The rapid diffusion of motorcycle transport has positive effects on the lives of Africans, both in urban centers and in the countryside, as noted in our previous article. But the ubiquitous Chinese motorcycle has also increased jihadist's nuisance capabilities, especially the infamous Boko Haram sect. Very active in Nigeria (where it was founded in 2002), Boko's abuses have spilled over to neighboring states of northern Cameroon and Chad. The Mandara Mountains have long been a haven for the Boko Haram bases, from which flash attacks into Cameroon began. The Cameroonian army, backed by Chad, forced direct clashes with the jihadists, who then moved further north to Lake Chad itself.
The mobile unit of Boko Haram consists of three men: the pilot sits very far forward on the tank; in the middle, the "navigator" is also supplier of ammunition of the third, the gunner. We can see the advantage of the enclosed secondary chain guard as well as the extended footrests [Christian Seignobos]The tactics of the jihadists have been described by Christian Seignobos, director of studies at the Institute for Research for Development (IRD). He spent about fifty years between Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon, and in his latest book on the subject - 'Des Mondes Oubliés' ('Forgotten Worlds'; IRD Parenthesis Editions) - he's illustrated his text with drawings made with with a feather dipped in Chinese ink. Many of his remarkable drawings depict what he calls "the motorized Cossacks" of Boko Haram.
The Mandara Mountains (averaging 900m /2700') are in tan. In light gray, the theoretical shore of Lake Chad, and in dark gray what is left in summer (a seasonal shift) [Bourdache]Christian Seignobos explains; "Currently their elements, always mounted on motorcycles, are stealing and harassing. The Chadians, with their columns of Toyota Land Cruisers, believed themselves the undisputed masters of the war of movement. But they cannot pursue the bikers of Boko Haram, who disappear into the savannah's brush, following animal trails."
Cattle herders bring their cows to Lake Chad, where decreasing water levels have exposed new grazing land. One of the largest lakes in the world, central Africa's Lake Chad, is drying up. After four decades of rising temperatures, diminishing rainfall and soaring population growth, a lake that once covered some 9,000 square miles- roughly the area of New Jersey- has shrunk to less than 2 percent of its original size. Today the lake would barely cover Brooklyn and Manhattan [Shashank Bengali/MCT]The armies of Chad and Cameroon are suspicious of the loyalty of villagers, who are promised benefits by Boko Haram (contraband, rewards for 'services rendered', and even regular wages), especially when they share a common religion. In order to curtail the movements of jihadists, the Chadian army has launched an operation of requisition and destruction of 'suspicious' motorcycles.
A 15meter long boat as used by fishermen in Lake Chad, adapted for use by Boko Haram as highly mobile amphibious transport, when motorcycles are added. [Christian Seignobos]Such radical measures have killed many innocent motorcyclists, writes Christian Seignobos, because "Between Nigeria and northern Cameroon, there are countless tragic misunderstandings of people killed on their motorbikes while traveling to distant fields... By carrying a bag of rice, one can be accused of going to supply a Boko Haram faction in the bush. For more than two years, this paranoia has been economically paralyzing entire regions."
Aerial view of a village in the Chad basin, now deserted by its inhabitants [Bourdache]By moving to the complicated and ever-changing shores of Lake Chad, the jihadists have secured a territory conducive to their fight, while moving ever further from their home base in the Mandara Mountains, and the surrounding plains. From Lake Chad, they direct multiple terrorist actions, using girls and boys (especially girls) as suicide bombers, who blow themselves up in crowded marketplaces and cafes.
Various iterations of the Boko Haram moto assault vehicles [Christian Seignobos]Lake Chad is shrinking from year to year, but with an area of 2500-8000 square kilometers remaining, it offers plenty of space for jihadists who know how to use strategic opportunities. They move from one island to another in long dugout canoes that can carry twenty fighters and a few motorcycles. They thus become amphibious, hunting their prey on the earth and the water.
The Nigerian military fights fire with fire, with moto units of their own [Bourdache]Boko Haram's boats are modeled on those used by lake's fishermen, measuring from 12 to 17meters long (36' to 50'), and motorized by 25 to 40hp engines. The largest boats can carry nearly a hundred jihadists along with a dozen motorcycles, according to Seignobos. Protected from view by the abundant plant life bordering the lake, and covered with camouflaging foliage, their boats merge with the scenery, are invisible from the sky, and sneak through the maze of shallow channels surrounding the islands in Lake Chad.
The carcasses of confiscated motorcycles in Nigeria: every motorcycle is suspicious in areas bordering Boko Haram strongholds, and motorcyclists are shot without cause for simply being on wheels. The effect is crippling the economy [Bourdache]On the mainland, Boko Haram finds it difficult to refuel its motorcycles with gasoline provided by smugglers in Nigeria and Cameroon. And recently, all two-wheelers are systematically destroyed by the army with each clash. Boko Haram has quickly adapted to the loss of their motorcycles, with the jihadists moving onto horseback or camels, especially during the rainy season which floods the lowlands, prohibiting the movement of any motorized vehicle. The response of the military has been to forbid the population to ride on horseback!
The fastest means of transport for regular Cameroonian and Chadian armies is the Toyota pickup, which was also the choice of the jihadists ... after the motorcycle! [Bourdache]The Nigerian government has created its own motorcycle units to fight Boko Haram on its own terms. The BIR (Rapid Intervention Battalion) of the Cameroonian army also patrols Lake Chad aboard large, heavily armed Zodiacs. But for a daring soldier, the most effective and unobtrusive solution has been to use a motorcycle taxi 'requisitioned' as required. The risk for the 'volunteer' rider is whether to die refusing, or die as an accessory to a terrorist act.
A moto-taxi commandeered by a Nigerian regular soldier on the lookout for Boko Haram insurgents. It's the Devil's bargain - die resisting the the army, or the insurgents? [Bourdache]
Every great single-cylinder motorcycle has inspired fantasies of doubling the jugs to make a V-twin. It's a very old story, as both Indian and Harley-Davidson tried it (hello), and plenty of customizers have done the same over the years; there are V-twin Velocettes (the Vulcan), Rudges, and even the odd Norton. Ohio's Aniket Vardhan not only sorted how to make a V-twin Royal Enfield (the Musket) using mostly original parts (barring the crankcases of course), but has series produced the motor for a few lucky customers. Celebrated custom builder Maxwell Hazan of Los Angeles ordered two of the current batch of seven Musket motors, and he's just finished his second Musket custom, as seen in a chance visit to his workshop in downtown LA last week.
Max Hazan rapidly fixed his star in the custom motorcycle firmament, as his design sense is impeccable. Hazan's engineering, on the other hand, is polarizing; the dramatic, clear lines of his 'silver machines' catch they eye, but freak out engineers, who worry about that delicate tubing and its robustness in real-world riding situations. But Hazan does consider tubing strength, and finds clever solutions to the various demands placed on his chassis. He's known to vary the wall thickness of the tubing he uses for frames and forks according to the loads they'll face, so while a part might look unbelievably delicate, it might just weigh a ton, as he's been known to use 1/4" wall thickness at times; the go-to pipe of plumbers!
Hazan is stretching his engineering chops in other areas of the chassis, including clever touches like the combined handshift/clutch lever on the rider's left side, and the dual brake pedals on the right. Those cool elements free the handlebars from clutter, and the Musket 2's bars are admirably clean, with internal twistgrips and metal handgrips giving a nearly flush, curved line from side to side.
The front forks are Hazan's own design, and 'upside-down' with springs near the axle. The brake plate anchor visually counterbalances the leading-axle bottom fork lug, while it's mirrored on the other side of the hub by a faux brake plate that directs cooling air via a scoop into the brake drum. Very snazzy, and a motorcycle part I've never seen. While the front wheel has a spoked drum, the rear wheel is a solid mag sourced from an automotive catalog. Painted black, it gives a masculine solidity to the back end, and takes a car tire of course, which has become something of a standard for Hazan's builds. The rear brake plate has two clever cams worked by a cable, and the smooth, featureless transition with the brake drum, as well as the lovely forward-facing brake plate anchor, is beautifully balanced.
Hazan is fond of very slim saddles, sometimes with wooden tops; he wanted to explore stretching leather over the aluminum seat frame in this case...but the client wanted wood! Such is the price of having a signature seat. The saddle pivots on its nose and is sprung by a bicycle shock. That compensate's for the rigid frame, which has an uninterrupted line from the rear axle to the headstock, free of distractions like struts or gussets, just clean lines and curved silver tubes. Would the frame hold up to regular usage on LA's rough pavement? No, but this bike isn't built for such use; it's a design exercise that functions, and an artistic statement in the shape of a motorcycle.
The fuel/oil tank is a softened wedge shape and does triple duty, hiding the voltage regulator in its nose as well, with a funnel-shaped porthole directing cool air at its finned body. The scale of the tank matches that of the headlight, making for a unified top deck, and a very basic silhouette for the whole machine: wheels, frame, engine, tank/light. The masses are so very reduced the bike is almost cartoonish, but any further examination beyond the basic outline reveals the seriousness of Hazan's intention. He's following his own star, and this is the kind of machine we can expect. Long may it continue; his work is a welcome respite from same-same production bikes, and the heaps of unclever customs flooding our inbox.
[A series of never-before-published photos from the National Archives]
It's difficult to imagine today, but at the dawn of the 20th Century the United States had a tiny military, and its foreign policy was steered by the majority pacifist inclination of its people. Leaders of the 'no war/no military' camp included the Church (especially Protestants), the women's movement, the large farming lobby, and scholars/left-leaning thinkers who feared the USA becoming a militarized state. World War 1 (as it became known after WW2) dramatically changed American politics, priorities, infrastructure, and economy in the ways we see today, with most Protestant sects identified with military boosterism and conservative political activism, and over half the federal budget dedicated to military spending. While the US was 'only' involved in the European war for 20 months, it proved the hinge that pivoted America in a totally new, militarized direction, and boosted the fortunes of motorcycle companies able to secure government contracts to supply military equipment.
The assembly department at the Indian factory, where motorcycles are built up from pre-assembled units (engine, gearbox, chassis) arriving from other parts of the factory. Note these are spring-frame chassis, with Indian's patent leaf-sprung rear suspension. [National Archive]The USA did its best to stay out of the European conflict of 1914, remaining technically independent as war raged. America was a growing economic force in the early 20th Century, but its military was very small: in 1915 the US Army included 100,000 men, and the National Guard another 100,000, but combined this was less than 20% of Germany's military, and smaller than the militaries of all 14 combatants of the war. The American Navy was tiny, and 'modern' military ideas like airplanes, tanks, trench warfare, and poison gas simply weren't discussed. Even Henry Ford (ironically to become a supporter of Hitler in the 1930s) financed a 'peace ship' that sailed to Europe to negotiate an end to the war, without success.
"The first motorcycle battery of New Jersey, showing the method of mounting a Colt-Martin rapid fire machine gun on a sidecar."(Note the acetylene gas generator and lamp, and the lack of armor-plating; this machine was intended for use against civilians! Labor strikers, political demonstrations, etc. Note also the machine gun is not as captioned in 1918 - it's actually a Colt-Browning M1895 “potato digger”) [National Archive]America's vision of itself was very different in 1914 than today, and its politics were far less homogenous (regardless of our current, apparently at-odds moment), with the Church playing an important role in shaping public opinion towards pacifism, along with large groups of socialists, anarchists, labor unionists, and syndicalists, as well as the very large agricultural population, which leaned socialist, and distrusted Eastern industrialists. The majority of the country was deeply suspicious of the ulterior motives of pro-war industrialists who stood to benefit handsomely from war, such as the DuPonts (the largest gunpowder supplier), the Carnegies (who supplied steel for ships and armor), and the Morgans (who loaned European combatants huge sums, and would likely finance a revamp of the American military).
The Indian spare parts department, crating up finished pieces for dealers around the world. Note the general lack of work aprons - this was a clean area. [National Archive]Regardless that thousands of German-Americans had tried to enlist in the German military at the outbreak of the war in 1914, by 1916 most Americans were still against the war, and President Woodrow Wilson offered a military budget that kept the status quo, arguing that disarmament was the key to lasting peace. Germany had stoked resentment after a U-boat sank the passenger ship Lusitania in May 1915, (with 128 Americans on board), and took Wilson's unwillingness to bolster the US military as a license to sink any ships supplying Britain and France by 1917. Germany calculated it could sink as many American ships as it wanted, as it would take the US several years to build up its military, by which time Germany would have won, or so it thought. America tilted further towards war in January 1917 after British intelligence intercepted the 'Zimmerman telegram,' in which Germany offered Mexico to return the territories it lost in the Mexican-American War - Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona - for joining its side against the USA!
"Final inspection of the finished machines after testing" (note the lack of work aprons here too - a clean work room)[National Archive]When U-boats sank 7 American merchant ships in April 1917, the US declared war on Germany, which initiated a massive restructuring of the American economy. The Selective Service Act drafted 4 Million men, and by the summer of 1918 2 Million American troops were in France, with 10,000 fresh soldiers arriving daily. The effect of this on the German military was demoralizing, as they were unable to resupply their manpower, and after losing several key battles and the final, 'Hundred Days' Allied offensive, Germany surrendered on Nov. 11, 1918.
"New York's 'finest' march in the annual Police Parade. The motorcycle squad and the machine gun in New York City's annual Police Parade, May 11, 1918" (note the machine gun - as noted above, this machine gun was intended for use against the domestic civilian populations, in the case of labor or political unrest. Organized crime gangs wer always present, but a militarized response to gangs/Mafia only emerged during Prohibition, under FBI director J. Edgar Hoover) [National Archive]Entry into the war brought a rapid change to the American military; suddenly they were forward-facing, and investing heavily in modern tools for warfare, including aircraft, tanks, and - of course - motorcycles. The largest motorcycle company in the world in 1917 was Indian, so naturally they pursued contracts to supply the military, as did Harley-Davidson and Excelsior; the Big 3. The American motorcycle industry shrank dramatically in the 'Teens, a combined effect of the inexpensive Ford Model T with rapidly rising wage and raw materials prices, mostly due to the war in Europe, but the Big 3 were in a position to gear up for war production, and each made their bid to supply military machines. Keen-eyed observers of WW1 photographs will note Harley-Davidsons, Indians, and Excelsior-Henderson v-twins and fours among US military motorcycles. Ex-military Henderson fours were coveted by the officer class, and tended to survive: George Orwell ('1984', 'Animal Farm') even rode an ex-WW1 Henderson in Burma!
"Making motorcycles for the Army at Hendee Mfg Co plant, Springfield Mass. Chamfering gear teeth; this is a form of hollow milling designed to permit the sliding gears in a three-speed gear set to enter mesh with each other readily" (note the short-armed work smock, to keep sleeves out of the machinery) [National Archive]As part of US government oversight of military motorcycle contracts and production, teams of investigators and photographers visited the factories of the Big 3 to document their production methods and capabilities. It wasn't known how long the war would last, nor if it would continue even if Germany surrendered (the US didn't declare war on the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Ottoman empire, and other Central Powers enemies), so the ramp-up in production was considered open-ended.
"Factory of the Indian Motorcycle (sic) Co, Sprinfield Mass" (The main photo shows the offices, the lowest photo the banks of factory windows over a central courtyard) [National Archive]Something as vital as the military supply chain needed documentation, and these photographs of the Indian production line in 1918 are part of the National Archives. They represent a rare look into the working methods of the largest and most modern motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Indian Motocycle Company founder George Hendee had expanded Indian's production facilities in Springfield with a modern, pre-stressed concrete factory of enormous size, which used mostly natural light from very large industrial windows. A few electric lights are visible in work areas, but for most tasks natural light was sufficient, as the windows were 20' tall and ran across the entire length of the building.
"South side of the testing department; inset, tester with cooling fan" (This is where the carburetor would be adjusted and the engine checked for good running - requiring a fan for cooling and ventilation) [National Archive]The Indian factory had not yet adopted Henry Ford's assembly-line techniques, and relied on the old piecework system, in which workers machined parts or bolted-up sub-assemblies (gearbox, frame, sidecar body, engine), which were then moved along to other areas of the factory, where further work would be done or the parts kept in stores, until the whole machine was assembled. Then the finished bikes were tested and inspected on a series of individual ramps, and taken to the shipping department to be packed in crates. From there, they were loaded from a railroad siding at the factory into boxcars, each headed to a distribution center for various parts of the US, or to the docks for international markets. The work ranged from the hellishly hot and noisy forging hammers to the watchmaker's quiet of the gearbox assembly and pinstriping benches, no doubt with the nastiest work on the lower floors, and the clean work up top.
"Stringing-up the wheel and truing up assembly of the wheels before spraying (with paint) and fitting tires" (the hand drill is for tightening the spoke nipples on pre-drilled rims when lacing the wheel) [National Archive]Enjoy this remarkable record of the American motorcycle industry at its first flush of strength! We'll be posting more on the subject, with photos of the Harley-Davidson and Excelsior-Henderson factories in 1918.
"Fitting bushings, line reaming, and other operations. Motor base (crankcase) department" (Note the line of finished crankcases at the very bottom of the photo, and the rows of empty crankcases on the right. Note also the common shaft drive on the ceiling for the belt-driven polishing machinery) [National Archive]"Side car department, showing assembly stands" [National Archive]"Main shipping platform"(Note the knocked-down, crated motorcycles having their cover nailed on, and the row of workers' bicycles beneath the platform) [National Archive]"Making the motorcycles for the Army at the Hendee Mfg. Co. plant, Springfield Mass. A punch press forming the clutch front plate in one stroke" (The din of Odin's hammer! A very noisy place to work...) [National Archive]"Shipping department." (Note the crated motorcycle on the lower right, which is shipped intact. Many motorcycles were shipped 'knocked down' with their wheels removed. Note also the hat and coat hung beside the window, the packing wood shavings, the shop coats, the waistcoats, etc) [National Archive]"Belgian mission arrives in New York City. Detachment of motorcycle policemen of the Police Department who escorted Mission to City Hall waiting in plaza for them to come out after their call on Mayor Mitchel." (Apparently the NYPD perferred Indians!) [National Archive]"Machine for hollow milling seat post cluster. Five operations at once." (and a beautiful composition of lights, darks, and shapes...) [National Archive]"Part of the three speed (gearbox) dep't. showing testing and assembly of the three gears complete." (The large barrel on the right presumably contains grease for filling the gearboxes once assembled.) [National Archive]"Frame dept. where frames are cleared of spelter (excess brazing), etc." [National Archive]"One of a battery of drop hammers for drop-forging." (The hammers of Hades; can you imagine the din of 'battery' of these working all day?) [National Archive]"Grinding cylinders." (Cylinder boring bars - note the Powerplus cylinder assembly, Indian's sidevalve motor, post-1915) [National Archive]"Camp Meade, Admiral, Maryland. Soldiers on motorcycles by a tree in the open, lightly camouflaged with straw and tree tops." [National Archive]"Enamelling department." (Indians were painted in several ways - with sprayed enamel, with dipped enamel, and with hand-painting - these frames are being hand-painted!) [National Archive]
When Japanese motorcycles began their conquest of the Western world in the 1960s and 70s, they did so by developing revolutionary technology (after a phase of copying Western designs). The Japanese industry built machines with staggering performance, with engines revving to previously unknown heights, plus 'traffic conveniences' such as turn signals, electric starters, tachometers, double-cam brakes, and no leaks, all at affordable prices. In the past two decades a comparable revolution has occurred at this scale on another continent: Africa.
