The early history of Harley-Davidson in Japan is little known in the West, but the complex relationship with its #2 export market in the 1920s (after Australia) is fascinating. Relations between the Motor Co. and its Japanese subsidiary became very contentious in the 1930s, as the Japan transformed into an aggressive Imperial power, with a militarized, nationalist, and protectionist political system.
Baron Kishichuro Okura, while a student at Trinity College at Cambridge University, entered the very first race at Brooklands in 1907. He drove a 120hp FIAT, and came in 2nd in the race! Okura was the first (unofficial) importer of Harley-Davidsons to Japan. [BritishLibrary]Harley-Davidsons first began trickling into Japan in 1912, when the Japanese Army purchased a small contingent of machines for study, but oddly, they never requested any spares. More machines were ordered in 1922, by the Tokyo import company Nippon Jidoshe KK, headed by Baron Kishichiro Okura, who was among the first to import cars into Japan. Okura spoke excellent English, as he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge: he even participated in the very first automobile race at Brooklands in 1907, where he won 2nd place! Okura's company ordered a few 'J' model Harleys, in 1922 and a few dozen more in the following two years, but also never purchased spares with his bike orders, which confounded the H-D brass. This, plus a large order from Outer Mongolia, also without a spares supplement, spurred H-D to send Alfred Rich Child to sort out the Japanese situation in 1924. One of Harley-Davidson's earliest credos was dealer support and spares availability, and its Japanese dealers were not following the company's guidelines.
Alfred Rich Child in the early 1920s [AMA Hall of Fame Museum]Negotiations with Baron Okura (the semi-official importer) to set up a proper H-D import scheme were a failure, but while in Japan, Child befriended Genjiro Fukui, US-educated and a wealthy founder of the prestigious Sankyo Pharmaceutical Company. Fukui ran an import/export division of Sankyo, the Koto Trading Co., which had been selling 'bootleg' import Harleys, brought into Japan from the Outer Mongolian shipments, and sold under Baron Okura's nose.
Alfred Rich Child and his family in Milwaukee, before heading off to Japan in 1924 [Sucher]Since no love was lost between Child and Okura by this point, and a friendship blossomed between Child and Fukui, and since Fukui's Koto Trading Co. had set up a successful Harley-Davidson import and sales organization, it seemed natural that Alfred Child join forces with Fukui. They set up the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Sales Company of Japan in 1924, with Fukui/Sankyo providing investment capital, and Child as Managing Director, whose 'cut' was 5% of gross sales in Japan. Their initial order included 350 H-Ds, each with a sidecar (three-wheelers having been found extremely useful as utility vehicles in Japan, after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake), plus $20,000 in spares, and $3000 of factory repair tools. As Sankyo already had pharmaceutical contracts with all branches of the Japanese military, Harleys were suddenly required for all manner of police, military, and Imperial Escort duties. The new venture was very successful, selling about 2000 bikes/year.
After the great Tokyo earthquake of 1923, three-wheeled vehicles were the best way to get around Japan's difficult roads and cities, and many manufacturers built special chassis for all manner of passenger and utility machines. This is a ca.1934 Harley Davidson VL 'rear car' [Sucher]In common with the American parent factory, H-D Japan hired professional motorcycle racer Kawamada Kazuo (who later became president of Orient Motors), after Alfred Child watched him win a 350cc race at Naruo in 1925, coming 4th in the 1200cc race on his Harley. "An American came up an hit me on the shoulder. 'Would you like to come and work at the Harley-Davidson sales office?' he asked. I jokingly replied, 'Will you pay me Y100 a month?' but I left for their Tokyo office for a visit anyway. At that time the monthly salary at a private university was Y28...Alfred Child said, 'Depending on your results, we'll pay you Y100 a month,' so I joined the company. A week later I won first prize at Shinshu Matsumoto City Race, riding a 1200cc Harley Davidson, and they did indeed pay me Y100..."
The Harley Davidson 'Rikuo', the Japanese version of the 1200cc Harley-Davidson VL model [Iwatate]After the global economic crash of 1929, the Yen was devalued by half; this combined with new import tariffs made importing any foreign-built vehicle nearly impossible. With the price of Harley Davidsons suddenly more than doubled, Child reasoned the only future for Harley in Japan was to license the outright manufacture of H-Ds to a Japanese company: his company. He sailed in 1929 to Milwaukee, with a representative of the Sankyo Co to discuss a deal, armed with an undisclosed cash payment (reputedly $75,000) from Sankyo. This stunned the Harley-Davidson management, who granted exclusive rights to manufacture H-D bikes and spares in Japan to the HDMSCoJ. That reputed $75,000 payment from Sankyo, in the worst year of the Depression, probably saved Harley-Davidson from bankruptcy, and was a company secret for generations.
