollywood figures such as comic Jay Leno and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Far fewer motorcyclists come in now, say the store's owners, Ed and Veronica Savko, who blame a determined--and controversial--California Highway Patrol effort to stop motorcycle racing along the highway's scenic but deadly curves.

  "They're trying to force us out of business," Ed insisted. "You wonder if this is a police state or something."

"The Highway Patrol is not out for a good purpose," snapped a middle-aged motorcyclist from Santa Monica who identified himself only as "Joe".

"They totaled three patrol cars out here chasing motorcyclists," he said with a laugh. "And I guess that made the CHP angry." 

  
 

Today in motorcycle history, October 15, 1961

 

 

  Homeboy Jorge Kissling wins the 1961 500cc Argentine Grand Prix at the Autódromo Juan y Oscar Galvez circuit in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  It's beginners luck as it's his first ever Grand Prix race.

 

  Australian Tom Phillis wins both the 125cc and 250cc class.  He would go on to win the 1961 FIM 125cc World Championship.  The very first World Championship for Honda.

 

  Phillis died while competing in the 1962 Isle of Man TT.  The defending 500 cc world champion, Gary Hocking, was so affected by the death of his friend that he immediately retired from competitive motorcycling.

  Thomas Edward Phillis was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the TT race course starting-line.

Today in motorcycle history, October 14, 1977

 

 

  Evel Knievel pleads guilty to beating the crap out of Shelley Saltman.

  While recuperating from his crash at the Chicago International Amphitheatre (jumping a 90' shark tank) the book Evel Knievel on Tour was released, written by Evel's promoter for the Snake River Canyon jump, Fox VP Shelly Saltman.  The book paints an unflattering picture of Knievel's character, portraying him as abusive to his wife and kids and also as a heavy drug user.  Evel freaks out.  With both arms still in casts, he flies to California to confront Saltman.  Outside of the 20th Century Fox studio commissary, one of Knievel's friends allegedly grabbed Saltman and held him, while Knievel attacked him with an aluminum baseball bat, screaming, "I'm going to kill you!" According to a witness to the attack, Evel starting swinging, connecting repeatedly with Shelley's head.  While attempting to fend off his attacker Saltman's arm and wrist were shattered in several places before he finally fell to the ground like a wet sack of potato's (it would take numerous surgeries and permanent metal plates in his arm to eventually give Saltman back the use of his arm).  The book was pulled from the shelves by the publisher after Evel threatened to sue.  Saltman later produced documents in both criminal and civil court that proved that, although Knievel claimed to have been insulted by statements in his book, Shelley and his lawyers had actually been given editorial access to the book and Knievel had approved and signed off on every word prior to its publication.  

  On October 14, 1977, Evel Knievel pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to three years' probation and six months in county jail, during which he publicly flaunted his brief incarceration for the press. 

  Because of the assault and the jail-time that followed, Knievel lost most of his marketing endorsements, including Harley-Davidson and Ideal Toys. 

  In 1981, a civil lawsuit was filed; the civil court judge called Knievel’s acts “cowardly” and awarded Shelley Saltman $12.75 million in damages.  Knievel declared himself to be bankrupt and none of the civil award was paid.  In 2007, Saltman released a second book entitled Fear No Evel: An Insider's Look at Hollywood in which he told his side of the attack.

  Then after Evel Knievel's death in late 2007, Saltman announced he would be suing the estate for the unpaid award from the civil suit, which he claims now amounts to over $100 million with interest.

Today in motorcycle history, October 11, 1998

  

  



                  

 

  "In 1903, three Davidson brothers and their friend, Bill Harley, started a rumble heard 'round the world..."

  Michael Sapherstein publishes his much-awaited analysis of Harley's attempt at registering a trademark on the sound of their V-Twin motor.

 

  "If motorcyclists are a unique breed, Harley-Davidson motorcyclists must be considered a cult unto themselves. They have transformed the hobby of motorcycling into a lifestyle, replete with clubs, clothing, and a distinct "biker" culture.  

  The Harley-Davidson corporation's ability to evangelize the Harley lifestyle - as on the company's website - without alienating a customer-base which prides itself on being free-spirited and countercultural has been a testament to its marketing shrewdness. However, in a business expansion which probably irked the hardcore Harley faithful, the company now manufactures or licenses jewelry, watches, clothing, and a chain of "lifestyle" restaurants called the Harley-Davidson Café. 