The motorcycle is not a total novelty for Africans, but until the 1960s it was mostly an object of curiosity. For centuries the continent was the playground of Westerners in search of thrills in 'unknown' lands. Such adventuring was also a way of discovering exploitable raw materials. Someone said "nothing changes"? (On the shores of Lake Victoria, this Harley-Davidson keeps a two-legged fuel supply). [Bourdache]The difference today is; it's Chinese manufacturers who have maneuvered a takeover, with an economic strategy adapted to Africa. They've built 'assembly' factories in African countries to avoid import duties, at times providing direct financial aid (in the form of grants) within these countries, and used technology 'borrowed' from the Japanese that allows them to market motorcycles at extremely low prices - close to 'dumping,' as economists are fond of saying. Prices for cheap, small-capacity Chinese motorcycles range from 4-600,000 CFA francs ($600-$800) for a 125cc machine, and less for scooters of 50- 80cc that have medium-sized wheels to withstand the local roads.
Malick Sidibé - "The Eye of Bamako" [as featured in our previous article] - observed the evolution of his native Mali, welcoming the first Japanese bikes, including this Honda C110. However, it is unlikely that, on the road, the African male (like many others) would have agreed to leave the driving to his lover ...[Malick Sidibé]For whatever reason, Togo is the hub for incoming Chinese motorcycles that are then shipped to West and Central Africa. In the small northern Togo town of Cinkassé, with 11,000 inhabitants, Chinese Dayang motorcycles arrive in disassembled large lumps, that are then reassembled by a local workforce, and assisted by Chinese technicians. The bikes are then fed to neighboring countries like Benin, Burkina-Faso, Nigeria and beyond. In 2016, Dayang invested 8.5 billion CFA francs ($15.5M)in an assembly plant in the Togo town of Notse, in the south of the country, about sixty kilometers from the capital city of Lome. The goal is ambitious; to produce 2-3000 motorcycles per month!
On February 13, 2018 China made a donation to Togo of 8.5 billion CFA francs. This led the Minister of Economy to declare: "I have the firm conviction that this cooperation will continue to strengthen and will increase the portfolio of intervention projects of China in favor of Togo."
Only 15% of these machines remain in Togo, according to Giorgio Blundo (director at the School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences - EHSS), who states that "Togo imported from China motorcycles worth $250Million in 2016...with 320 factories and nearly 125 brands included." The list of brands is enormous, ranging from Apsonic to Zongshen, and passing through Bli, Boxer, Chunlan, Dayang, Haojin, Haojue, ZF-KY (or Huawin), Jialing, Lifan, Lingken, Pantera, Qinqi , Rato, Royal, Sonlink, Senke, Volex, and dozens and dozens of other brands that might be named for particular retail outlets.
In Nigeria, this 125cc Haojiang is probably a moto-taxi, as the rider is helmeted - as the law requires without much respect. This machine may well be a local version of the Honda CG of the 70s, a utility that has a reputation for being indestructible. [Bourdache]Thus the choice of brands in Africa is immense. And according to Giorgio Blundo, the production of Chinese motorcycles currently totals 23 Million/year, of which 9 million are exported to Africa, Europe, and even the USA. In France, Chunlan and Zongshen are common, as well as Jialing, a virtually unknown brand (to the West anyway) that has an annual output of 2 Million two-wheelers. To put this in perspective, the annual output of Harley-Davidson, Triumph, BMW, Ducati, and Moto Guzzi COMBINED is less than 1 Million motorcycles.
A street in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria, one of the largest cities in the world with legendary traffic jams that are literally never-ending. Taxis and minibuses are yellow in color, and one motorcycle taxi is indicated, lane-splitting. [Bourdache]In most African cities, 'public' urban transport is either non-existent or so decrepit as to repel the locals. To get around, the citizens rely on taxis (cars whose tariffs are variable/negotiable) or mini-buses, which are in the process of extinction because they've reached their mechanical limits in the godawful traffic of the continent. The void in public transport has been filled by moto-taxis, which are far better adapted to managing the wild or nonexistent traffic rules in cities with populations in the Millions: Lagos (Nigeria) has 22.9Million inhabitants, Luanda (Angola) has 9.1Million, Bamako (Mali) has 4.3Million...plus the 45 other African cities that exceed 2Million people! And more than 40% of Africans live in urban areas, a figure that's bound to increase over time as the world becomes more urbanized.
The multiplication of traffic accidents has led governments in several countries to launch prevention campaigns that are echoed by unambiguous signals. [Bourdache]Motorcycles are set to become the Number 1 transport option for all of Africa, and Asian companies are leading the charge. In 2016, the Big 3 top sellers in Africa were Baja (India), TVR (India), and Honda (Japan - and still the world's largest motorcycle mf'r with around 15Million bikes produced around the world/year). But, Chinese manufacturers control about 30% of the global motorcycle market (with $6.1Billion in sales in 2016), with Japan occupying 12% ($2.5Billion), and India has 10% ($2Billion), according to the East African. In 2014, Chinese motorcycles outsold Japanese bikes in the UK for the first time, a trend likely to continue around the world, with Africa the first test case for global competition to supply the country with desperately needed personal transport.
Simple and straightforward, advertising doesn't bother with the laws in force. But the exponential proliferation of motorcycle taxis in all African states has put them in the crosshairs of the forces of repression and retaliation is often exercised in a simple way, too! [Bourdache]Four people seems to be the maximum a light motorcycle can handle, but there are excesses everywhere, regardless restrictive regulations. Endemic corruption means an exchange of cash solves small daily problems.[Bourdache]
At peak times, traffic resembles that of all major metropolises in the world with the same problems of congestion and pollution, even though the majority of Chinese motorcycles are four-strokes. Ironically, China has solved its moto-pollution problem by banning small internal-combustion engines, period, which means they're #1 in the world for electric vehicles!
Krautmotors' electric sprinter E-Lisabad, based on a BMW scooter! [Krautmotors]
Strange and wonderful things are coming to the Petersen Automotive Museum.
The Miracle Mile facility, devoted to the art and science of four-wheeled vehicles, will host its first-ever exhibit dedicated to the art of custom motorcycles.
The "Custom Revolution" show will begin a one-year run on April 14. It will include about 25 motorcycles, from 25 different bike builders, representing the best of what's known as alt custom design.
The show will be guest-curated by motorcycle historian Paul d'Orléans, founder of the Vintagent website and respected author of multiple books on motorcycle design and culture.
The exhibit will feature motorcycles that have never been seen together. Many have never been exhibited in a museum space.
The Medaza 'Rondine' from From Cork, Ireland, an AMD World Championship winner [Medaza]
D'Orleans, who is also a columnist for Cycle World magazine, said he hoped the show would demonstrate the degree to which "outsider" motorcycle design is actually leading the motorcycle industry.
"Every motorcycle history ever written has been driven by factory histories, but in fact it has been the creativity of custom designers and racers that has always been the leading edge," D'Orleans said. "Factories follow, not the other way around."
The T200 Cross from Indonesian custom shop Thrive
The Petersen has included some motorcycles in its permanent exhibit since the late 2015 remodel and reopening. Many key Petersen board members, in fact, are keen motorcyclists — including Bruce Meyer and Richard Varner.
Petersen personnel hope attendees drawn by the motorcycle exhibit will be exposed to automotive arts, and that car fans might have their consciousness raised about motorcycles.
"People may forget that the first motorized vehicles were actually motorcycles," said Varner, who is also the Petersen treasurer and chief operating officer of MotoAmerica. "Everything that you love about the automobile probably started as technology on a motorcycle."
NYCNorton is a below-the-radar racing shop building impeccable, bespoke Seeley-based Matchless and Norton racers and roadsters. [NYCNorton]Bryan Stevens, the museum's creative and exhibitions director, said that while motorcycles may seem a departure for the Petersen, this exhibit is in keeping with its overall credo.
"In all our exhibits we try to look for cultural crossover, and this is a phenomenon that melds motorcycles and art and even fine art, as well as engineering and fabrication," Stevens said. "Many of these motorcycles are meant not to be driven but to be contemplated, like an art piece."
Stevens said the seeds of the exhibit were planted in the early 2000s, when he was living in downtown Los Angeles not far from the garage where Ian Barry was building his now-famous Falcon motorcycles.
Stevens' interest in alt custom bikes was further fueled by the website Bikeexif.com, the online bible of motorcycle art, and by a series of books called "The Ride," to which d'Orléans has contributed.
Motor industry powerhouse Uwe Ehinger dabbles in motorcycles as a release from his high-profile consulting /3D modeling/advertising business in Germany. His Speedster was profiled on TheVIntagent here.[Kraftrad Ehinger]
Besides, Stevens said, the art of the alt custom motorcycle is also a homegrown Los Angeles product.
"It's a global phenomenon now, but it has a definite L.A. component," he said. "Some of the most significant bike builders are from here."
D'Orléans, who as author of the book "The Chopper: The Real Story" is considered an authority on that kind of custom motorcycle, said there will be no bikes of that sort at the Petersen show.
"That's not part of the vision for this exhibit," d'Orléans said. "So there won't be anything from Arlen Ness or Jesse James."
Entrance to the exhibit is included with a general admission ticket — $16 for adults, $13 for seniors and students, $8 for children — which can be purchased online or at the museum.
Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.
Dirt: it pretty much defines American motorcycle racing. Powered moto-cycles were first introduced to the USA on bicycle velodromes as pacers, but outside the arena, paved roads were very rare. Only the very center of larger towns had cobblestones, while the rest of the country faded from dirt roads to cart tracks to horse paths, the farther on traveled from a city. Adventurous cross-country riders before the 1920s encountered amazing hazards and an absolute lack of roads in many areas of the Midwest and far West.
Rex Mays with his brand new Indian Sport Scout racer in 1935. Note the double-damped girder forks that replaced the traditional Indian leaf-spring forks the larger Chief carried on with through 1945. [Bonhams]Former velodrome promoter Jack Prince expanded the concept of a banked competition track into board tracks meant for cars and motorcycles, and while these were popular in every major town, the number of potential competitors was tiny, because the number of capable, purpose-built track racers was also tiny. Where 'real' riders raced was away from the glamour of the boards, out on the dirt. Dirt was everywhere before suburban expansion and paved roads - every farmer's field and horse-racing track was a potential motorcycle course. Plowing and smoothing an oval or circular track was a pretty simple proposition, using agricultural machinery. Add a few bleachers and voila, you've got a real racetrack.
Lendary Indian and Crocker racer Sam Parriot with his son on a mini-motorcycle in 1930; Parriot is on a racing Indian Daytona [Bonhams]Dirt track racing evolved in the mid-1920s into a specialized sport, with light and very fast 500cc racers making spectacular viewing around the world. It was the great dirt track craze, and tens of thousands of people swarmed the early races, while big tracks were built in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and England, creating a year-round global racing circuit for professional riders like Sprouts Elder, Red Wolverton, and Fay Taylour.
Cliff Self at Ascot in 1935 aboard his Harley-Davidson RLDR, and the thousand-yard stare of a competitor [Bonhams]The Great Depression of 1929 took a big bite out of American racing, as the Big 3 of 1930 - Excelsior-Henderson, Indian, and Harley-Davidson - shrunk to the Big 2 when Ignaz Schwinn quit making Excelsior-Hendersons in 1930. Neither Indian nor Harley-Davidson had the capital to develop exotic racing machines for Class A racing (the 8-Valves, the OHCs, the super-tuned flatheads), so they worked with the AMA to create a production-based racing class for the dirt. Announced in 1933 for the 1934 racing season, Class C racing was open to 45CI (750cc) sidevalve motorcycles, and 30.50CI (500cc) OHV bikes. The races included flat track, hillclimb, TT/Steeplechase (flat track with jumps and turns, which was open to larger-capacity bikes in the Open Class as well) and even road races (rare). Eligible machines were production models available from factory catalogues, which meant AMA-sanctioned, national-level racing was suddenly an affordable proposition for anyone who could to buy (or sponsor) a motorcycle, and as the bikes were based on standard roadsters, they weren't particularly expensive.
Cordy Milne at Ascot with a topee in the SoCal sun aboard his Indian Sport Scout racer - note the brake plate is removed [Bonhams]Harley-Davidson modified their Model R 45CI twin, and Indian their Scout, and both factories shortly made racing versions available; H-D with the RLDR racer (that became the WR in 1938), and Indian the Sport Scout and Daytona Scout racers. Both factories were locked in an intense rivalry, developing their lowly sidevalve engines to unanticipated peaks of power. By the end of the 1930s, the best of these sidevalve racers were capable of hitting 110mph on the dirt, and after WW2, tuners like Tom Sifton made the Harley-Davidson KRTT flathead racer a device of amazing speed, clocking 150mph on the banked oval of Daytona in its inaugural 1962 season.
Jack Milne and his brother Cordy were popular and successful racers in the 1930s, here on brand new, matching Indian Sport Scouts [Bonhams]These photographs, captured at the Bonhams Las Vegas sale, were part of an album of 1920s/30s California racing history. They show a few of the professional riders moving from the old Class A to the new Class C racing on the tracks of Southern California - mostly at Ascot, in this case. The worst of the Depression had passed, and Class C racing would soon prove extremely popular across the country as a wave of new competitors joined the fray, elbow jockeys flinging roostertails skyward to the thrill of the crowds, just like today.
Harrison Reno with his Indian Scout racer in March of 1936 at Atlantic Raceway [Bonhams]Ray Eddy and Byrd McKinney at Ascot with a brand-new 1935 Harley-Davidson RLDR with one-year only Art Deco paint job. [Bonhams]Byrd McKinney at Ascot on Sep 22, 1935, with a late 1920s Harley-Davidson Model D, the precursor to the Models R and W, with the old-style tubed springer fork, taller frame, long, narrow tank of the pre-1930 era, and hand pump for the total-loss oiling system.[Bonhams][Bonhams]Posing for the camera, hiding their beer bottles out of sight, but not to this photographer! This looks to be a brand-new Harley-Davidson RLDR Sports Solo, with four camshafts and a proper recirculating oil system, the post-1930 forged I-beam forks, and a short, low frame that handles like a racer - far better than its larger brothers the Models V (sidevalve Big Twin) and EL (OHV Knucklhead). [Bonhams]
Nearly 60 years have passed since an international cadre of Velocette enthusiasts braved certain discomfort and actual physical peril, to ride a humble Velocette Venom with no lights around the Montlhéry race track for 24 hours, lapping consistently at 107mph, to average 100.5mph. Many had attempted the 'ton for a day', and some succeeded afterwards, but Velocette was the first to do it, and the record still stands for a 500cc machine, set half a century ago, on March 18th/19th, 1961.
Bertie Goodman pushing off for one of his stints on the track
The attempt was set in motion by Velocette managing director Bertie Goodman. Veloce Ltd were a small, family-owned company with a peerless reputation for quality machines, and an excellent racing pedigree. Unlike the Board of nearly every other motorcycle manufacturer, the helmsmen (and women) of Veloce were daily riders of their own machinery, and enthusiastic supporters of racing, to the extent of participating in record runs and even the occasional international-level road race. For example, during his stint as Sales Director, Bertie placed 3rd in the 1947 Ulster GP, and his son Peter had significant success in racing as well.
Bertie Goodman, the managing director of Veloce Ltd, here with the factory's Vogue model, an LE with fiberglass bodywork and twin headlmaps. 'Mr Bertram' tested and regularly rode the family's products.
As Managing Director from the 1950s onwards, after the death of his father Percy Goodman, 'Mister Bertram' (as factory employees called him) took special pleasure in speed-testing the company products at the MIRA test-track, which he insisted helped keep his weight down! Such testing proved excellent for revealing faults, and Velocette production models were renowned for their mechanical reliability and excellent handling.
The view from the top of the Autodrom de Linas-Montlhery (as it's officially known'. The banking is nearly vertical at the top, and only vehicles doing near 100mph can hold the high line [Paul d'Orléans][In 1960, Bertie was approached by Georges Monneret, legendary 6-time French racing champion, who suggested a 'go' at the 24-hour record at the venerable (but bumpy) Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, 40 minutes south of Paris. The French speed bowl is an engineered track, built with a concrete and steel grid structure supporting its high banked curves. Its concrete paving is stable but unforgiving, with expansion joints (every 25 metres) as wide as a fist in some places, making for a rocking-horse ride at high speeds. Monneret and his son Pierre, also a racing champion, organized a French team of riders, to be accompanied by Bertie Goodman and British journalist Bruce Main-Smith, who called Montlhéry a "concrete-banked slice of medieval punishment".
Publisher Bruce Main-Smith on the grandstand straightaway at Montlhéry, passing in front of the pits during daylight hours
Their nearly standard 'Venom' 500cc model had been very carefully assembled, but was not highly tuned. Goodman insisted using time-proven production parts meant less likelihood of component failure, so the record-breaker Venom differed from standard only in the addition of a GP racing carburetor, megaphone exhaust, and production prototype fairing, made by Doug Mitchenall, a friend of the Goodman family, and manufacturer of Avon Fairings (and the beautiful bodywork on Rickman motocrossers). Much was removed from the Venom though! The front mudguard, battery, lights, speedometer, number plate, headlamp cowl, primary chain cases, etc, were all removed, probably 50lbs of extraneous metal.
French rider Alain Dagan put in the fastest laps of the whole team.
Building the record-breaker Venom took 5 months, as the Veloce race shop had closed 8 years prior, after taking 2 World Championships and countless Isle of Man and GP victories, in a bid for the tiny, family-run company to focus on their production roadsters. When the bike was completed, Bertie Goodman tested it at MIRA for 14 hours at absolutely full throttle, averaging nearly 110mph. The engine was never internally inspected or disassembled during or after testing; that means it ran 1400 miles at full bore, before the record attempt had even begun.
