Today in motorcycle history, July 14, 1990

  

  On July 14, 1990, Dave Campos, driving the Easyriders streamliner, sets both the AMA and FIM absolute speed records with an overall average speed of 322.150 mph, and a second, faster run at an average of 322.870 mph.

  With a liver-quivering speed of 322.150 mph, Campos drives the Harley-Davidson Easyriders into the books. The record-breaking streamliner was owned by Joe Teresi, owner and publisher of Easyriders magazine, funded in part by $25 public shares that bought Easyriders readers tickets to the show (10,000 shares were sold altogether) resulting in an alleged record-breaking crowd at the Bonneville Salt Flats. 

  The bike was powered by two 1,500cc Ruxton Harley-Davidson Shovelhead engines. With a 2,500-lb. dry weight and a length of 23', the Easyriders streamliner broke the 12-year-old record—not bad for a bike that was rebuilt with the help of crowd members after it experienced a 300 mph crash on a test run. On the third day of the sixteen it took to break the record, the bike was damaged after an accident. The team and many sponsors stayed up three days and nights to fix it. Beers were paid for by Easyriders.




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Today in motorcycle history, July 12, 1971

  


   

  Bruce Brown's motorcycle race documentary 'On Any Sunday' is screened at the American Film Institute campus in Beverly Hills, California.

  'On Any Sunday' featured Steve McQueen (who partially bankrolled the flick), AMA Grand National Champion Mert Lawwill, Baja racing legend Malcolm Smith, Motocross World Champion Roger DeCoster and many other motorcycle racers from the late 1960's and early 1970's.

  The film's real stars are the machines. Really cool footage of some great motorcycles that include Triumph, Husqvarna, Suzuki, Harley Davidson, BSA, Yamaha, Hodaka and Bultaco.

The following is from TCM Side notes...

  "...according to the July 1971 Variety review, Brown spent two years filming the picture, shooting nearly 150 hours of footage. In a 1999 interview, Brown stated that the film was shot in 16mm at a cost of $330,000. A 1974 news item in Box Office adds that the film, which was released in 35mm, grossed $10,000,000. Brown noted that after completing the film, which utilized twelve cameraman to capture the various races, he realized he could have filmed it much more efficiently using a single camera and shooting much less footage. The July 1971 Hollywood Reporter review stated that the film was originally to be released on June 30, 1971, but was recalled for final editing. According to the Variety review, the film was screened at the American Film Institute campus (then in Beverly Hills) on July 12, 1971, two days before its Los Angeles opening. The LAHExam review noted that, when the film opened in Los Angeles, it was played with an intermission.
  'On Any Sunday' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary. The June 1974 Box Office news item noted that Yamaha motorcycles advanced $3,000,000 to reissue the film, which was to play in forty area theaters and be promoted by Roger Riddell, one of the riders in the film and a friend of McQueen and Brown. In 1981, Riddell and Don Shoemaker, who edited 'On Any Sunday' and served as one of the film's photographers, made a sequel titled 'On Any Sunday II', directed by Ed Forsyth. 'Dust to Glory', a 2005 film depicting the Baja 1000 off-road race, was written and directed by Bruce Brown's son Dana and included some archival footage from 'On Any Sunday'. A modern source includes David Evans in the cast.

  

 

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Today in motorcycle history, July 11, 1971

 






  

  Evel Knievel jumps nine cars (three 1971 Ford Mustangs, six Datsun 510's) and a Dodge Tradesman van at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

  The jump is Day 3 of a four-day engagement at The Garden.  July of 1971 is one of the busiest months in Evel Knievel's career, earning him the self-proclaimed moniker of 'The busiest rider in showbizz'.  

  He opens July with the four jumps in NYC (July 8-11) then goes north to Lancaster Speedway in Buffalo, New York (July 15-17), where each night he jumps 13 cars and, reportedly stays up until 1:00-2:00 in the morning signing autographs, before ending his tour at Pocono Downs Raceway in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (July 29-30).  The Wilkes-Barre leaps are over 12 Stegmaier Beer trucks, much to the delight of the sold-out crowds. Stegmaier beer sales for that Thursday and Friday set brewery records.  "Bartender, another 'Steg', please."

  Evel talked to 'The New Yorker' magazine about the jumps at Madison Square Garden. “I’ll be riding a Harley-Davidson XR 750—a factory-produced racing machine. It uses ethyl gas. The ramps are wooden—four-by-twelves—seven feet wide, with steel supports, set at a thirty-degree angle. Before the jump, I concentrate on what to do—I’m worrying about the sparkplugs, the chain, throttle, tires, the r.p.m. at the takeoff point. I’ve missed nine times, but I don’t have a death wish. Life to me is a bore, really, and jumping has replaced card games, ski-jumping, stealing. How some of the other people survive, I don’t know. If it weren’t for me, they’d have nothing to do—and if it weren’t for them, I couldn’t make a living. If I’m right with the man in the glass [mirror], that’s all that matters. It’s a challenge, like a ski jump. Everything is waiting, and then you’ve done it, and that’s what your life is. I live to beat that challenge.”