Harley-Davidson's most recent endeavor to secure trademark protection is not only its most unconventional, it is also arguably, the most unusual and provocative trademark application ever filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). On February 1, 1994, Harley filed a registration for a trademark, then already in use, with the following description: "THE MARK CONSISTS OF THE EXHAUST SOUND OF APPLICANT'S MOTORCYCLES, PRODUCED BY V-TWIN, COMMON CRANKPIN MOTORCYCLE ENGINES WHEN THE GOODS ARE IN USE."  Put simply, Harley was attempting to trademark the sound of its motorcycles; which, of course, begs the question, can a manufacturer trademark the exhaust roar of its motor vehicle?..."
  Fast forward to June 20, 2000......Harley-Davidson Inc. pulls the plug on its effort to obtain federal trademark protection for the syncopated "potato-potato-potato" (their words) chug of its idling V-twin motorcycle engine.
  A Harley-Davidson spokesman said the company, which has been battling opposition to its trademark applications from other motorcycle makers for almost six years, "...is tired of tossing tens of thousands of dollars into a legal case with no end in sight."

  Harley has long feared that the thump-thump-thump of its engine, a noise that can thrill or chill, depending on the listener's attitude toward bikes and bikers, would become the next 'nylon' - the early DuPont synthetic whose name wasn't protected and fast became a generic term.

  But the bike maker was riding up a rocky road when it asked the government for a sound patent.  According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times,"...as of 1998, only 23 of nearly 730,000 active trademarks had been issued to protect a noise, and most of those were for artificial arrangements, such as the roar of the MGM lion, NBC's three-note musical chime and the spoken "AT&T" superimposed over musical sounds."

  The article goes on to say, "The maker of bikes, made notorious by outlaw motorcycle gangs in the 1950s and legitimized in the '90s by legions of lawyers, accountants and others who enjoy taking to the road on the throbbing cycles--said it is satisfied that its customers know well the look and sound of a Harley and will not be fooled by imitations."

  "If our customers know the sound cannot be imitated, that's good enough for me and for Harley-Davidson," said Joanne Bischmann, vice president of marketing.

  But yet, I wonder how many of these ladies and gentlemen on their Fat Boys, Wide Glides or Sportsters could tell the difference between the sound of some custom bike with an S&S motor or a Panzer or a Victory or a... 

 

Today in motorcycle history, October 9, 1996

 

  Two-Fat Ladies debuts on BBC2.

 

  Clarissa Dickson-Wright and Jennifer Paterson, travel the United Kingdom, (except for one episode in Ireland and a Christmas special in Jamaica), on a Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle piloted by Paterson.  The Triumph's registration is N88 TFL, the British bingo call for number 88 is "Two Fat Ladies-88", and had a Watsonian GP-700 "doublewide" (40"W) sidecar which was where Dickson-Wright sat and at times navigated.  They traveled to various destinations, such as an army garrison or an all-girls school, an abbey or a seaside hotel, where they prepared large meals, often with unusual ingredients.  Both of the ladies were very fond of strong flavors, often using anchovies, garlic and seasonings quite liberally.  The recipes were all from an older time and tradition when rendered fat and drippings, raw eggs, and unpasteurized milk products were commonplace.  Such as Clarissa's recipe for buttered Spatchcock  (or Spattlecock) which has chickens covered with a thick layer of butter, bread and more butter on top of the bread!  They emphasized the importance of using fresh ingredients of the very best quality, eschewing supermarkets for farms and roadside markets that they would seek out on their travels.

  For you foodies reading this, the first episode takes them to The Shark's Fin Hotel in Mevagissey, Cornwall.  They prepare crab, corn & coriander fritter, fish pie, scallops with leeks and gigot of monkfish romarin with anchovies.

  Clarissa said that when they were told that their cookbook was a bestseller in Los Angeles, where the two thought that everyone seemed to live on lettuce and had a dollop of mayonnaise for treats, she said, "They must have been reading it for pornography."

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  Watsonian is the oldest (and arguably the best) sidecar manufacturer in the world.

  T.F.Watson, a builder with a penchant for inventions, designed a folding sidecar to enable access through the side passages of terraced houses and in 1912 he established the Watsonian Folding Sidecar Co. at Balsall Heath in Birmingham, England.  Since then the company has continued to produce great British sidecars, surviving two world wars, economic boom and bust and a major factory fire in 1930.