The Venom with Avonaire fairing was a nearly standard Clubman model, with a few mods at the factory, like the removal of the dynamo, battery, and lights. Strangely, the steering damper was retained, although it was never needed or used (although they're useful when hauling a sidecar).
Management of the record attempt, including sponsorship deals and track arrangements, was the job of Georges Monneret. As the Montlhéry circuit had no lights, the 12 hours of night riding were illuminated by 55 Marchal car headlamps connected to batteries! Rider testing - to determine team members - was carried out the night before the record attempt; if you didn't have the 'bottle' to keep the throttle right at the stop, you were out! The team thus consisted of Bertie Goodman, Bruce Main-Smith, Georges and Pierre Monneret, Pierre Cherrier, Alain Dagan, André Jacquier-Bret, and Robert Leconte. While Bertie Goodman was a relative 'oldster' at 42, Georges Monneret was 55 at the time... and of course, these two old dogs were among the most consistent and fastest of the attempt.
'Mister Bertram' down to it! Lapping at 107mph for hours on end in a bid for eternal glory.
Night riding at 107mph through stroboscopic bands of light and dark proved psychologically demanding in ways the riders could not have anticipated; hallucinations, hypnosis, and phantom 'fog' beset every rider, and those with steely temperaments (Goodman, Dagan, and the Monnerets) shouldered the heaviest riding burdens. The bumps were awful, but the Velo steered as they all do, "taut, waggle-free, 100% safe" said BruceMain-Smith, in his epic writeup of the event. He wrote "I am genuinely frightened...punishment from the bumps is awful...my nose and mouth run, onto the chin pad to which I press my head to keep it behind the screen...it seems an eternity...the noise from the megaphone chases me round the track like a wild beast...after 60 laps I know it would sabotage the attempt if I continued. I come in..." He finds motivation to continue, thinking first of his Country, then his readers, and finally - that he was being paid!
Bertie Goodman congratulating Georges Monneret, the organizer of the attempt, after their incredible success.
The rough hours of the day passed into evening, and with them the 12-hour record at 104.6mph. Worth celebrating, but the grim reality of constant pounding and a further 12 hours' riding meant no champagne. The nightmare hours hammered onward, punctuated only by fuel stops and rider changes, at times after only 15 minutes, as younger riders complained of blurred vision and fatigue. The older riders (Goodman, Monneret) dutifully fulfilled every one-hour stint, while young Dagan, the fastest of them all, was first to leap onto the saddle and revive the average speed when others flagged or surrendered. By morning's first light, he made the final push, bringing the Velo over the timing line for the last time. All were exhausted, cold, and ready for sleep! Yet, for 2400 miles and a road average of 107mph, the Velo never skipped a beat, and gave a remarkable 37mpg, ridden flat out. When the engine was finally opened for FIM inspection, after 3800 miles of 100+mph riding, it was found to be in perfect condition.
The Velocette poster of 1961 proclaiming their achievement - still not equalled for a 500cc machine!
Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.
Each decade of the 20th Century produced its icons of design; products that distilled the vibe of an era into 3 dimensions. These cars, motorcycles, armoires and toasters were rarely the top sellers of their time, and often outright shunned by consumers, but this only pushed them into the realm of Collector's Items - death for production, but life for connoisseurs. In 2018, we're having a moment of increasing appreciation for 1980s design, as witnessed by rapidly escalating prices for two of the motorcycles included in this list (the Honda Motocompo and Vetter Mystery Ship), and a flurry of activity on social media appreciating what was formerly derided and discarded. It's the old story, the bell curve of collectability from nadir to zenith, and the wave is just forming for a price peak on the best of 1980s motorcycle design. These bikes aren't the best sellers, or the biggest winners, or even the best looking, but they're definitely design icons and points of reference for the motorcycle industry of the 1980s. So, in chronological order...
Craig Vetter's 1980 Mystery Ship
1980 Vetter Mystery Ship
Craig Vetter had an outsize influence in motorcycling, beyond his personal fame or fortune, although he's had plenty of both. While the motorcycles he designed for production were strictly limited-edition specials (including the 1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane - you'll find that on our upcoming 1970s Design list!), his Windjammer fairing and hard bags were seemingly everywhere in the 1970s and '80s, and pushed the OEM manufacturers to include streamlined wind protection on their production touring motorcycles.
[Mecum]Far more interesting, though, was his cosmically-inspired Mystery Ship design of 1980. Built in a limited edition of just 10 machines, the Mystery Ship was a unique set of bodywork atop a Kawasaki KZ-1000. The fairing protects the rider from (some) wind, and a unibody tank/seat unit incorporates racing-style side panels with numbers, a mashup of touring + racing that's slightly to the left of Vetter's mashup of chopper + cafe racer for his Triumph Hurricane. That mix - racing/touring - is exactly the same formula as the Japanese Bosozoku style, and the Mystery Ship would fit right in even today on a mad dash through Tokyo with a gang of flashy youths (although the've incorporated more chopper cues since the 1980s).
[Mecum]The Kawasaki underpinnings were upgraded with magnesium Dymag wheels, a four-into-1 Yoshimura exhaust, upgraded racing brakes, a six-gallon fuel cell, and a Lockhart oil cooler hidden in the fairing. The sale price was $10,000, which was considered outrageous at the time at 3X the price of the base KZ-1000, but Vetter said this was below the actual production cost, and he lost money on every sale. At least there were only ten built (7 of which were sold)! The most recent sale of a Mystery Ship at Mecum's 2018 Las Vegas auction fetched $33,000 - still 3X the price of a perfect KZ-1000!
[Mecum]It's been suggested the Mystery Ship directly influenced the design of the 1982 Honda CX500 Turbo, and anticipated the shape of motorcycles throughout the later 1980s and '90s, with fairings integrated seamlessly with bodywork. The design world watched Vetter's work very closely, as his finger was hard on the pulse of the moment. The Mystery Ship is an incredible visual statement, and if Mecum's Las Vegas auction is any indication, this once-forgotten design will again have its day in the sun.
1980 Target Design ED-1
The 1980 Target ED-1b [Target Design]Target Design was formed as a triumverate of ex-BMW designers including Hans Muth, Jan Fellstrom, and Hans-Georg Kasten, who set up shop near Munich in the town of Seefeld. Hans Muth designed quite a few legendary BMW cars and motorcycles, including the R90S, R100S, and R65LS. The Target breakaways intended to offer their design services to other companies, and their first motorcycle design was an entry into a 1980 Motorrad Revue magazine contest for a 'motorcycle of the future'. The contest saw entries by Porsche Design and Ital Design, but the Target ED-1 (European Design 1), based on an MV Agusta four, was victorious for its flowing lines and interesting mix of radical bodywork over a fairly standard chassis.
[motorradonline.de]Underneath Target's stunning bodywork was an MV Agusta 750 4-cylinder with shaft drive, and a Yamaha 4 leading shoe racing front brake. The swooping bodywork gave an organic profile to the bike, with the faired-in front headlamp dipping low over the tire-hugging plastic front fender, and a humped gas tank flowing smoothly into a seat unit with integral bum-stop and taillamp. To contemporary eyes, it looks shark-like and vaguely familiar, which is because the design was immediately adapted by Target for Suzuki for a new model based on the GS-1000 roadster, known as the Katana. The Katana is considered the most influential motorcycle design of the 1980s, but since it's nearly identical to the ED-1, that's the bike on our 1980s Design list.
[motorradonline.de]A small batch (or at least one) of ED-1 replicas was built a few years ago and floated for sale in Europe, at a very high price, but MV Agusta 4-cylinders have that effect on people. It's an amazing design that pushes all the right buttons, looking menacing, animalistic, and futuristic all at once.
1981 Honda Motocompo NCZ 50
The 1981 Honda Motocompo and Honda City car it was designed for [Honda]Honda is tremendous successful at selling small and smaller motorcycles around the world. Their 'Cub' series has been around 60 years and has sold in the tens of Millions, and their design team branched out many times to use the indestructible motor in a variety of chassis configurations. But the Motocompo NCZ 50 has nothing to do with the cub, or any of Honda's scooters, although it does share a 2-stroke engine with other Honda products.
[eBay]The Motocompo was sold as an integral accessory to the Honda City microcar in 1981, a 'trunk bike' designed to fold up neatly into a suitcase-sized box so it could easily be stowed in a special compartment of the City's rear hatch. The idea, one presumes, is to drive the City near to areas where no cars can travel, then use the Motocompo to reach further into the urban web.
[eBay]The City's luggage compartment was designed specifically for the Motocompo. The tiny motorcycle's handlebars, seat, and footpegs fold into the scooter's rectangular plastic bodywork, into cleverly designed recesses and hand-carry recesses. While Honda projected sales of 8000 Citys and 10,000 Motocompos per month (both were Japanese Domestic Market only), it was the City that reached these sales targets, but over 3 years 'only' 53,369 Motocompos were sold. The end of Motocompo production was 1983, and an average of 3000/month were built. Hardly a failure, but neither was the Motocompo greeted with a firestorm of approval.
Nevertheless, the design of the Motocompo is ingenous, and perhaps the only real inheritor of the 'Motosacoche' concept, being truly a 'moto in(to) a suitcase'! The design is impeccably 1980s, with its flush, integrated head- and taillamps, retractable everything, and terrific graphics. Best of all, the City/Motocompo advertising campaign was launched with the British ska band Madness providing entertainment and music for the ad. It, too, is a highlight of 1980s design!
1981-6 Honda ELF racers
The 1983 ELF-2 GP racer [Honda]ELF is a state-owned French oil company, that sought publicity by sponsoring radical French motorsports designs in F1, F2, and F3 auto racing with Matra and Renault, and with motorcycles in the radical designs of Andre de Cortanza. ELF marketing director Francois Guiter had worked with de Cortanza on the Renault racing project (including the LeMans-winning A442 turbo), and knowing his expansive knowledge of engineering on two and four wheels, and his enthusiasm for motorcycle endurance racing, directed the financial resources of ELF to develop some of his radical chassis ideas.
The ELF-E endurance acer of 1983 [Hockenheim Museum Archive]De Cortanza's initial design, the ELF-X, was built in 1978 (and we'll include it in our 1970s Design article), around a Yamaha TZ750 engine. The ELF-X used the engine as a stressed member and had almost no 'frame' to speak of, using a swingarm at the front and rear of the machine, and a hub-center steered front wheel. His aim was to eliminate the frame, lower the center of gravity, eliminate fork dive under braking, and reduce weight, at which he was successful. But the design needed further development.
The 1981 Honda ELF-R record-breaker [Hockenheim Museum Archive]That development was dramatically boosted when Honda tested the ELF-X in late 1979, and offered de Cortanza a factory racing 1000cc Honda RSC engine to work with, as a kind of external technical research project. The RSC motor was a typically Honda racing four-cylinder four-stroke DOHC engine, and far more robust than the Yamaha two-stroke four, thus a far more rigid unit for building a frameless motorcycle. The new ELF-E (for Endurance) was entered in the World Endurance Championship from 1981-83, and was developed continuously to cure issues of handling and braking for a highly-stressed hub-center motorcycle. The ELF-E and ELF-2 (a proper GP racer also backed by Honda) projects were the first modern development program for such a design, although hub-center steered bikes have been around since at least 1905.
The ELF-R record-breaker [Honda]Honda gained tremendous R&D value from the ELF/de Cortanza project, and immediately incorporated some of these ideas into their production and GP racing motorcycles, including a single-sided swingarm (in magnesium on the ELF but aluminum on their roadsters), improved braking and suspension systems, and the use of carbon fiber for the chassis. The reliability issues with these new technologies, and their rapid solutions for racing, proved a perfect laboratory to develop new ideas in real-world racing, without risking Honda's reputation as a GP winner.
Back side of the ELF-R [Honda]A super-streamlined version of the ELF was built for record-breaking - the ELF-R. A totally new set of bodywork was designed with a conical 'dustbin' fairing and NACA ducts for cooling the motor and brakes, the first time these were used on a motorcycle. With the same HRC-1000 engine as their other racers, in 1986 the Elf R reached 200mph in Nardo, Italy, and riders H. Auriol, E. Courly and C. de Liard took 6 World Speed Records.
Back side of the 1983 ELF-E [Hockenheim Museum Archive]The final Honda/ELF collaboration was the ELF-2 through ELF-5 series of GP racers through 1988. Each tried radical new ideas (like push-pull steering via the handlebars, which didn't work out so well), and while they win any of their races or race series, they added a measure of unpredictability to GP racing that proved extremely interesting and exciting, to a degree that hasn't been equalled since. And, their quirky shapes broke new ground, stimulating the motorcycle industry to try new ideas.
1984 Fantic Sprinter
The 1984 Fantic Sprinter [Classic Driver]Fantic Motors was formed in Italy in 1968, building enduro bikes, go-karts, and mopeds. Their most famous model of the 1970s was the Chopper, a miniature Easy Rider moped accompanied by cheeky advertising that was simultaneously outrageous and genius. Their Chopper and TI models were the fastest mopeds available in the 1970s, reaching 70mph, and gained them a reputation for both great performance and cool design.
[Classic Driver]In the 1980s, Fantic did amazing things in off-road competition, taking three Observed Trials World Championships, and winning the Scottish Six-Days Trial seven times! While their specialized off-road machines had a terrific reputation and sold well, they incorporated their technical know-how into an amazing design in 1984 - the Sprinter.
[Cosmic Bunuel: Moped Metal]The 1984 Fantic Sprinter used a traditional pressed-steel beam chassis and 50cc two-stroke motor (the C2 HL KS by Minarelli) with a centrifugal clutch, but the overall design was a mashup of motocross and Memphis design that could only have been built in the 1980s. The plastic bodywork is a unibody design, and the engine pivots opposite the rear wheel, with which its visually unified by a long drive cover for the chain. The shapes, the graphics, the knurled rubber dust seal on the front forks, the wheels painted to match the bodywork, all added up to a tidy, unified design that was absolutely unique, and completely of its moment.
[Fantic Motor Legend]The Sprinter might have fulfilled Oscar Wilde's quote, "Nothing is so dangerous as being too modern. One is apt to grow old-fashioned quite suddenly." While perfectly embodying 1980s design, it was quickly a relic of the same, and seemed to vanish from the scene for 30 years. They're having a moment though, as images of Sprinters for sale in Hungary or Italy float through social media, and the world awakens to the groovy '80s perfection delivered by Fantic, as if from the Gods of the New Wave.
1986 Colani Egli MRD-1
The 1986 Egli-Colani MRD-1 record-breaker without sponsor logos [Egli Archive]We've profiled ultra-groovy designer Luigi Colani in our 'the Future is Now' article; Colani oozes the 1970s with his signature organic curves, simultaneously modern and erotic in a style he calls 'biodynamic'. His fluid product designs have been manufactured by numerous companies - all sorts of objects from cameras to semi-trailers were built to his sensuous standards. But Colani had a thing for motorcycles, recognizing their inherent mechanical intimacy with the human body, and in his art he simply merged the human body with the motorcycle itself, making glossy, hybrid creatures.
[Egli Archive]He found a real-world opportunity for his integration of his human + motorcycle hybrids in an unusual pairing with Fritz Egli, the Swiss designer whose spine-frame, limited production motorcycles had brought Vincent engines into modernity (in the '60s and '70s), and improved both the handling and looks of Japanese fours. The MRD-1 was the ultimate Egli, with its patented spine frame built around a racing, turbocharged Kawasaki Z-1 engine with 1428cc capacity. The MRD-1 was a monster built for going very, very fast, and Colani was tapped to design the aerodynamic bodywork to raise its its top speed potential, and its profile.
[Egli Archive]The MRD-1 was built to take speed records, and Colani integrated the rider with the streamlining, in an unusual twist on 1920s and '30s record breakers wearing teardrop helmets. The rider's head was tucked under the bodywork, but his back carried the flush-fitting top of the bike's canopy! The rider for the record attempt was 21-year old Urs Wenger, an Egli employee. The Colani-Egli MRD-1 produced 320hp from its turbocharged, nitrous-breathing engine, and broke the World Land Speed Record for 10km from a standing start, at 170.26mph (272.41kmh); his top speed was 330kmh (198mph) - interestingly, the record was previously held by the Honda ELF-R, ridden by Ron Haslam at 265.4kmh.
[Egli Archive]Colani's bodywork proved unstable at speed, and in the attempt the body-hugging cockpit hatch had to be abandoned - strange things happen above 150mph in the wind! The bike still took the record (how could it not with such a monster engine?), and photographs of Colani's bodywork spread around the world, amazing everyone that such bodaciousness emerged from this pairing of eccentric German/Swiss designers.
1988 BMW K-1
[BMW]After decades of building 'old man bikes', and even after the fantastic R90S and R100S, BMW still needed to shake up their image. The BMW K1 was an aesthetically radical design first proposed at the 1984 Cologne Motor Show as the aerodynamic 'Racer' prototype, using their 'flying brick' K100 four-cylinder chassis and motor. The K-1 used the two-piece front fender and a seven-piece fairing similar to the Racer, which was essentially a marketing exercise to transform BMW's image.
[BMW]The K-1 was a very different animal than the K100 it was based on, and used BMW's first four-valve cylinder heads, with high compression and sports camshafts. It bumped against a voluntary 100hp power limit for German motorcycles (that didn't last long!), but relied on very effective wind tunnel development for a remarkable 0.38 coefficient of drag, the lowest of any motorcycle in the industry. But, at 512lbs dry, the 100hp wasn't enough to make the K-1 a true sports bike (compared to a typical Japanese 600cc four at the time), but the design was stable at its 150mph top speed. Not quick but certainly fast.
[BMW]The K-1 successfully shook up the public's image of BMW with its wild ketchup red and mustard yellow paint scheme and total chassis coverage. It looked futuristic (if a bit heavy), and delivered on its promise of speed and new technology, even though it was slightly under-developed regarding heat retention and huge turning radius (20'!).
[BMW]The K-1 invites metaphoric descriptions of its shapes - Transformer on 2 wheels, the flying yoghurt carton, etc. Like most of the machines on this list, it's a love-or-hate motorcycle, but any student of design gives the machine the respect it deserves as a pioneer of modern total enclosure and wind-cheating shapes, and a surprisingly bold statement from what was previously perceived as a conservative manufacturer.