  The day of the opening, at around four in the morning, Knievel made his first trial jump, landed, zoomed into the wings, and smashed into the wall, injuring himself (one of the handlebars went into his groin; his legs were bruised) and wrecking the front end of his motorcycle. There was talk of cancelling the show, but Knievel decided against it. The motorcycle was repaired, and thin strips of corrugated rubber were taped to the floor of the Garden; these, it was hoped, would slow him down so that he could stop a few feet short of the wall.

  Every jump that July, all nine of them, go successfully.  

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Today in motorcycle history, July 9, 1999

  

  

   

  Charles "Pete" Conrad, the Apollo 12 astronaut who was the third man to set foot on the moon, dies after losing control of his motorcycle on a mountain road near Ojai, California.

  Pete Conrad died at Ojai Valley Hospital, five hours after crashing his 1996 Harley-Davidson. His wife, Nancy, was riding behind on another motorcycle when the crash occurred. Conrad went wide on a corner and lost control on California Highway 150 about three miles east of Ojai in an unincorporated area of Ventura County. The couple and several of their friends had been riding their bikes heading north to Monterey.

  It was not uncommon to see the 69 year-old space pioneer out riding his Harley. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times several years ago, Conrad said he enjoyed "Fast bikes, fast cars and anything that moves."

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

  Pete Conrad and Cmdr. L. Gordon Cooper were launched on the Gemini 5 flight Aug. 21, 1965. Despite mechanical difficulties, near-aborts and physical discomfort, the flight lasted eight days. It was the longest manned space flight to that date.

  Conrad's next space exploration was when he commanded the three-day Gemini 11 flight on Sept. 18, 1966. The Gemini missions kept pushing the frontier, paving the way for Conrad's biggest challenge: The Apollo 12 voyage from Nov. 14 to 24, 1969.

  It was on that mission that Conrad and astronaut Alan Bean walked on the dusty lunar surface collecting rocks and conducting experiments. In a 1996 interview, Conrad recalled looking homeward from the lunar surface: "The Earth resembled a beautiful blue marble suspended against a black velvet blanket." Conrad was later awarded a Space Medal of Honor.

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Today in motorcycle history, July 8, 1955

                                                   

  

  

  

  

  Jimmy R. Zumwalt applies for a patent for his motorcycle tow-bar.  The bike world rejoices.

  We have all broken down for one reason or another and found ourselves in need a tow. You call a friend who comes out with a truck or a van or he shows up on his bike with some rope. We've all, some more successful than others, came up with an idea how to tow the bike.  Hold on to a rope or chain (challenging), tied up the front wheel on the tailgate (really fucking dumb), some grab a welder and some round-tubing, square-tubing, angle-iron, flat-bar, etc.  "This oughta work (famous last words)."  Whatever we've tried, no matter if it completely failed or worked so well you've suddenly become 'Mr. Popular', we owe a bit of debt to Jimmy Zumwalt.

  'COMBlNED MOTORCYCLE TOW BAR COUPLING AND FRONT WHEEL LIFT'.  Jimmy R. Zumwalt, application July 8, 1955, Serial No. 520,707.  Patent granted on April 23, 1957.

 "The principal object of my invention, therefore, is to provide a universal coupling securable to a standard vehicle tow-hitch which allows vertical and lateral movement of the motorcycle being towed, relative to the towing vehicle, without the use of the front wheel assembly of the cycle.

  Still another object of my invention is to provide a tow bar assembly which, when secured to the cycle frame and the front wheel axle of a motorcycle, not only retains said front wheel above the ground but secures the front wheel assembly against any movement whatever while the cycle is being towed and provides a rigid longitudinal support thereto.

  Another object of the invention is to provide a structurally sound tow bar assembly easily adaptable for towing of practically all types of motorcycles employing the rear wheel to provide tractability thereto and assure stability to the front wheel assembly during the towing operation."

  Thanks Jimmy Z. 

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Today in motorcycle history, July 7, 1968

  

 

  

  Dark skies loom over the Belgium Grand Prix.

  The 1968 sidecar Belgium Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps featured a fiercly competitive race between the BMW teams of Johann Attenberger and his passenger Josef Schillinger and Georg Auerbacher and his passenger Hermann Hahn.  The teams reportedly were actually bumping each other trying to get into position for the win. On the last lap at full speed down the Masta Straight, Johann lost control and hit the corner of a house and then crashed into a nearby pine tree. Tragically, Attenberger and Schillinger were killed instantly. 


  Johann Attenberger and Josef Schillinger had won the Dutch TT at Assen just one week earlier, and were leading the World Sidecar Championship.





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Today in motorcycle history, July 2, 1967

     





  

  The 1967 Belgian Grand Prix takes place at the beautiful, but very challenging, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

  Riding for Factory Suzuki, reigning World Champion Hans-Georg Anscheid wins the 50cc Class while Britain's Bill Ivy takes the 250cc Class, (there was no 125cc Class at the Belgium GP in '67), aboard a works Yamaha.  The Italian racing legend Giacomo Agostini* would once again battle Britain's Mike Hailwood** to win the 500cc Class, (no 350cc Class at the '67 BGP), enroute to his second consecutive World Championship.

  *Giacomo Agostini would end his career with a mind-boggling eight 500cc Class World Championships for MV Augusta.

  ** Mike Hailwood would win only four 500cc World Championships for Honda but, they pulled out of GP racing in 1968 so the mind wonders...

  Hailwood also seemed  to own Isle of Man, claiming TT victory fourteen times.

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