With American motorcycle sales dropping 50% in the past 10 years, and Millenials more interested in swiping left than twisting a throttle, how will Harley-Davidson survive? They've opened a plant in India, and have designed a line of smaller V-twins intended to appeal to women, urban riders, and foreign markets. Now it seems they're doubling down on their Livewire electric motorcycle program, hoping a spot as a premium e-Moto brand will secure a new generation of fans.
The Harley-Davidson Livewire electric motorcycle [Harley-Davidson]At their recent press announcement, Harley-Davidson CEO Matt Levatich announced the Motor Co. will 'invest more aggressively in electric technology for premium motorcycles...you've heard us talk about project Livewire...it’s an active project we’re preparing to bring to market within 18 months.’
The Harley-Davidson team embarked on the Livewire project 6 years ago, gambling that battery technology would develop quickly enough to give their design the range and power it would need to compete head-on with traditional dinosaur-juice motorcycles. A new generation of ultra-compact, ultra-powerful batteries still hasn't emerged, but the e-Bike market is expected to expand 45% by 2020, as opposed to a continuing slide for Internal-Combustion (IC) motorcycle sales. Harley-Davidson announced an 11% drop in their sales in the last quarter of 2017, and closed their Kansas City plant. H-D CFO John Olin said they will invest $25-50Million per year to develop their electric motorcycle technology, with the goal of dominance in the premium e-Moto market.
What do you get when you combine drag racing, motocross, and a vertical surface? Hillclimbing, the American way! Two-wheeled motorsport in the USA went through dramatic changes before WW2, but it was hugely popular, depending on what 'it' was. From around 1910, Board Track racing fascinated crowds of tens of thousands, crammed into bleachers and peering over the banked wooden speed bowls, risking their heads (literally) as the riders risked their hides. With the press calling them 'murderdromes' by the 'Teens, and the sanctioning bodies losing their taste for 100mph bloodsports, the Board Track era died by the early 1920s.
Professional racer Harold Matheison tackles the Fresno Hillclimb aboard a specialized Indian Chief racer with extra-long frame and racing Daytona moor with short exhaust stacks [Bonhams]Those specialized wooden racing tracks then gave way to the most basic of racing surfaces - dirt - that became nearly the rule in American racing for the next 40 years. Dirt Track racing on oval circuits had long been an American pastime, but the energy of the sport changed dramatically when it was re-imported from Australia, and the Golden Age of Dirt Track began in the mid-1920s. Crowds of tens of thousands once again thronged race tracks from London to Buenos Aires to Los Angeles to Sydney, and specialized racing bikes like the Douglas DT5 and Rudge Dirt Track were kings of the broadslide, and riders like Sprouts Elder and Frank Varey became international stars, and very rich!
The most famous Dirt Track rider in the world in the 1920s was Sprouts Elder, who some credit with inventing the art of broadsliding his machines on the cinder tracks of the USA, before traveling to Australia to 'show 'em how'. He shows the crowd 'how to' here in Laguna Beach, roaring up a sandy hill [Bonhams]Another sport grew right alongside Dirt Track as an incredibly popular spectator sport, spawning freak machines that were useless in any other situation: Hillclimbing. While European-style hillclimbs had been around on US roads since the early 'Noughts, the sport of vertical drag racing was another matter entirely, and far more spectacular. Riders gunned their highly-tuned, alcohol-burning motors from a standing start at the bottom of an incredibly steep hill, and let 'er rip. With the machine bucking like a wild animal over a completely ungroomed surface, an enormous rooster tail of flung dirt behind the bike, and a tremendous roar, it was everything a spectator could want in a sport, especially as the success rate on many hills was almost zero. Riders had to be grabbed by helpers holding ropes to keep them sliding right back down the hill they'd come up, after their machine stalled or - even better - flipped end over end.
Famous for his Land Speed racing on Crockers and other machines, Sam Parriot was also a Slant Artist. Here his Indian gets away from him at the Laguna Beach Hillclimb. [Bonhams]The sport is still popular in some areas, and the routine is the same today as in the mid-1920s, when most of these photos were taken in California. The first hillclimbers of the early 1920s were road bikes stripped down, with chains over the rear wheels to help traction. They soon developed into factory-built specials with extra-long frames, engines at the pinnacle of racing development (whether Sidevalve, IoE, or OHV). The riders were big stars, and raced on other surfaces too, but the challenge of a taming an enormous hill was a lure these tough-guys couldn't resist. And tough they were, taking crazy spills on their bikes, and getting right back on to try again, as the prize money could be very large, and by the late 1920s, a National Championship had been established. And everybody wants to be the Champ!
Leonard Lamton at the Laguna Beach Hillclimb on his Harley-Davidson JDH twin-cam racer; note the friction dampers on the front forks, and the chalk lines marking off the 'track' of the race. [Bonhams]These photos were included in an album of California dirt racing (1925-35) sold by Bonhams at Las Vegas in Jan. 2018. They're a beautiful chronicle of an outrageous sport, made by professional photographers to promote the sport and riders. The
Sam Parriot at the Laguna Beach Hillclimb - always an Indian man, or a Crocker rider; anything but Harley-Davidsons for that fierce rivalry. [Bonhams]Dudley Perkins opened the world's second-longest-running Harley-Davidson dealership, in San Francisco, and was quite a racer. This is 1925 at the Capistrano Hillclimb, which he won [Bonhams]Dudley Perkins in action, showing the style that wins the race! Capistrano Hillclimb, 1925. [Bonhams]Swede Madsen at the Girard Hillclimb in April, 1926, with a brand-new factory A45 OHV Indian racer, purpose built to burn alcohol and win hillclimbs. [Bonhams]A very famous photo of Mal Ord at the San Diego Hillclimb in 1930. Jeff Decker says this photo was the inspiration for his 'Slant Artist' sculpture, that sits outside the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee! [Bonhams]June 28, 1925 at the Laguna Beach Hillclimb. An iconic shot of a rider about to part with his roaring Harley-Davidson JD racer. [Bonhams]
Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.
The first motorcycles were hard things, that shook like hell over the rough cobbles and horse-shit roads of the late 19th and early 20th Century. Figuring out ways to absorb shocks and control a bike over bumps has been a challenge from the very early days of the industry. Spring forks were adopted first, as a bouncing front wheel is a lousy way to steer, and sprung rear wheels followed in an amazing variety of configurations, most of them surprisingly 'modern'. In the 'Teens, Merkels had monoshocks, Indians had leaf springs, Jeffersons had short links, and a dozen variations of all these appeared on bikes around the world.
The 1903 Thomas AutoBi, one of the earliest American manufacturers, with East Coast dealer Lincoln Holland Sr. The rear swingarm suspension uses an enclosed monoshock triangulated swingarm with the undamped spring unit behind the saddle, and a sliding-axle front fork design. [Wright]By the 1930s, two principal types of rear suspension were common; swingarms with attached springs using friction damping (Moto Guzzi), and plunger frames, usually undamped, or with attached Bentley&Draper style friction dampers for racing bikes (BMW, Norton). Both designs have issues with coil springs: they absorb the energy of an impact with a bump, but they also release it right back! Thus various types of 'damping' have been tried to control this tendency, but the earliest shocks tended to boing and caused a new kind of handling trouble! Leaf springs are self-damping, but have their limitations as well.
One approach to rear suspension on a 1935 Moto Guzzi Bicyclindrica GP racer; a triangulated rear swingarm with spring boxes horizontally laid beneath the motor, and André friction dampers below the saddle ['Moto Guzzi da Corsa', Colombo]The world changed in 1936, although it took a while for the industry to realize it, when Velocette built 3 new GP bikes with a swingarm rear suspension, and the world's first true shock absorber unite, or 'shocks'. The new chassis debuted in the 1936 in the Ulster GP, Isle of Man TT, and Continental GPs, and quickly cut lap times, and led to significant wins for Veloce, even with their relatively outdated single-cylinder motors, which competed against increasingly fast and sophisticated supercharged, multi-cylinder racers from Moto Guzzi, BMW, and Gilera.
Another solution; the 'plunger' frame, as used by BMW and Norton, with the rear axle held between two springs for compression and rebound suspension. [The MotorCycle, May 3 1936]Where did the idea for 'shocks' come from, who invented them, and who made them is a seldom-asked question, but Velocette historians Dennis Quinlan and Ivan Rhodes have done some digging, and come up with a conclusion. The Development Engineer at Veloce Ltd, parent company of Velocette motorcycles, was Harold Willis; an unsung genius of design (as well as description) whose work changed the course of the motorcycle industry. He loved a good nickname, and the terms 'knocker', 'double knocker', and 'electrified dirt' (for magnesium) are examples of his amusing shorthand. In 1928, Willis also invented the positive-stop foot-operated gearchange that nearly every motorcycle in the world uses today. Willis had a plane ('Clattering Kate', a deHavilland DH60 Moth) that he flew regularly to clear his head literally and figuratively - if he ever felt a cold coming on, up he'd go.
Harold Willis with his beloved biplane, 'Clattering Kate' ['Velocette: Technical Excellence Exemplified', Rhodes]According to Charles Udall (Chief Designer for Veloce in the 1930s), Harold Willis came up with the idea for motorcycle rear suspension units after observing the latest aircraft landing gear with oleo-pneumatic units (called Oleo landing gear) made by the Dowty Company of Gloucestershire. These were springless gas/air units that used a clever valving system to push oil into a pressurized chamber, and became progressively 'harder' as the oil compressed the air inside. Air is a perfect, progressive, frictionless spring medium as it's compressed; the 'Oleo legs', as they were called, function exactly like modern 'air shocks' and 'air forks' do today, as they're effectively the same design, updated.
The first Dowty Oleopneumatic shock absorber units fitted to a 1936 factory GP Velocette chassis, specially modified as an experiment. It worked! [The MotorCycle, May 3, 1936]Willis visited the Dowty company (with, perhaps, Udall and the son of Veloce founder Percy Goodman) to discuss making a miniature version of their Oleo shocks, suitable for a motorcycle, and they built, apparently, an initial 6 sets in 1936. These same shocks were sold as standard on the Velocette MkVIII KTT production racer from 1937-1950, but the first 3 chassis built to adapt to these units (stamped SF1, 2, and 3) were a little different from the production versions. After some sketches by, presumably, Willis and Udall, and probably Phil Irving too (who was employed by Veloce at the time), the triangulated, rigid rear frame section of a Velocette racing frame (the MkVII type) was cut away, and a tubular cross-member welded to the saddle tube upright. The ends of this cross-tube had a pair of steering head bearing cups (with loose balls!) welded on, and a pair of tapered legs fabricated for the swingarm, connected through the tube by a splined shaft that locked each leg in position. The end of the tapered legs held a casting for the rear axel, and a clevis fitting to hold the bottom of the Oleo unit. An upper, bolted-on frame member to hold the seat, upper shock mount, and rear render mounts, was fabricated, and apart from details making manufacture much easier, this is essentially how every swing-arm motorcycle made afterwards, all over the world and to this day, was laid out.
Three Velocette spring frames were built in 1936 by modifying the existing rigid racing Velocette frame; here the steering head cups are clearly seen as bearings for the swingarm [Quinlan]George Dowty, the inventor of Oleo-pneumatic landing gear for aircraft, was knighted for his services to the British aviation industry. He initially worked at pioneering British aircraft firm Avro, and moved by the mid-1920s to the Gloster Aircraft Company. In 1922, Dowty presented a paper to the Royal Aeronautical Society exploring the subject of oleo-pneumatic undercarriage design, and in 1926 delivered a second paper, “Aircraft Alighting and Arresting Mechanisms”, followed by articles (Feb.1929) in The Aeroplane and Aircraft Engineering. He was unable to convince the aircraft manufacturers to take up his on landing-gear suspension, so he struck out on his own, forming the Aircraft Components Company in Jan. 1931, from which the huge Dowty Organisation followed, which is still a major player in aviation.
Stanley Woods at the 1936 Isle of Man TT, aboard his 350cc DOHC 'dog kennel' racer with the new swingarm rear end, and the front Borrani aluminum rim he brought back as hand luggage from Italy! [Hockenheim Museum]Dowty was happy to supply the experimental motorcycle-sized Oleo shock absorbers in 1936 for Veloce, and the following year went into limited production for the rear units on the production Velocette MkVIII KTT. Following WW2, they used the same principles to build 'Oleomatic' front forks for motorcycles, as used on Velocettes in 1948, as well as on Scotts and Panthers. As the gas seals for the Oleomatic forks were prone to failure after tens of thousands of miles of hard use, all these factories designed hydraulically-damped telescopic 'spring' forks along the lines set down by BMW in 1935. This became the industry standard, but 'air forks' and 'air shocks' are technically superior, and became the standard for performance motorcycles from the 1970s onwards. All because of a brainwave by a rather eccentric genius in Birmingham named Harold Willis, and the willingness of an equally visionary George Dowty to try something new. Hats off to you, gents!
The 1949 Velocette MkVIII KTT production racer in the author's collection, using Dowty Oleomatic rear suspension units. Surely the KTT ranks among the most beautiful racing motorcycles ever built?
[Special thanks to Dennis Quinlan for his original article on this subject, and Pete Young for his further research into early rear suspension, and a posthumous thanks to Stephen Wright for his brilliant research into early American motorcycles; please find a copy of 'The American Motorcycle: 1869-1914' and be amazed and enlightened!]
Memorable races match two top rivals of comparable skill and equal valour, driven by the need to succeed, riding machines at the leading edge of performance, backed by well-drilled and determined teams. The Isle of Man Tourist Trophy provides the perfect setting to test man and machine, with challenges of the timed interval start, the mountain climb and weather, and the ordinary roads. My “Greatest TT race”, the Senior TT of 1935, brought all this together to provide one of the epic races of all time. But the story of this race really began in 1933.
Stanley Woods in the 1926 Isle of Man TT aboard a pushrod Norton Model 25 racer, the first Norton to use a recirculating oil system. Note the Webb girder forks, 8" Enfield brakes front and rear, 21" and 20" wheel rims, and the simple, two-rear-stay frame, as used on the flat-tank Model 18 from 1923. The 'saddle' tank is actually a pannier set, bolted together atop the old flat-tank frame. A very simple machine, but very fast, with excellent handling (I used to own one!)
Preparation
Stanley Woods, a Dubliner and rider of outstanding talent on any form of motorcycle, began his TT career in 1922 as a precocious 17-year old. Initially he combined riding with his work as a salesman for the sweet makers Mackintosh’s. In the following years Woods would provide boxes of toffees (from a business with his father) for the boy scouts that ran the leader board at the TT. He won his first (Junior) TT in 1923 on a Cotton; he moved to Norton in 1926 to win the Senior TT that year (at 21) and to begin a string wins for Norton including the Junior and Senior TTs in 1932 and 1933. By 1933 Norton had established such supremacy its winning was called “the Norton Habit” and the team began to allocate wins to particular riders in the team. This did not suit Woods who was the Norton team’s star. By the early 1930’s, motorcycling had become a professional sport and Woods, now at his peak, relied on wins and retainers to make his living: he decided to leave Norton. For the 1934 TT he was retained to ride the 500c twin Folke Mannerstedt designed light, powerful, but thirsty Husqvarna.
Stanley Woods in the 1934 Isle of Man TT riding the Husqvarna v-twin pushrod 500cc racer, which was very fast, but handled only moderately well.
Jimmie Guthrie was from Hawick in Scotland, where he ran a successful motor business with his brother Archie. A survivor of the horrific 1915 Quintinshill troop train rail crash near Gretna, he served in Gallipoli and Palestine, then as a dispatch rider at the Somme and Arras. Guthrie had come into national motorcycle racing in his late 20’s, competing in his first TT in 1923 (the year of Woods’ first win). Four years later he returned as a regular competitor; he finally got a works ride with the Norton Team in 1931. Guthrie was well aware that he was older that other competitors and he had a vigorous training programme to keep fit. Guthrie took over as the lead rider for Norton at the end of 1933 and immediately showed he was on top of his form. He made his mark winning the 1934 Junior and Senior TTs. The latter after a strong challenge to the Norton team from Stanley Woods. That challenge failed on the last lap with a spill at Ramsay Hairpin followed by the Husqvarna running of fuel 8 miles from the finish: the feared threat from foreign machines, ‘the foreign menace’, was at the doorstep.
A portrait of Jimmie Guthrie in 1935
By 1935, the Norton team was a well-oiled TT-winning machine with ‘the Fox’ Joe Craig (and his TT signal stage system) in charge. Its bike was the best in the business. Walter Moore designed a powerful ohc-single engine in 1926/7 for Norton (Moore used the Chater Lea system for reference; Stanley Woods said impishly Moore took the worst aspects from it). Though the engine was an immediate winner it was unreliable and was progressively redesigned and improved significantly from 1929 by Arthur Carroll and Joe Craig, to more closely resemble the Velocette system of 1925; Moore had 'copied the wrong one!' The 500c engine probably was developing 35-38 bhp by 1935 (sadly the year Arthur Carroll died in a crash while riding his fast ‘tweaked’ side-valve Norton). The TT Norton had a good handling (for the period), though it still used a rigid frame with girder forks. The whole package was refined with an emphasis on lightness. Velocette was still in its wilderness years: it had pioneered the ohc single successfully at the TT in the late 1920’s but had lost its way at the top level on frame design and brakes.
The Moto Guzzi Bicylindrica racer was one of the few OHC v-twins made before WW2 (well, they're rare post-War too!), and combined terrific power with excellent handling, with full suspension front and rear. Not the English Brampton forks (as used on some Brough Superiors), the oil tank atop the fuel tank, and the friction dampers for the rear suspension, between the rear carb and the rear hub [MotorCycling, June 3 1935]The 500cc challenge in 1935 came from Moto Guzzi and their 120-degree in-line-twin sohc-engined bike. We again return to 1933. While successful at 250cc in ‘Lightweight’ racing, Moto Guzzi were no longer competitive in the larger classes. In 1933 Carlo Guzzi (no doubt encouraged by his partner and racing enthusiast Giorgio Parodi) had the inspiration to mate two 250cc engines to create the ‘bicilindri’. The magazine ‘Motorcycling’ in 1935 describes the engine as having an even beat. A cutaway drawing from 1951 (the last year of the ‘bicilindri’) shows, in effect, two 250cc engines each with it own flywheels and crankpins joined through a central main bearing (with the crankpins set 120 degrees apart, hence the even beat). Carlo really had joined together two 250cc engines! The front cylinder remained horizontal with the rear cylinder laid back and with circumferential fins added. Importantly the bike had a spring rear frame using rear springs in compression and friction dampers that could be adjusted ‘on-the-run’ by a lever on the front left hand side; girder front forks were used. By 1935 the engine was reliable and able to produce 44/45 bhp at 7000rpm (in super-tuned form up to 50 bhp at 7500rpm was claimed). But like the Husqvarna, it was thirsty. Moto Guzzi were confident they had a bike that could win the TT, but required a rider with proven TT winning experience to have any chance of success. They found their man in Stanley Woods: it was rumoured he was allowed to state his own price and of course Stanley Woods had a point to make!
The business side of the Moto Guzzi Bicylindrica, with the shaft-drive for the camshafts visible, and a lot of plumbing to keep it all lubricated! The rather light swingarm pivot can be seen above the footrest - this is an adaptation of a rigid frame with a system very similar to the Bentley&Draper swingarm used by Brough Superior from 1928 (and Velocette for their 'Spring Heel Jack' racer of the same era) [MotorCycling June 6 1935]The final component in the equation was the TT circuit itself. For both the 1934 and 1935 races improvements had been made to the circuit to remove bottlenecks. It was now a ‘modern’ road-racing circuit allowing riders to run their bikes to the limit. MotorCycling magazine promoted the lead-up to the TT and its prospects. With the darkest period of the depression lifting, at least in some parts, there was much enthusiasm for the TT and promotion of travel to it. The 1935 TT races were also the backdrop to the (third) George Formby film ‘No Limit’ and his heroics on the ‘Shuttleworth Snap’.
Stanley Woods aboard the Moto Guzzi Bicyclindrica during an off hour.
In practice for the Senior TT, Norton preparation was developed to new levels. But in the background there were reports of high speeds from the Moto Guzzi including on the last day of practice an unofficial lap record. Then Stanley Woods won the Lightweight TT on a 250cc horizontal single Moto Guzzi, a first for a foreign bike: the ‘foreign menace’ had arrived.
The Race
Fog covered the Isle of Man on Friday June 21st the day of the Senior TT and the race was postponed to 11 am the next day. As Saturday dawned fog still covered the Island and many were concerned that the race could be cancelled. The start was put back half an hour to 11:30. With tension building the clock crept towards the new deadline. Finally the fog lifted enough for the race to start; all involved looked to the event with great expectations.
Jimmie Guthrie with Norton race manager Joe Craig, after Guthrie's win of the NorthWest 200 race in May of 1935 [MotorCycling, May 30 1935]With the tradition of Norton on his shoulders Jimmie Guthrie, carrying number 1 as last year’s winner, was first away and set off with fierce determination and pace no doubt intending to break the Guzzi or at least its rider’s spirit. Stanley Woods carrying number 30 started 14½ minutes later and set a steady pace. After the first lap Guthrie was first in 26 minutes and 52 seconds, his teammate Rush was second and Woods came by trailing by 28 seconds and third on corrected time. Norton must have been feeling confident, but was this part of a strategy by Woods? Perhaps a cautious lap to learn the conditions? Perhaps a top-heavy bike running with extra fuel? On the next lap the pace picked up. Jimmie Guthrie was riding the best race of his life so far and broke the lap record at 26 minutes and 31 seconds. But Woods had also picked up his pace and moved into second but still came through 47 seconds behind on corrected time. Now that Guthrie was pushed to ride at record pace, could it be maintained? Would his age at 38 tell over the length of this gruelling 7-lap 3-hour race?
Guthrie cracking on with his special factory Norton; the drilled-out engine plate bolts are clearly visible here, but most of the magic was inside the engine and gearbox! Note also the plug wrench poking out from his boot in case of a fouled spark plug! Note also the front rim - it's a black-painted alloy rim, the earliest use of an aluminum rim in the TT. Built by Borrani under Rudge license, both Norton and Velocette painted them black to fool each other! But of course, they were only fooling themselves.
The third lap was the one where teams were to take on fuel. Guthrie came into the pits after yet another lap record of 26 minutes and 28 seconds. The Norton team moved smoothly into well-practiced action and had him refuelled and out in 33 seconds by the reporter’s stopwatch. Almost 15 minutes later Woods came into the pits now 52 seconds behind and, to the surprise of onlookers, in a lightening stop was away in 31 seconds by the same watch. With such a short stop there was speculation as to whether the twin had enough fuel to make the next four laps at record pace? Especially given the Husqvarna experience the year before.
Jimmy Guthrie pushing off on the start line of the Senior TT on his Norton. #2 looks to be a factory NSU racer. Note the Boy Scouts manning the leader board, who kept track of the riders' places as the very long race progressed.
On the Fourth Lap, both Guthrie and Woods continued at near record pace. Motorcycling magazine shows pictures of both riders and their bikes coming down Bray Hill. The Norton has its front wheel in the air; the Moto Guzzi is firmly planted on the ground. It was said the sprung frame could be worth as much as 20 seconds a lap, would this tell? Woods closed the gap to 42 seconds.
On the fifth lap Woods reduced the lap record to 26 minutes and 26 seconds, closing the gap to 29 seconds. He had pulled back 13 seconds on just one lap; the challenge was on.
Stanley Woods at speed on the Moto Guzzi, with something to prove! Nothing to prove on the wheel rims; both are Borrani aluminum rims, seen for the first time at the TT on several makes.
We now come to end of the critical sixth lap. Guthrie’s Norton went through without stopping. The Moto Guzzi team busied themselves setting up for a fuel-stop and the grandstand crowd expected Woods and the thirsty Guzzi to stop for fuel. Joe Craig may have thought Norton had the race won. It is said he had sent signals to his station at Glen Helen for Guthrie, almost ⅔ of a lap ahead, to ease his pace perhaps fearing the record laps could affect the bike and the rider.
Another shot of the magnificent Moto Guzzi Bicylindrica
Stanley Woods and the Guzzi could be heard approaching the Grandstand. To the surprise of everyone but the Guzzi team, he shot through, on the tank, flat-out, now 26 seconds behind: man and machine on a mission. Could the Moto Guzzi pit-stop ploy have made a difference? Norton immediately rang through to Ramsay to signal Guthrie to speed up. It was now all up to Woods. As Mario Colombo (from a Guzzi perspective) puts it: “L’ultimo giro, il settimo, si svolge in un’atmosfera di tormento e di sofferenza, gli occhi al cronometro, l’orecchio teso” (“The seventh and last lap unfolded in an atmosphere of suffering and torment, with all eyes on the stopwatches and all ears alert”). Reports were coming through that Woods was running fast all around the circuit: the Moto Guzzi ‘bicilindrica’ was rising to the occasion. At the base of the mountain he had the gap down to 12 seconds, down the mountain he had the bike wound up to 125mph. At Creg-Ny-Baa the gap was 6 seconds. Guthrie had come through on his seventh and final lap at near-record pace – he knew Woods well enough maybe not to trust the signals. Colombo writes: “Guthrie arrived at the finish and silence fell like a tangible thing: everyone had their eyes fixed on the beginning of the final straight”. Not all it seems, the officials and the radio commentary, based on the times from the sixth lap, thought Guthrie had won. He was toasted and congratulated by the Governor of the Isle of Man. Motorcycling magazine has a photograph of the Guthrie and the bike surrounding by supporters as a smiling ‘winner’. An official was leading Guthrie to the microphone when, after 14½ minutes of suspense, with its characteristic roar, the red Guzzi with Woods “buried in the tank” flashed across the line. “A thousand stopwatches clicked and feverish calculations were made”. That official was stopped with the news that Woods had won by 4 seconds. He’d done it. Woods had ridden an outstanding last record lap (26minutes and 10 seconds, 86.53 mph). His race time was 3 hours 7 minutes and 10 seconds, an average speed of 84.68mph. The crowd understood the significance of the moment, setting aside any thoughts of the ‘foreign menace’, the grandstand rose to cheer the winning team and rider, “…spectators thronged around Guzzi, Parodi, Woods and the mechanics in a display of sporting spirit those present never forgot”.
Jimmie Guthrie cranking through Ramsey on the Norton.
Guthrie looked dazed by the abrupt change of fortune but took it in good grace reflecting the depth of his character and reserved manner (off a bike!): he was amongst the first to congratulate Woods. After the race Jimmie Guthrie said; "I went as quick as I could but Stanley went quicker. I am sorry but I did the best I could." They were friends as well as rivals. Stanley Woods said years later: “I turned on everything I had on the last lap. I over-revved and beat him by 4 seconds and put up the lap record by 3-4 mph. And that (beating Norton), I think, gave me more satisfaction and more joy, the fact that I had beaten Norton. Its what I had set out to do. It was very very satisfactory”. MotorCycling magazine carried a second photograph with Stanley Woods, and his trademark grin, as the true winner of my ‘Greatest TT’.
Stanley Woods immediately after the race, with the Moto Guzzi mechanics pinching each other for a job well done!
Was the difference in those pit stops? It is possible both riders covered the ground in the same time. What about the fuel in Wood’s tank? A reporter said there was an inch in the bottom almost enough for another lap; it seems that the Guzzi did have an extra-large tank for the TT, maybe it was very full on the first slow laps. MotorCycling magazine discussed whether the fake pit stop was sporting but accepted the tactic as legitimate (quaint considering team tactics these days). Perhaps for once the fox was just outfoxed?
Jimmie Guthrie after winning the 1931 Isle of Man Senior TT on another Norton. Note the Boy Scout looking admiringly at the hero! And the general griminess of the machine, which had exposed rocker arms and valve springs - a feature of all racing Norton singles through 1962!
What happened to these two great riders? Guthrie continued with Norton and turned the tables in the 1936 Senior TT (winning by 18 seconds over Woods now riding for Velocette). In 1937 Guthrie won the Junior but his bike broke down at ‘The Cutting’ in the Senior. He was killed later that year (at 40) while leading the German GP at the Sachsenring. Woods was slowed in that race (by broken fuel line) and saw a rider ahead too close to Guthrie. It was said the accident was a result of mechanical failure. Woods, interviewed in 1992, said he thought Guthrie had been forced off line and into the trees at the Noetzhold corner. Woods was the first on the scene and went with him to the hospital: “the surgeon came out and said that they'd revived him momentarily, but that he had died. You can imagine how I felt. We'd been friends, team-mates and rivals for ten years. I was shattered." The ‘Guthrie Memorial’ stands where he had stopped in his last TT; the ‘Guthrie Stone’ marks the accident spot at the Sachsenring. Woods won the Junior TT for Velocette in 1938 and 1939; also with Velocette he was a close second to Norton in the Senior TTs of ’36,’37 and ’38 and just missed third by 6 seconds behind Freddie Frith (Norton) when the BMW supercharged bikes took first and second in 1939. Woods did not return to racing after 1945 but did test rides (including on the Guzzi V8 in ’56) and demonstration rides at the TTs into his 80’s. It took Mike Hailwood to beat his ten TT wins. Stanley Woods died in 1993 aged 90, still regarded by many as the greatest rider of all.
An evocative photo of a New Imperial single-cylider Junior TT racer [MotorCycling, June 6 1935]
Three inauspicious cardboard boxes stuffed in a suitcase, and hidden in a Mexico City closet for over 70 years was revealed as a treasure trove of photography in 2010. 'The Mexican Suitcase', as it was called, refers to three boxes containing organized 35mm film rolls that were smuggled out of France at the beginning of WW2, likely by the Mexican ambassador. Within the boxes was 126 rolls of film (about 4000 photos) from three of the most important photojournalists to cover the Spanish Civil War; Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and David 'Chim' Seymour. These three young and idealistic photographers entered Spain in 1935/6 to document the terrible struggle between the elected Leftist government, and the forces of General Francisco Franco, who was backed by a coalition of monarchists, capitalists, the Catholic church, and Fascists.
Hoping to sway international opinion through their photography, Capa, Taro (Capa's lover), and Chim took dramatic photos which changed the course of photography, if not the war. With the mantra 'if the photo isn't interesting, you're not close enough to the battle', these three were intimately involved with the Republican soldiers fighting against the Fascist-backed rebellion. The three photographers weren't the only foreigners helping the Republicans via media accounts; luminaries such as Ernest Hemingway, Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, and George Orwell (who actually took up arms, and wrote 'Homage to Catalonia' about his experiences in the war) felt the urgency of fighting the European tide of Fascism which arose in the 1930s in Italy and Germany.
A 1935 Harley-Davidson VL with Bosch headlamp, and a very worried partisan fighter, keeping an eye out for Heinkel bombers 'loaned' by Germany to Franco's forces [Gerda Taro]The Republican soldier riding the motorcycle was photographed by Gerda Taro (the nom de plume of Gerta Pohrylle of Germany), who was hiding in the forest during an aerial attack by German Heinkel He51s during the battle of Navacerrada Pass, between Madrid and Segovia, early June 1937. This very battle is the setting for Ernest Hemingway's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls', in which a journalist/Hemingway stand-in, Robert Jordan, is an American who travels to Spain to fight fascism. About 2800 Americans (the 'Abraham Lincoln Brigade') did so, although I doubt any brought their motorcycles, as there was an official US embargo on providing any material aid to the Spanish, and some of the Americans were prosecuted after returning to the US.
Ernest Hemingway in Spain, photographed by Robert Capa
The Harley Davidson looks to be a 'VLD' model of 1932-'36, their 74cubic inch sidevalve roadster, hardly suited to the kind of off-road work used in a military campaign... but of course, private motorcycles were pressed into service during war in Spain, and shortly after, the rest of Europe. The Harley has a German Bosch headlamp, which may have been a convenient replacement for the original item, after damage. No other modifications appear to have been made to the bike; Spain had no time to make specialist war equipment or even paint military machines drab or camouflage. In his leather jacket and boots, plus beret and goggles, the rider could be any of us on his Harley, out for a spin in the woods. But the look of anxiety on his face, keeping his hands on the 'bars, means our rider is ready to hightail it at the first sign of an incoming plane.
A second photo of the Harley-Davidson rider [Gerda Taro]Gerda Taro was initially linked professionally to Robert Capa, with her photos being released under a Taro&Capa byline, but she struck out on her own after refusing Capa's marriage proposal in Spain. Her photos of the bombing of Valencia, and her reportage from Brunete, were her most celebrated work, but she was killed in an automobile/tank accident during the Battle of Brunete, shortly after the photos in the Mexican Suitcase were taken - she was 27 years old. She was the first female photojournalist to cover a war, and the first to die in the process.
Gerda Taro and Robert Capa in Spain [Chim]Robert Capa survived his time in Spain, and went on to photograph WW2, embedded with American troops, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Dwight Eisenhower. He founded the Magnum Photo agency in Paris in 1947, with Henri Cartier-Bresson, William Vandivert, David Seymour, and George Rodger, and became a celebrated and successful photographer for magazines around the world. Although he swore off war photography after WW2, he was lured by the French war in Indochina (Vietnam), and secured a job reporting there for Time-Life magazines. He was killed after stepping on a land mine in 1954; he was 40 years old.
A Gerda Taro photograph of Spanish children playing with a bombed-out motorcycle in 1937
David 'Chim' Seymour (born Dawyd Szymin in Poland) was sent to Spain on assignment by Regards magazine in 1935, and remained covering the war for 4 years, before escaping with Republican refugees to Mexico aboard the SS Sinaia in 1939. He entered the USA that year, and joined the US Army after Germany invaded Poland, his birthplace, in 1939. He was a photographer for the US military, and was naturalized as a US Citizen in 1942, the same year his parents were killed in a Nazi concentration camp in Poland. After the war, he photographed the plight of poor children around the world for Unicef, and founded Magnum Photos with Robert Capa in 1947, becoming president of the group when Capa was killed in 1954. He was killed by machine-gun fire in Egypt while covering the Suez Crisis in 1956 - he was 44 years old.
Contact sheets from the Mexican Suitcase, showing Spanish refugees on the move [Robert Capa?]
Carl Neracher was born to make the Ner-A-Car; it was his name, after all! That double pun - his motorcycle was both 'nearly a car' and a mis-spelling of his name - was auspicious wordplay, for while his 1918 design was only built for seven years (from 1921-28), it sold very well, with a combined 16,500 units built in both US and British factories. The Ner-A-Car remains the most successful hub-center steered motorcycle ever built, far eclipsing the sales of similarly constructed machines from the 1905 Zenith Bi-Car (not many built!) to the Bimota Tesi of 2008 (417 produced). Carl Neracher designed his radical hub-center steered motorcycle in 1918, right after WW1, and it was designed from the start to feature a car-type chassis and fully enclosed bodywork that protected the rider from road grit. It steered with the same mechanism as an automobile, and offered much the same protection, so it was indeed 'Ner-A-Car', as it was sold in Britian; in the US, it was sold as the 'Neracar'.
The designer Carl Neracher himself aboard a 1922 Neracar [via Bruce Lindsay, published in TMIINYS - see 'Sources']
The Design
Carl Neracher (1882-1962) first emerged on the motor vehicle scene as a sales rep for the Smith Motor Wheel Co, that produced an auxiliary motor attachment (fixed on a third wheel) for bicycles. He was next the Chief Engineer for the Cleveland Motorcycle Mf'r Co, reportedly designing their distinctive lightweight two-stroke single, with a cross-ways (transverse) mounted engine, that necessitated a 90deg bevel-drive to complete the transmission with a chain. The little Cleveland had some sales success, and was used by the US Army as an on-base courier machine during WW1. The Cleveland's 221cc transverse two-stroke single-cylinder motor would reappear in the Ner-A-Car a few years later.
The 1919 Cleveland Model B, still in military drag, but as designed by Car Neracher in 1915 [Unknown]Carl Neracher didn't invent the Neracar in a vacuum: hub-center steering had been in production since at least 1904, in Britain with Tooley's Patent Bi-Car, which the Zenith company licensed and sold at the Bi-Car from 1905. The Bi-Car used a low-slung tubular chassis with its hub-center steering, but in the US, the Militaire of 1911 used a C-section sheet steel frame very similar to the Ner-A-Car, which held the front wheel between extended chassis arms.
Carl Neracher's 1918 prototype; note the simplified bodywork, solid disc wheels, and headlamp blended into the front fender, but also the fundamental similarity to the production machine. [via Bruce Lindsay, published in TMIINYS]Strangely, neither of these machines was referenced in a Patent plate affixed to the Neracar chassis in the US; it credits patents granted to John J. Chapin of the Detroit Bi-Car Co. of 1911. According to a 1911 edition of The Bicycling World, the Bi-Car was "an attempt to construct a two-wheel vehicle embracing many desirable features of the automobile." Which principally meant protection from road muck for the rider, and stability on the road, in an era when motorcycles handled terribly, with very high centers of gravity, and zero understanding of using rake/trail adjustments in combination with a suitable wheelbase and good weight distribution to achieve stability. Compared to any other machine on the road in 1911, a hub-center steered motorcycle must have been a revelation, as they're stable to the point of being safe to ride hands-off.
The 'Midget BiCar' as seen in 1908. The design originated in Reading, England, in 1905, produced by JT Brown. The rights to the design were purchased by the Walton Motor Co of Long Island, NY, in 1908. The frame was built of channel steel girders, with light steel pressings covering the chassis. It seems likely this is the patent referred to on the Ner-A-Car build plate? ['American Motorcycles: 1868-1914', Wright]
Production
In the immediate aftermath of WW1, aircraft factories like Sopwith, Bleriot, BMW, and Sheffield Simplex found themselves without orders, turning to motorcycles to keep their factories occupied. Motorcycles offered similar requirements for technical sophistication in manufacture, and offered a degree of panache/danger that seemed a natural fit for an aircraft firm. Sheffield-Simplex manager H.H. Powell was coaxed by J. Allan Smith (Carl Neracher's business partner) to visit the USA and assess their new design in early 1919. Sheffield-Simplex's rival Sopwith Aviation had already committed to production of the flat-twin ABC motorcycle by 1919 (designed by Granville Bradshaw and the equal in radicality to the Neracher's design), which may have encouraged Powell to take out a license to produce Neracher's design in Britain.
The American Ner-A-Car factory in New York in 1922 [Motorcycle Illustrated, April 13, 1922]In late 1919, the Inter Continental Engineering Company was formed in London, with Board members including many Sheffield Simplex executives, plus J.Allan Smith and Carl Neracher, and H.H. Powell himself. Sheffield Simplex set up a factory for motorcycle production in Tinsley, near Sheffield, with a second assembly plant at Finningley, near Doncaster. The Ner-A-Car, as it was called from its 1921 press announcements, was slightly altered from Neracher's blueprints, and the introductory engine was a Sheffield Simplex two-stroke single of 221cc.
The 1922 British Ner-A-Car brochure [author's collection]In the US, the Ner-A-Car Corporation was formed in late 1921 with financial backing secured domestically, and a factory set up at 196 S. Geddes Street in Syracuse. NY. The first appearance of the American 'Neracar' was at the Chicago National Motorcycle, Bicycle and Accessories Show in late 1921.
Positive Reviews
In 1922, Mrs GM Janson became well known for riding her Ner-A-Car in various observed trials, on-road and off-road alike. "It behooves me to bestow a word of well-earned praise on the Ner-A-Car." [The MotorCycle, Dec 1921]
In 1921, Gwenda Janson makes an observed 1,000-mile ride to gain an ACU Certificate, and she gained a second Certificate in December that year for a non-stop ride of 300 miles. With its full enclosure, easy starting, and very stable ride, the Ner-A-Car was heavily marketed to women riders, and their advertising and brochures make an emphatic appeal to ladies, who had only very recently gained the right to vote in both the UK (1918) and the USA (1920). It was an era when motorcycle factories in the UK and Europe made direct appeals to women riders in brochures and advertising, and built 'Ladies' Models' - similar to Ladies' Bicycles - to accommodate their clothing styles, before women wearing trousers became commonplace. In that sense, Ner-A-Car catered to a feminist revolution, supporting women's identity as independently mobile individuals, whose competence mastering a motorized vehicle was unquestioned. This my seem normal today (except in Saudi Arabia), but the early 1920s was still the Victorian era, when women's social roles were extremely restricted, as were their property rights, and of course their right to vote.
Erwin 'Cannonball' Baker at the embarkation point (New York City) of yet another of his grand cross-country adventures, in November 1922, that took 27 days. Was he subsidized by the factory? [Unknown]In November of 1922, 'Cannonball' Baker rode a Neracar across the USA, traveling from New York to Los Angeles, a trip of 3364.2 miles, in 27 days, 5 hours, 28 minutes, using 45 gallons of gasoline and 5 5/8 gallons of oil, at a cost of $15.70. He averaged 19.41mph over the horrific unpaved 'roads' of the day, and averaged 74.77mpg. Baker had a few things to say about the Neracar, and was quoted in a 1960s interview, "I have ridden a lot of fine handling motorcycles in my day, but I NEVER RODE ANYTHING that would come so near to steering itself as a Neracar. A popular demonstration of this Neracar by dealers and salesmen who sold it was to stand up on the footboards, ride it over rough roads, with hands behind their backs. I have pictures of Neracar riders standing in the saddle, other kneeling on the saddle with their hands locked in handcuffs." The word on the street, in the press, and in the ads proclaimed the Neracar as the most stable motorcycle ever built.
The 1922 catalog caters explicitly to lady riders [author's collection]Press response was very positive among reviewers. In the Spring of 1922 Motorcycling and Bicycling featured a road test of a Neracar by LE Fowler, who was impressed by the bike's easy handling, and how clean the bike remained over muddy roads. After familiarizing himself with the machine on a trip from Syracuse to Auburn NY, he rode the Neracar standing on the footboards, with no hands.
Evolution
The 1922 British Ner-A-Car - note the relatively light front mudguard for this first-year model, which would expand dramatically the next year for better rider protection [author's collection]
By 1923, the English Ner-A-Car Model B got a larger motor (now 285cc), which gave a little more power, and the carburetor was moved to a more convenient location. The next year the Model C offered a Blackburne sidevalve engine of 350cc, which abandoned Neracher's original friction-drive system (that gave a kind of 'automatic transmisson') in favor of a conventional clutch/gearbox/chain drive. In 1925, Ner-A-Car upped the ante even further, offering a 350cc OHV Blackburne engine for the Model C. As the front hub was unchanged, there was no front brake, and the dual rear-wheel brakes of the Ner-A-Car would have been sorely tested by an 80mph motorcycle, although the chassis was quite capable of handling the speed. A further model was offered with rear springing and a car-type seat (shades of the Wilkinson), but by 1927, British production was finished, after 6500 machines were built.
By 1923, the British Ner-A-Car gained a deeper front mudguard. On the British version, electric lighting remained an option for several years, whereas it was standard on the American version. [Hockenheim Museum Collection]The American Neracar started out with a 221cc motor, which was increased to 255cc in 1924, and the original chassis configuration with friction drive was retained throughout the run of 10,000 machines. Over time the engine got better cooling fins, larger springs for the front suspension, a one-piece crankcase for better gas (and oil) sealing, and the carburetor was relocated to the left side of the engine, providing better access to the carb, and helping the intake mixture stay cooler. Options like balloon tires and carriers were available, and a second rear brake was added as required in most markets.
A Blackburne-engined model, with sidevalve 350cc motor and standard clutch/gearbox [Hockenheim Museum Collection]Both Ner-A-Car factories struggled as the '20s progressed and motorcycles became more competent, and many more small machines became available. The Ner-A-Car was a bright idea that had had its day, and without significant further development to keep up with the times (which might look like the Majestic?), sales faded. Production figures, while the highest for any hub-center motorcycle in history, were still far less than the factories were capable of producing, and expected to produce.
The late British model with car-type seating and a windscreen, plus the Blackburne 350cc sidevalve motor, and rear suspension. [Hockenheim Museum Collection]Radical or 'better' ideas have rarely been wildly popular in motorcycling, although most factories have tried one or two in their history - Wankel motors, hub-center bikes, fully enclosured bodywork, feet-forward riding positions, etc. None have proved to be big sellers, not even something as mundane as a 4-cylinder motorcycle, which the American industry proudly produced from 1909 onwards, with no profitability for any 4-cylinder manufacturer (Henderson, Indian, Ace, Cleveland, Militaire, Pierce, etc). It took the Ariel Square 4 (1931), and then the Honda CB750(1968), to prove a Four could be profitably sold.
A Test Ride
Although I'd seen quite a few Ner-A-Cars in museums and at motorcycle shows, I'd never seen one actually ridden until I was presented with a test machine, at the Vintage Revival Montlhéry event of 2013. The original-paint, oily rag machine was the property of Jon Dudley, who'd purchased it while searching for 'something unusual'. He certainly got it, although of course the clergymen and nurses who were the Ner-A-Car's primary customers in the UK didn't mind, and appreciated not getting their clothes filthy during a ride to work. That function would be classified as 'scooter' today, and in some ways the Ner-A-Car fits the definition, barring its exceptional handling.
The Jon Dudley 1923 Ner-A-Car loaned for our test [Jon Dudley]Pushing the bike around with a dead engine doesn't inspire confidence, with a wiggly feel transmitted between the front wheel and handlebars, which had the earlier, simpler linkages, which were replaced with ball joints on later models. But no matter, once the carb is tickled, one steps on a starter pedal mounted just behind the left side footboard, in the manner of an early BMW. With only 221cc, it's an easy start with a decent spark from the flywheel magneto, hidden within the very housing that drives the friction wheel and hence the rear wheel - true design economy. An easy press down and the motor is soon pop-popping away underneath that bodywork, while the exposed cylinder top heats up. Fuel mix is controlled by a lever throttle on the right handlebar (with an air lever for starting), and on the left 'bar is a twistgrip (funny they didn't use one for the throttle!) which dis/engages the flywheel friction drive. There isn't actually a clutch, but the twistgrip disengages the friction wheel from the flywheel that drives it.
Our road test subject; a 1923 Ner-A-Car as built by the Sheffield-Simplex Company, in 'oily rag' condition [Jon Dudley]With no gears and no clutch plates, engaging the drive is more akin to a lever-pull automatic transmission, starting with the long 'shift' lever in low, and pushing through the five notches on the lever gate to 'high gear', at which point you're north of 30mph. Ner-A-Car didn't like top speed quotes, and the Board actively sought to keep top speeds DOWN to reduce intimidation for new riders, but the two-stroke version of the Ner-A-Car is good for 35mph, which can apparently be maintained ad nauseum.
The author on his first acquaintance with the test subject 1923 Ner-A-Car, at the 2013 Vintage Revival Montlhéry [Francois-Marie Dumas]Such was my experience anyway, as I burbled onto the steeply-banked historic autodrome, and pulled the lever all the way to the 'bar, and the speed lever all the way forward. A muted two-stroke howl and a stately pace soon led to a realization that my hands were no longer required on the 'bars, and so I commenced to take photos of all the other riders passing me by, as I hugged the inside of the course. Even through the chicanes set up to bring riders off the banking and slow them down, the Ner-A-Car needed no assistance, only a shift in weight to arc through the curves, and so I carried on that way...for 3 full laps of the circuit!
With the hands free from the burden of steering, photography could be indulged with ease [Francois-Marie Dumas]There's no rear suspension, so Montlhéry's notoriously bumpy concrete surface was felt through the sprung leather saddle, and although the front end did bounce gently over the worst of it, the plot never wavered from straight ahead. Such is my experience with every hub-center steered motorcycle I've ridden - absolute stability, at the expense of agility. The Ner-A-Car, being light, relatively small, and underpowered, never felt sluggish in steering or stubbornly unwilling to change direction, but was easy-peasy to ride around the paddock and even turn in fairly tight circles. The Ner-A-Car is a bike to inspire confidence in any rider, especially novices, with its stability and ease of use. The Ner-A-Car was a noble attempt to provide a machine that fills the niche of the scooter, combining weather protection, ease of use, and a feet-forward riding position. It would take another 25 years before the scooter would be perfected by Piaggio and Innocenti, but for fans of unique engineering, the Ner-A-Car is an intriguing proposition.
A publicity shot in 1923: an early instance of 'bathing suit ladies' being used to sell motorcycles. In truth, Harley-Davidson and Excelsior had inaugurated this tactic back in the 'Teens. Ner-A-Car's advertising showed far more sensibly clad women actually riding their machines [unknown]Ladies in cloche hats in active revolt! Aboard an easy-to-manage Ner-A-Car. From the 1922 catalog [author's collection]Sources:
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State [referred to as TMIINYS above], 1999, Geoffrey Stein, NY State Museum, Albany. This is a remarkable book, and the only one of its type about American motorcycle production. In Europe, there are dozens of such books, such as Bernard Salvat's '600 Marques Motocyclettes de Paris et la Seine' (you read that right; 600 mf'rs in the Paris area alone!). France and Germany are the leaders in 'local pride' publications, which are an invaluable source of information. TMIINYS is essential reading; while many of the 146 NY manufacturers have scant information, other brands, like Ner-A-Car, Emblem, Curtiss, etc, have information found nowhere else. Kudos to Geoffrey Stein for his excellent book, which can be purchased here.
The MotorCycle magazine, 1921-28 editions
MotorCycling magazine, 1921 - 28 editions
Motorcycling and Bicycling magazine, 1922-24. A very difficult-to-find publication, and essential for early American motorcycle research.
The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Motorcycling, 1999, Tod Rafferty. Courage Books, Philadelphia. A very useful shorthand guide to 78 American motorcycle manufacturers, with great color photos. Available here.
Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.
If anyone was ever born to be a photographer, it was Rondal Partridge, whose name you've likely never heard, but you likely know his mother, the legendary photographer Imogen Cunningham. Partridge's father was the printmaker Roi George , and their family friends included the likes of Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams. When Rondal was 4 years old, he began spending significant time with Lange and her husband, the painter Maynard Dixon, and began assisting his mother in her darkroom from age 5. He hit the road at 16 with Dorothea Lange when she was hired by the Resettlement Administration, a Federal agency created to study rural poverty as part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In 1934/5, in the depths of the Depression, Lange made her career with these legendary photographs, and was paid $4/day by the agency. As her assistant/driver, Rondal was paid $1/day, and often camped while Lange slept in motels.
"Breaking the starting tape." A 1930s Norton climbing the hill - probably purchased in San Francisco from dealer Al Fergoda. It's remarkable to think what this area looks like today - the heart of Silicon Valley! [National Archive]From 1937-39, Rondal worked as an assistant to Ansel Adams in Yosemite National Park, and was in charge of Adams' 'automatic darkroom' that produced prints for sale to tourists. In the Spring of 1940, Partridge was commissioned by the National Youth Administration (NYA) (another New Deal Federal agency) to study youth culture and youth unemployment in California. Partridge traveled from Berkeley to Los Angeles, photographing high school students and other young people, and his work reflects his time studying under Dorothea Lange, with its poignant social concern, and some of her artistry.
"Roadside repair. On the way to the hill climb, this motorcycle party stopped by the roadside while one of the motorcycles was repaired. The girls were pillion riders." In 1940, many State highways were still dirt - the road sign behind them might say '1' or even '101'! The bikes are all Harley-Davidsons and Indians, in stock trim. [National Archive]That Spring, he happened upon a motorcycle hillclimb event in Santa Clara, CA, which is now the heart of Silicon Valley, but then was simply another agricultural valley in a state known for its many fertile regions (many of which have been similarly paved over). Today the Santa Clara valley is teeming with suburban housing developments and the campuses of the tech industry, although a few notable wineries dot the surrounding hills, especially in the southern part of the valley.
"This young motorcycle enthusiast is a contestant in the meet." [National Archive]Partridge followed his NYA commission with a stint at the Black Star photographic service, and during WW2 he served as a photographer for the US Navy. Postwar, Partridge worked as a freelance photographer, writing and lecturing on photography and film for universities. He returned to photograph the Yosemite Valley in the 1960s, notably contrasting the development and automotive traffic against Adams' natural splendor, in a famous series published as 'Pave It and Paint It Green', which was also made into a film.
"This contestant watches another attempt the climb. He wears a sweater which bears his motorcycle's trade name." [National Archive]This chance series of photos capture an amazing and long-lost era of California history and amateur sporting competition. Hill Climbing was an incredibly popular professional sport in the late 1920s, as the 'Big 3' battled it out for supremacy in 'vertical drag racing', but the Depression put a lid on motorsports, which led the AMA to create Class C racing in 1934, which specified only catalogued racing machines were eligible for sanctioned racing events. This killed the era of highly developed factory specials (OHV, alcohol-burning v-twins from H-D, Indian, and Excelsior), but popularized motorcycle racing to a much broader audience, like as this photo series demonstrates. It was Everyman racing, on every sort of machine, and looks like tremendous fun.
"His first hill climb. The fellow is fixing the gearshift for him, while the other is explaining how to take the bumps. The man with the goggles is wearing a shirt from a local motorcycle club." The bike is of course an Indian 101 Scout. Style notes: cuffed Levi's, engineer's boots, motorcycle logo sweaters, club tees, and pre-WW2 aviator shades. A few squares in suits haunt the background - probably dealers. [National Archives]"An apprehensive onlooker. This woman was a motorcycle enthusiast and was among a group which came by way of motorcycle to the hill climb." [National Archive]"At the start of the course. The going gets even rougher and steeper further on. The crowd in the background is composed almost entirely of young fellows. At the bottom of the hill can be seen the parking area. Besides the automobiles, approximately 200 motorcyclists had come to this Sunday event." The machine is a Harley-Davidson WRTT, a competition machine with a front brake for TT courses. [National Archives]"About 18 years old, and one of the most daring motorcycle riders at the meet. He wears his own name on his sweater, and wears a leather helmet under his crash helmet. Helmets are made of steel or a composition with Balsa wood lining." [National Archives]
Bernard Testemale is best known as a professional surf photographer, based in southern France, having grown up in Soustons and surfing from an early age. He began his photo career in the dark(room) ages, shooting with film, and shifted to digital photography, as everyone did, for a stretch of 10 years, using medium and large-format cameras. He also did interesting work with large-format Polaroid film, sadly only available as expired stock nowadays, and in 2013 he stepped through the looking glass into the world of Wet Plate. He studied with a chemistry specialist, Jacques Cousin, who instructed him on some of the dark arts of the wet plate/collodion process, and also dug into books from the 1880s, when the process was at its peak of perfection, by Desire Van Monckhoven, A. Liébert, etc.
The supercharged 1930 BMW land speed racer ridden by Ernst Henne, that magically appeared at the 2014 Wheels+Waves 'ArtRide' exhibition, courtesy the BMW Museum in Munich [Bernard Testemale]"There's a ton of good information in the old books", he explains, and is lucky enough to read these texts in his native language! Photography was invented in France, or at least the first successful, permanent photo-images, first from the work of the wonderfully named Nicephore Niépce, who laid the foundations for photography by exposing polished silver plates fogged with iodine and bromine, and developed with mercury vapor. This dangerous process is called Daguerreotype, after Niépce's student/business partner, Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre, perfected the process and popularized it worldwide.
Chopper rider Bruno Allart [Bernard Testemale]"It took me a almost a year - full time - to learn from my mistakes, and practice the process practice step by step. I was dedicated to the process, and I haven't stopped since …" His work in the wet plate/collodion medium is outstanding, and Bernard can be seen around the world these days, traveling to surf hotspots, which tend to be motorcycle hotspots too! So today he indulges both passions, for boards and wheels, with his mighty Deardorff 8x10" camera, at events like Wheels+Waves.
Lustrous, with the sought-after 'Bokeh' created by spherical abberations in an old lens, blurring any out-of-focus areas, and making even chopper fishtails look like Art Nouveau accents [Bernard Testemale]Bernard is having an exhibition in Paris of his wet plate/collodion photography, 'Art of Ride' at Galerie Hegoa, 16, rue de Beaune, in the 7th Arrondissement. The exhibition is open from Jan 26th - March 18 2018. Here's the gallery's press release on the exhibition:
The word ‘Ride’ or ‘Rider’ sums up the spirit of freedom that drives his work. Entirely created in collodion - a complex photographic process dating to the mid-19th century - and embedded onto metal plates (tintypes or ferrotypes) or glass (ambrotypes), these infinitely nuanced black and white images trigger an immediate flashback and unleash an emotional electricity as unique as it is unexpected. To create timeless pieces of great intensity with only an engine or a face is a challenge and a passion, existing somewhere at the crossroads of painting, sculpture and photography. Working with collodion requires a mountain of equipment, a keen understanding of chemistry and the mastery of countless technical factors that can destroy an image. Each photograph requires as much time and patience on the part of the photographer as the subject. Of these hours of laborious work, the photographer has no guarantee of success, but the little imperfections and the unpredictability of the final print are the charm of these unique and timeless artworks. “This is a sort of return to the past,” explains Testemale, “Collodion takes us back to the origins of photography.”
'Sultans of Sprint' [Bernard Testemale]Paul Simonon of the Clash [Bernard Testemale]A Gnome-Rhone Model X Art Deco flat twin [Bernard Testemale]Paul d'Orléans aboard the supercharged BMW [Bernard Testemale]'Pouring a plate' - the collodion (charged with iodine and salts) is poured on black glass to create an ambrotype, Bernard's preferred medium. Once the collodion becomes tacky (10 seconds or so), the plate is dunked into a silver nitrate bath for 90 seconds, at which point it is light-sensitive film, as silver particles embed the tacky collodion surface. The plate is pulled out in a darkroom, put into a plate holder (familiar to any large-format photographer), and exposed in a camera. The charged collodion has an ASA of about 1, so exposures are long, and lenses 'hot'! [Arto Saari]Bernard Testemale with his trusty 8x10: Deardorff camera [Arto Saari]
Paul d'Orléans is the founder of TheVintagent.com. He is an author, photographer, filmmaker, museum curator, event organizer, and public speaker. Check out his Author Page, Instagram, and Facebook.
The Big 3. For a time, they were the last men standing in the American motorcycle industry: Harley-Davidson, Indian, and Excelsior-Henderson. They fought hard on the dirt tracks, race tracks, hill climbs, and sales floors, and in their 1920s heyday, the competition between the Big 3 made for the most exciting racing anyone had ever seen, between the fastest and most advanced racing bikes in the world. Sales floor competition made each company improve their products dramatically, and by the late 1920s it was Indian and Excelsior-Henderson who dominated the 45cu” (750cc) market with the Scout and Super X models. Their big models (the Indian Chief and 4, and the Henderson 4) were admired the world over, and were in many ways the most attractive and technically interesting motorcycles built in the USA. But larger forces were at work in the marketplace, far beyond any company’s control, that determined the fate of the Big 3.
A factory racing Excelsior v-twin, with a very special OHC v-twin motor based on the Cyclone engine; a few were built, but the Big Valve IoE (F-head) Excelsior motor proved just as fast and a lot more reliable than the poorly lubricated OHC design...[Mecum]Harley-Davidson, Indian, and Excelsior-Henderson all nearly succumbed to the Great Depression. Their sales figures after October 29, 1929 were dismal, and instead of selling tens of thousands of motorcycles towards the end of 1929, they sold bikes by the tens and hundreds, while unsold stock languished in distribution warehouses. Drastic action was necessary; Harley-Davidson found cash in Japan, selling their old tooling and leftover parts supply to make Rikuo motorcycles under license, a deal arranged by their Japanese importer Alfred R. Child. It’s still little known that the ‘Dabbitoson Harley Motorcycle Co. Japan’ was the secret savior of the Screaming Eagle. As for Indian, E. Paul DuPont decided he’d rather double down and buy a majority stake in the company than see his family’s six-figure investment go down the drain (resulting in their most profitable period ever, 1930-1945).
A fleet of Excelsior-Henderson 4-cylinders for this police force. At the time, a 'four' was the fastest thing on wheels.
Excelsior-Henderson was owned by Ignaz Schwinn, whose mighty two-wheeled empire in Chicago earned most of its profit from bicycles. Schwinn correctly foresaw a major downturn in motorcycle sales for 1930, and decided to pull the plug on his big bikes, and focus on the ones without motors, which were likely to continue selling when jobs were scarce. And he was right; Schwinn bicycles outlived Indian, and thrived through the 1960s and ‘70s, but never again produced motorcycles. But the Excelsior-Henderson name has quietly survived, waiting for the right combination of capital and inspiration to roar back to life.
Ignaz Schwinn
The motorcycle industry began slowly in the USA, at the dawn of the 20th Century, but soon exploded into life, becoming a veritable Springtime of manufacturers sprouting up from the ingenuity and pluck of our native country. Hundreds of small factories emerged between 1900 and 1920, as the formula for making a motorcycle – adding a motor to a bicycle – was intuitively easy to replicate. Bicycles were at the peak of their popularity, with manufacturers like Schwinn produced hundreds of thousands per year, inventing ‘vertical integration’ by incorporating every aspect of building, advertising, selling, racing, sponsoring, and repairing under their umbrella, and becoming very rich in the process.
Ignaz Schwinn was an American success story. Born in 1860 near Baden, Germany, his family was mildly prosperous as manufacturers of organs and pianos, but his father died when he was 11, and the second eldest of 7 children. After a primary and vocational school education, he scoured northern Germany for work, repairing bicycles for cash. He found a job as a machinist at the Kleyer bicycle works, and burned the midnight oil on a small drawing board in his room, designing his own ‘safety’ bicycle, which had recently been invented by Stanley in England. Heinrich Kleyer approved of these drawings, and gradually Schwinn rose to the post of factory manager and designer for Kleyer’s ‘Adler’ bicycles (the factory later grew famous making typewriters and motorcycles).
An early Excelsior single-cylinder machine with belt drive, c.1910, with the Keystone cops.
In 1891 Schwinn left Germany to seek his fortune in Chicago, the center of American bicycle manufacture. He quickly found work at the Hill Cycle Manufacturing Co, makers of the ‘Fowler’ bicycle, where once again he rose to the job of factory manager and designer. Schwinn was also involved in the launch of Hill’s related International Manufacturing Co, which produced the ‘America’ bicycle. Schwinn designed International’s bicycles, selected the machinery and tools for manufacture, and hired the employees to make them. Within a year he was supervising 237 workers, and oversaw a move to a larger factory building with 60,000sq’ of space.
The frame-building room of the giant Schwinn factory [Mecum] Schwinn had made a great success of International Manufacturing, but he wasn’t happy with the management of the company, and quit in 1894. During that year, he made plans to begin his own bicycle manufacturing business, keeping an eye out for a good location, and someone who could provide financial backing. He found a kindred spirit in another German immigrant, Adolf Arnold, who owned the Arnold Brothers meat packing plant, and was president of the Haymarket Produce Bank. After Schwinn’s successful management of 3 large bicycle manufacturing firms, during a worldwide boom in the bicycle industry, the idea of him starting his own company must have seemed a sure bet to Arnold. Hillclimbing before the sport was invented! This 1918 photo shows a US Military trial during WW1, demonstrating the prowess of the Excelsior v-tiwn [National Archive]
Arnold, Schwinn & Co. was founded in 1895, with Arnold’s investment of $75,000. The company carried on doing business under that name through 1967, although when Arnold retired in 1908, Schwinn purchased his stake in the company. That year they built 50,000 bicycles, a number that would double in 3 years. Schwinn became a very large company, and even fielded a racing team in Europe to promote their brand. With so much success, Ignaz’ son Frank – an avid motorcyclist - encouraged his father to invest in the burgeoning motorcycle industry.
1917: a military test of an Excelsior sidecar outfit through wet territory [National Archive][/caption]Schwinn’s engineers designed a motorcycle in 1910, with a parallel-twin cylinder engine, a crankcase incorporating an integral clutch, and a shaft final drive. It was a very advanced design, and at least one prototype was built, but Schwinn decided it prudent to buy an existing motorcycle brand rather than develop a new one. Dozens of small and large companies made motorcycles in the USA in 1910, and most of them struggled to make ends meet in a highly competitive market. Ignaz Schwinn didn’t have to look far for a successful motorcycle manufacturer looking to sell; he found the perfect fit right in Chicago.
The Excelsior Supply Company
The Excelsior Supply Company was formed in 1876 by George T. Robie, initially for the distribution of sewing machine parts. By the early 1890s, Excelsior branched into the booming bicycle business as well, selling parts and new ‘safety’ bicycles built by other brands. By 1904 they added automobile parts to their list of distributed supplies. George was content with distribution, but his son Frederick aspired to be a manufacturer, and prevailed on his father to embark on motorcycle production. The Bicycling World and Motorcycle Review noted in 1906, “The Excelsior Company is the largest and best known bicycle supply house in the West, and has the means and equipment and acquaintance to cut a very large figure in the motorcycle business.”
The Big X appears; an early Excelsior v-twin as produced by Schwinn [Mecum]The Excelsior Motor and Manufacturing Co was formed as a subsidiary of the Excelsior Supply Co in 1907, with Frederick Robie as President. Their first motorcycle was called the Triumph(!) Model B, using a Thor engine (designed by Indian and built under license by the Aurora Automatic Machine Co, just outside Chicago), with Excelsior’s own chassis. The Triumph was a stopgap to enter the market quickly; during the 1908 model year a new machine was introduced, designed by Excelsior’s George Meiser, called the Excelsior Auto-Cycle Model A. By 1909, business was booming, and Frederick Robie hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build him a new home on Woodlawn Ave in Chicago!
The modern, reinforced concrete Excelsior-Henderson factory owned by Schwinn [Mecum]Unfortunately, in late 1909 George T. Robie died of appendicitis, and young Frederick (29) was left to run both his motorcycle business and the far larger Supply Co, as well as settle his father’s personal debts. The Excelsior Motorcycle Co was booming, and could not keep up with demand, so expanded both their manufacturing premises and their product line. Extensive product lines taxed their resources, and the company was spread thin. Excelsior developed a new V-twin motor for 1910 possessing a beautiful profile, which went into full production in 1911, but the combined weight of managing both the Supply and Motorcycle companies was too much for Frederick. While the Excelsior Motorcycle Co was tremendously successful, the combination of his father’s debts and lackluster performance from the Supply Co. made Excelsior ripe for a takeover.
Excelsior Under Schwinn: 1912-17
A transfer of ownership contract between Ignaz Schwinn and his former rival, the Excelsior Supply Co and Excelsior Motor and Mfg Co, was signed on Nov 14, 1911. All the assets of these companies went to Schwinn, including the factory and office equipment, motors, motorcycles, bicycles, whole or in process; all parts and stock; the goodwill and rights to brand names; all patents; and the right to manufacture and sell under the Excelsior name. Ignaz Scwhinn personally signed a check for $500,000 on Feb 1, 1912; with the mighty Schwinn name behind it, Excelsior now had the capital it needed to thrive. A new factory was a first priority, and the newly formed Excelsior Motor, Mfg & Supply Co built a new, 200,000sq’ factory in Chicago, the largest motorcycle plant in the world. The new big red ‘X’ logo appeared on Excelsior fuel tanks that year.
A 'Teens Excelsior V-twin with period sidecar, and the family [Mecum]Schwinn knew racing success was the best advertising, and Excelsior built special racing machines and hired professional riders to fly their flag, like Jake DeRosier, Charles Balke, Lee Humiston, and Don Johns. Excelsior board track racers were highly successful, and in 1912 became the first motorcycle to exceed and average of 100mph during a race, when Lee Humiston flew over the boards at Playa Del Rey in Los Angeles. In 1914 Excelsior introduced the 7-S.C. racing v-twin with a ‘short-coupled’ frame, specifically for the board tracks and dirt ovals of the day, to compete against Indian’s 8-valve racer, introduced in 1911. Regardless the Indian’s theoretical superiority, the Excelsior v-twin proved a worthy adversary, setting many speed records. In late 1915 Carl Goudy won a 300-mile race at Chicago’s famous Speedway Park Board Track, averaging over 85 m.p.h. Advertisements for ‘the Big X’ reminded buyers that Excelsior was ‘still the only motor that has ever attained a speed of 100 miles per hour under FAM sanction and recognition.’
More police-spec Excelsior v-twins with the 'braced fork' for heavy sidecar duty [Mecum]The first ‘Schwinn’ Excelsiors appeared in 1915, with new, sweeping lines that presaged the streamline era of the 1920s and ‘30s. The frame top tube curved downward at the rear, creating a lower seating position and allowing the fuel tank to taper at the back, while the front fender had a curved ‘bell’ at the bottom, giving the whole machine a masculine grace. Excelsior’s new ‘big valve’ engine proved faster than its rivals on road and track, and they introduced a Lightweight model with 221cc motor for new riders. Despite difficult economic conditions during WW1, Excelsior flourished, and Schwinn looked to expand his product line to include four cylinders. By 1917 the Pierce Motorcycle Co was long gone, and only Henderson built 4-cylinder motorcycle in the USA.
The Henderson Motorcycle Company
William Henderson should have been the inheritor of the Winton automobile factory, as the grandson of Winton’s founder and the son of the Thomas Henderson, Vice-President of Winton. Young William dreamed of two wheels though, and sketched dozens of drawings for a new four-cylinder motorcycle, which he ran by his engineer father for approval. Years of back-and-forth ended with a blueprint for a complete 4-cylinder motorcycle in 1909, detailed to the last nut and bolt, which his father could not criticize. His father advised him to quit the idea, as he knew the difficulties of manufacturing and selling a vehicle, but chose an unusual parental strategy, giving William enough money to build a prototype in hopes the difficult process of building a motorcycle from scratch would deter his son. It took over a year to for Tom to turn his blueprints into casting patterns for frame lugs, crankcases, and cylinder heads, but by 1911 the prototype was complete, and it worked very well. The first Henderson motorcycle was a unique long-chassis inline 4-cylinder machine, with single-speed direct belt drive, and built-in seating for two on its long chassis.
Machining facilities in the Excelsior-Henderson factory. [Mecum]Production by the new Henderson Motorcycle Co began in 1912. William was joined in forming a business by his brother Thomas, and with their father’s help, they found $175,000 of capitalization to begin production. After setting up a factory in Detroit, the first production Henderson motorcycle emerged in January 1912. The engine was a four-cylinder 57cu” (934cc) F-head with a single-speed chain drive and clutch, which was started by a folding hand crank – shades of Winton practice. Beside the 4-cylinder motor, the most distinctive feature was that very long chassis with built-on passenger seating, with a short leading-link front fork, and a lovely ‘torpedo’ fuel/oil tank, which was used for one year only. The Henderson was a lovely machine, beautifully built, and expensive at $325.
The new Henderson was an immediate international news item, as Charles Stearns Clancy set forth on a new Henderson in October 1912, intending to becoming the first motorcyclist to circle the globe. Clancy made money as he traveled by selling stories to the press; thus, everyone within reach of a newspaper knew about the Henderson motorcycle, a tremendous global PR coup. By 1915, Henderson gained a 2-speed rear hub, and by Spring a much shorter wheelbase was available as an option, at 58” instead of the original 65”, in an effort to bring the Henderson more in line with other manufacturers’ dimensions.
Early Excelsior v-twins lined up outside the Salt Lake City dealership [Mecum]In 1916, Roy Artley rode a Henderson with sidecar 706 miles in 24 hours, for a new world record, adding 122 miles to the old record, and on the other end of the performance scale, E.L. Hals of Modesto managed 104.2 miles on a gallon of gas with his ’16 Henderson. Alan Bedell used a ’17 Henderson to lop 4 days off ‘Cannonball’ Baker’s fastest cross-country ride, making the LA-NY trip in 7days, 16hours, and 15minutes. Police departments and gentleman riders appreciated the quiet quality of the smooth 4-cylinder, although behind the scenes, the factory was struggling mightily with problems of inflation brought on by WW1.
The Henderson Four of 1912, as ridden around the world for the first time by Charles Stearns Clancy [Mecum]The 1917 model range (the Model G), announced in Sept. 1916, had a 3-speed gearbox, the ‘short’ frame, a proper kickstarter, stronger forks, and a new induction tract, which fed the cylinders more efficiently, and generated more power. Full electric lighting was offered, and even Henry Ford bought himself a Henderson! But the company had yet to turn a profit, and as honorable men, William and Thomas Henderson decided to sell the company. The Henderson brother had been manufacturing their own design of motorcycle for six years, and their 4-cylinder machine was globally acclaimed as a superb design. The Henderson men were still relatively young – Tom was 46, and William just 36 – and would continue to be involved with the motorcycle industry for years to come.
Henderson Under Schwinn: 1917
In 1917, Ignaz Schwinn looked to expand his motorcycle business, and thought a 4-cylinder lineup would complement his line of singles and v-twins nicely. It wasn’t known until the 1990s (and is still little-known today) that under Schwinn’s direction, Excelsior drew up plans for a 4-cylinder motorcycle. Plans dated March 1917 designated it the Model O, which featured a sidevalve engine (rather than Henderson’s ‘pocket valve’ IoE motor), 3 speed gearbox, and a shaft final drive – a mix of Pierce and Henderson’s best ideas. But in a repeat of his successful 1911 tactics, Schwinn surmised it would easier to start production of a four using an established design. There was only US company making ‘fours’ in 1917; the Henderson Motorcycle Co of Detroit.
Three wheels are better in the snow! Disc wheel covers were a popular accessory in the 1920s, as on this Excelsior-Henderson Four outfit. [Mecum]Although the Henderson brothers built the ‘Deusenberg of Motorcycles’, they’d yet to turn a profit. The company had several suitors, but on Oct 1, 1917, Thomas Henderson (president of Henderson Motorcycle Co), gave a financial statement to Ignaz Schwinn. It showed assets of $284,693.39, and liabilities of $288,091.71. The proposed sale of the Henderson Motorcycle Co. included 200 shares of Excelsior stock for Tom, and a position as general sales manager at $10,000/yr for 5 years. Schwinn merged his two brands as Excelsior-Henderson, and began making changes in earnest.
Excelsior-Henderson
1917 was an exceptional year for the newly integrated Excelsior-Henderson brands. Wells Bennett, a specialist in cross-country endurance racing, rode a Henderson 4 to lop 4 hours off ‘Cannonball’ Baker’s LA-NY record, once again proving the remarkable reliability of Henderson’s design. The Excelsior Lightweight was dropped from the line, to focus attention on further developing the Henderson 4, so the Excelsior-Henderson model line now consisted of a big v-twin and a four.
The 1930 Excelsior Super X 45ci F-head v-twin [Mecum]The heat in American racing was truly turned up when Harley-Davidson officially entered the fray, fielding a team of professional riders for the first time. They took a leaf from Indian’s technical book and introduced their own 8-valve racer, and the intense competition between factories created the first Golden Age of American motorcycle racing. Excelsior had an excellent design, which required little development to be very fast, but the factory’s attention after 1917 was on the Henderson, the only four-cylinder motorcycle produced in the USA between 1911-21. World War 1 and the ensuing inflation of wages and materials cost shook out most motorcycle manufacturers, leaving the Big 3 to duke it out: Excelsior-Henderson, Indian, and Harley-Davidson.
The motorcycle as leisure object, and lure for the opposite sex, is an old invention. [Mecum]Schwinn knew Excelsior needed a boost in racing, and while the Henderson was excellent for long-distance events, it was no dirt-track/board-track racer. Excelsior developed an OHC v-twin design in 1919, based closely on the Cyclone design, and built 6 engines for the 1920 season. But changes to the racing rules (to limit speeds and increase safety) spelled the end of the Board Track era. Hill climbing was on the ascendant – the practice of ‘vertical drag racing’ up freakish hills across the country – and Excelsior Big Valve racers proved very much suited for the practice. Long-distance racing and hillclimbs were Excelsior-Henderson’s biggest source of advertising copy in the post-WW1 period, as well as international racing, with wins in South Africa, Denmark, and France.
A factory Excelsior OHV hillclimber [Mecum]Short-track racing with smaller 500cc (30.50cu”) motors was gaining popularity, and Excelsior adapted its Model M racing v-twin motor into a single, and took records on tracks across the USA. But the sport of Hill climbing really attracted the crowds, growing enormously popular as the decade progressed. 30,000 spectators watched the Capistrano Hill Climb in San Francisco in 1922, where Wells Bennett’s Excelsior bested local favorite Dudley Perkins’ H-D. The following year, 40,000 people watched as Ed Ryan on a very special, long-wheelbase 80cu” Excelsior Model M racer won the Open class at Capistrano, besting the factory-sponsored efforts of Indian and H-D. The era of the ‘slant artist’ had begun.
'Big Bertha', one of Excelsior's secret weapons in the Hillclimb wars of the late 1920s [Mecum]Hendersons gained a new sidevalve motor, based on Schwinn’s original Model O design of 1916, and all models had 3-speed gearboxes. The finish and quality of construction of the Hendersons earned the name ‘Deusenberg of Motorcycles’, and they continued to win long-distance events before the sanctioning body of racing – the M&ATA Competition Committee – stopped certifying cross-country record runs as ‘outlaw events’.
Excelsior made a strategic move in 1925, and introduced the new Super X as a 45cu” (750cc) v-twin into a vacant gap in the American marketplace. Indian produced the 600cc Scout model, which was popular, but adding 150cc made the Super X faster than the Scout, and nearly as fast at the 61cu” H-Ds and Indians. The Super X was light, handled very well with a double-cradle loop frame, and had a good turn of speed. It was easily tuned for racing too, and changed the American motorcycle marketplace for decades to come. Suddenly the 45cu” class was popular with riders, and while it was easy for Indian to add engine capacity to the Scout, Harley-Davidson needed a totally new design to compete, which didn’t appear for another 4 years (the Model D).
When Hillclimbing was everything in the USA, and Excelsior was on top. [Mecum]In 1929, the Excelsior-Henderson line was transformed with the new Streamline series. Rounded teardrop tanks and lower riding positions gave a thoroughly modernized appearance, and performance of the Henderson 4 was greatly improved with input of former H-D staff Joe Petrali and Arthur Constantine, who’d joined Excelsior-Henderson on the design team. The Henderson KJ model had 31hp, and was capable of 100mph, satisfying the many police departments using 4-cylinder pursuit motorcycles. One the competition front, Joe Petrali had won the 1928 Hillclimb Championship on a Super X, but competition was heating up with Indian and H-D developing very special racers. In response, Petrali and Constantine built a series of experimental racers, including an OHV version of the Super X (designed with Andrew Koslow), that developed 50hp on alcohol. In the Unlimited class, they built several ‘Big Bertha’ racers using 61cu” motors and IoE cylinder heads. Petrali won 31 competitions in a row with his Big Bertha, and won the Championship again in 1929, and in 1930, Gene Rhyne took the Championship for Excelsior once again.
But the economic crash of October 1929 was devastating to all industries in the USA. The effects were immediate, and motorcycle sales fell drastically. As mentioned, Harley-Davidson scraped through the early 1930s with an infusion of cash from Japan, and Indian survived via a takeover by the DuPont family. Ignaz and his son Frank Schwinn were canny businessman, and predicted the Great Depression, as it became known, could last many years. It was decided to pare back manufacturing to suit the times, and so they assembled the key Excelsior-Henderson personnel in March 1931 to announce, “Gentlemen, today we stop.”
1993 – The Excelsior-Henderson Revival
In the earluy 1990s, motorcycles were booming in the USA, especially the heavyweight cruiser market. There had been only one major motorcycle producer since 1955 (Harley-Davidson) and it seemd to Daniel Hanlon the time was ripe for competition. He secured the name and rights to produce another great American motorcycle brand, Excelsior-Henderson. The British firm Weslake Engineering had developed a sophisticated DOHC four-valve fuel-injected v-twin motor, which had been race- and road-tested extensively; it was technically far in advance of the pushrod OHV v-twin H-D produced, as well as being far more powerful. Excelsior-Henderson secured the rights to produce this engine, and hired Weslake to develop it for the needs of a big American cruiser.
The Excelsior-Henderson revival machine, c.2000. Big and brutish and meant to last.
Hanlon’s intention was to build a ‘100-year bike’ of tremendous durability and built quality. His team designed a chassis to echo the original Super X, using a ‘springer’ fork of modern design, and by 1996 the new Super X prototypes were displayed and ridden at the enormous Sturgis Rally. That year a new factory site was chosen in Belle Plain, Minnesota, and more factory prototypes were presented at Daytona Bike Week and again at Sturgis by 1997. The new engines proved ‘bulletproof’ and employees of the company took great pride in the Super X, which finally began production in December 1998. The first 30 machines were ‘demonstrators’, again sent to large motorcycle events around the US, where test rides were offered, to near universal acclaim for the Excelsior-Henderson’s acceleration, handling, and braking capabilities. It was a Super Cruiser, and found an immediate and passionate cadre of buyers. Nearly 2000 machines were built, but the Dot-Com bubble bursting in 2000 created fear in the investment and banking markets, and Excelsior-Henderson could not secure a new round of funding to continue production, let alone expand the product line. To the great disappointment of a growing legion of fans, Excelsior-Henderson stopped production in 2000.
That Excelsior-Henderson built motorcycles in these numbers, and with such success, speaks volumes about the enthusiasm in the American motorcycle market for heritage brands. Polaris recently invested in exactly this direction, dropping its long-established Victory production in favor of the new Indian line…and is reaping the rewards, with sales of the new machine already outstripping the Victory line. Now there’s a historic opportunity to bring back the Big 3, a tremendously exciting prospect.
Mecum auctions is selling the brand and all intellectual property during their huge Las Vegas sale, on Saturday Jan 27th [follow this link]. I predicted in my most recent Cycle World column ('There Goes My Hero') that the brand will likely go to an Indian mega-brand like Mahindra, TVR, or Hero, as they've been on a buying spree of defunct motorcycle names in the past few years, like BSA, Jawa, and Peugeot. Will Excelsior-Henderson be made in India, or the USA, or both? It will be a very interesting auction in any case, and we'll follow the story!
Sources for this research include:
'American Excelsior: the History of Excelsior, Super X, and Henderson Motorcycles, by Thomas Bund and Robert Turek (American-X Archive, 2016). The only book currently in print on the whole history of the Excelsior-Henderson brand.
'Henderson: Those Elegant Machines', by Richard Henry Schultz (1994, Pine Hill Press). Still the best (and only!) Henderson book, from a dedicated enthusiast of the marque. It was reprinted a while back, but copies are scarce - try a book search like bookfinder.com
'Schwinn Bicycles', Jay Pridmore and Jim Hurd (MBI, 1996). Great history on the early years of Schwinn bicycles, with a few pages devoted to motorcycle and auto production.
'50 Years of Schwinn-Built Bicycles' (Arnold, Schwinn + Co, 1945). An in-house publication with a great story of Ignaz Schwinn's early years, and the development of the bicycle as we know it.
'No Hands: the Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company,' Judith Crown (Henry Holt + Co, 1996). An orientation on the bicycle industry and the history of Schwinn from a business perspective, including the disastrous mis-handling of the brand in the 1980s.
And too many periodicals from 1895-2017 to list...
Dirt; it’s how Americans race. That was the story in 1961 anyway, when Daytona still referred to a beach. Honda wanted to crack the American market, and that meant building dirt bikes; they’d dominated global GP racing, but were mostly absent on the rough stuff. The machine they developed to spearhead an off-road push was the CL 72 Scrambler, which used the sophisticated OHC twin-cylinder motor of the CB 72 Hawk, installed in a new full-cradle frame with a bash plate and high ground clearance, high-level exhausts, minimal fenders, and a small fuel tank. To modern eyes, the Honda CL 72 Scrambler looks more enduro or street scrambler, as it was fully road legal with lights and all, but pure motocross machines were rare in 1962 – most scramblers were roadsters with their lights removed.
Sand is perhaps the most difficult terrain for a motorcycle, but the Triumphs weight was an advantage over newer, lighter machines.
American Honda’s lightbulb moment to launch the CL 72 was a record run over the wide-open desert of Baja, Mexico. While plenty of SoCal racing took place in California’s Mojave desert, very little happened south of Tijuana, and an audacious 1000-mile endurance test could be conducted out of the public eye. Legendary desert racer Bud Ekins was tapped, but his contract with Triumph meant Honda was a no-go, so he passed the opportunity to his equally talented younger brother Dave, who teamed with LA Honda dealer Bill Robertson Jr. No official record existed on the run from Tijuana to La Paz, so the bikes only needed to finish the 963-mile ride, and send telegrams from each end to confirm their time. That didn’t mean the prospect was easy; with no gas stations from Ensenada to La Paz (851 miles), and few villages, the riders would need to be supplied en route. The going had only a few miles of pavement, and long stretches were untracked sand through desert wilderness.
The easy part - a lousy dirt road is the best road you'll find in the Mexican 1000
The riders’ route was scouted by air, then food, gasoline, and support were provided the same way. John McLaughlin, former Catalina GP winner (on Velocettes) piloted a Cessna 160 with Cycle World founder Joe Parkhurst and photographer Don Miller as passengers. A larger Cessna 140, piloted by Walt Fulton, carried the food and fuel for the riders, along with Bill Robertson Sr. The bikes needed 9 refills, and landable spots were chosen for riders to meet the planes. Come ride day, Ekins and Robertson sent their telegrams from Tijuana at midnight, and headed south on Highway 1. There were hardships and lots of crashes; they got strung up on barbed wire fences while sun-blinded, Ekins fell 13 times in one night, and they were lost and rode in circles for 6 hours. Robertson’s Honda holed a piston 130 miles from La Paz after crushing his air cleaner in a crash, and grit entered the motor, but he carried on with one cylinder, catching up to Ekins 2 hours after he’d clocked a 39hour, 49minute elapsed time. The point had been proven, and the publicity for Honda was certainly worthwhile, as they sold 89,000 CL 72s from 1962-68.
Baja buggies from vintage to new compete side by side with motorcycles
Not long after Honda’s ride, Bruce Meyers took his prototype Meyers Manx VW dune buggy along the same route, and lopped 5 hours off Ekins’ time – those hours spent lost at night no doubt. Thus was born a car/bike rivalry, which sparked the idea for a proper race, and Ed Pearlman founded the National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA), which ran the first Mexican 1000 race in 1967. Motorcycles, cars, and trucks ran the same route, using a rally format, with mandatory checkpoints in the multi-day event. The Mexican 1000 was run for 6 years, before the Oil Crisis of ‘73 dampened everyone’s spirits; NORRA was disbanded, and there was no race that year. But nobody had asked Mexico’s opinion on the matter; the attention focused on the nearly vacant Baja peninsula was too good to let lapse, so they promptly announced their own Baja 1000 race over the same course. They contracted Mickey Thompson of Southern California Off-Road Enterprises (SCORE) for organization, who hired Sal Fish (of Hot Rod magazine) to created SCORE International to organize the Baja 1000, which it has done since 1974.
Historic Era entry Mark Post's highly modifed 1992 Ford F-150 racer
The rising interest in vintage dirt racing in recent years spurred Ed Pearlman’s son Mike to revive NORRA, and bring back the original Mexican 1000, with its multi-day rally format. Started in 2009, the race originally catered to pre-1998 motorcycles, cars, and trucks; now there are classes for modern vehicles as well, in case your 800hp trophy truck needs exercise between professional Baja bashes. Running superfast modern desert tools alongside vintage motorcycles and cars is daunting, but also part of the fun, at least according to Julian Heppekausen. He recently rode his 1966 Triumph T120 desert sled, ‘Terry’, to victory in the Vintage Triumph Thumper class, becoming the first rider ever to win, and one of only 3 to complete a 1000-mile Baja race on a Triumph.
Hayden Roberts ('65 Triumph TR6) chats with Julian Heppekausen ('66 Triumph T120)
You might know Julian Heppekausen as CEO of the Deus store in Venice, CA, or for his exploits on Terry the Triumph in the Barstow-Las Vegas off-road race, which he’s finished 4 times. He credits this success to the quality of Terry’s original construction by motorcycle industry icon Terry Prat, for whom the bike is named. Prat was the European MX correspondent for several magazines in the 1970s, then a manager at Cycle News from 1979 – 2011. The ’66 Triumph T120 desert sled was his last build, which he raced in the Barstow-Las Vegas Rally in 2011 (it’s not a race; that’s not allowed in the tortoise sanctuary – but everyone knows who finished first). Heppekausen bought the bike in 2012, and carried on competing across the Mojave desert every year since, finishing the ‘hard’ route twice. The means riding with new KTMs and Honda 450s, and his Triumph is the only 1960s bike to finish the Rally in a very long time. “They really don’t have a class for such an old bike – they call 1980s twin-shock motocrossers vintage!’
Julian's lucky number! An arcane mix of family numerology, which apparently works
Keeping a 50-year old Triumph from grenading mid-desert exposes Heppekausen as a sensitive hooligan; “You need to know your bike really well. There’s a harmonic hum at certain rpms, where it seems like the motor will go forever, and in a long race you have to bring it back to that pace when you can. I continually pat the tank and thank Terry for not breaking!” Some vintage riders are scared of breakdowns on gentle street rides, but the old saw ‘the more you ride them, the better they get’ seems to apply here. Julian shipped Terry the Triumph to Europe in 2014, competing at events in Germany and England; it’s also been filmed wheelying in front of the Eiffel Tower under Dimitri Coste. After successes in Vegas-Barstow, he decided to try the revived NORRA Mexican 1000, along with several friends on their own vintage Triumph dirt bikes, although Terry the Triumph was the only finisher.
Viet Nguyen's 1969 Triumph T100 at dawn, ready for the day's stage on his 500cc twin
That’s perfectly understandable – all the bikes were at least 50 years old, and 1000 miles of desert racing is insanely demanding. Julian notes, “Modern trophy trucks with special tube-frame chassis and high-HP motors run 36” of suspension; they can run over a basketball and not feel it. I can’t do that on a Triumph with 3” of travel, and when the road is full of rocks, I could hit a baseball and be thrown off. Near the end of the race was a 15-mile stretch of rocky downhill, which was mentally challenging after 1000 miles, especially with trophy trucks passing at 140mph! I have to go to work on Monday, so kept way left to preserve myself.” While running with $200k, 600hp specialized desert trucks is hairy scary, it has benefits too, “Robbie Gordon passed me around a corner, driving like I’ve never seen a car driven. I was doing 60mph, and he was doing 110mph – I don’t know how he got around! And I was the only one watching – it’s the best view of the race, from the saddle.”
Classic rally roll-charts keep the riders from getting lost...too often
While Julian races Terry the Triumph far and wide, it isn’t actually his machine; when purchased from Terry Prat, he immediately gifted the Triumph to his son Henry, as a legacy. Henry isn’t big enough to ride a Triumph yet, but he likes to remind his dad whose bike it is, “My wife and kids met me at the finish in La Paz, and Henry told me to clean the bike! I said let’s leave it dirty a little bit yet. Terry’s had some real adventures, including wheelies in front of the Eiffel Tower. The best people have worked on it, and it’s been in many hands, but you know, we build these bikes for ourselves, and they eventually end up with someone else. That’s why I gave it to Henry - for the future.” And the future will remember that Terry was the first Triumph to win (let alone finish) a 1000-mile Baja race, an epic accomplishment in any decade - our hearty congratulations to Julian Heppekausen and all who helped make his win possible.
Julian abandons the roll-chart for an impromptu mileage-based warning system for sand washes and potholesMark Stahl's Legend category '78 Ford F-100 pickupJulian finishes a stage, alone againJohn Crain's beautiful 1953 Rickman-Triumph pre-unit racer, the most exotic Triumph in the raceNate Hudson's 1969 Triumph T100 after a day in the desertHayden Roberts exits Tijuana on his 1965 Triumph TR6
Hillclimbing before the sport was invented! This 1918 photo shows a US Military trial during WW1, demonstrating the prowess of the Excelsior v-tiwn [National Archive]