A Harley Davidson factory-built racing special, made-for-Japan-only road racer, with 500cc OHV engine. Where is it now? [Sucher]In return for these rights, Childs promised never to sell Japanese-built Harleys or spares outside Japan [The same situation is established by H-D in India today, with H-D factories making bikes in-country, which are never seen in the USA]. Childs brought motorcycle industry veteran and H-D employee Fred Barr with him to Japan, to set up a new factory in Shinagawa (Tokyo), using H-D tooling, processes, and blueprints to build parts and machines to exact specifications. No other Americans were sent, and none were ever employed. Production began in 1932, and no mention was ever made of this unique agreement in the American press, nor was it publicly discussed by Harley Davidson until the 1980s.
Alfred R Child with one of the first EL 'Knucklehead' models imported into Japan in 1936 [Sucher]The first Japanese Harley-Davidsons were built in 1935, the 1200cc Model 'VL', and were branded the Harley Davidson 'Rikuo' (Road King) model. Their #1 customer was the Japanese military, who were rapidly expanding their arsenal under aggressive Imperial politics. Complications emerged in 1936, when H-D sent a prototype Model EL 'Knucklehead' for testing in Japan, and the home factory pressured H-D Japan for higher licensing fees. After test-riding 400 miles on the 'Knuck', Alfred Childs' son Richard felt the machine was unsuitable for the Japanese market, and not ready for production. Sankyo was unhappy with both the licensing pressures and the new bike, so the company sent its New York representative, Mr. Kusanobu, to pay a heavy-handed visit to the H-D Board in Milwaukee. He complained of Childs' 5% commission (which made him a wealthy man) and the increased licensing fees, and insisted Childs be removed from the Board, or Sankyo would cease financing H-D imports into Japan. Not only that, but the existing range of sidevalve machines would now be sold simply as the 'Rikuo', with no more licensing paid to Harley at all. Kusanobu was nearly thrown out on his ear, but he delivered on his threats. In 1936, Rikuo was re-born an independent marque, with no connection to Harley-Davidson, barring its design. As compensation for Childs' loss of a lucrative business, Harley-Davidson made him the exclusive H-D importer for Asia (Japan, Korea, North China, and Manchuria): he had, after all, saved the company's bacon with the 1929 deal.
A Japanese Imperial Navy Rikuo circa 1937, part of the special landing force that took Shanghai. [Vintagent Archive]Of course, Child's new job description didn't last long. With the Japanese military increasing their grip on both government and industry, agreements with foreign companies operating factories on Japanese soil were voided. The military encouraged/supported other factories to make H-D copies, without paying licensing fees to H-D. Japanese companies Kurogane, Aikou, Toko Kogyo, and SSD all produced H-D clones by 1937, with production almost exclusively destined for the military. In August 1937, Japan invaded China, and Alfred R. Child was warned to leave Japan immediately. He might have lost everything, had his friend Mr Fukui not purchased Childs' homes, businesses, and his remaining H-D stock. By 1939, Ford, Chrysler and General Motors were in the same boat, with all American employees forced to leave Japan, their companies effectively nationalized by the military, with no compensation to their American owners. Rikuo produced 18,000 'VL' models through 1942, which is about the same as Harley-Davidson's production of the same model! In 1942, Rikuo switched to making torpedos, but after the war, in 1947, they resumed production of the old 750cc WL sidevalve model, and in 1950 the resumed the 1200cc sidevalver too. Rikuo continued production on these pre-War machine until 1962, when Harley-Davidson once again established a dealership network in Japan.
From the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, several Rikuo sidecar outfits used as machine gun platforms. Note the 1936 registration of the far machine. [Vintagent Archive]Information and photographs for this article were sourced from 3 excellent books:
- 'A Century of Japanese Motorcycles', by Didier Ganneau and Francois-Marie Dumas, which is to date the only comprehensive English-language book covering all years of the Japanese motorcycle industry. Given the market dominance of Japanese motorcycles since the 1960s, this is a remarkable poverty of books, compared to every other nation's motorcycling contribution. Photos scanned from here are listed as (Iwatate). It's a must-own book!
- 'Harley Davidson' by Harry Sucher, for the Rikuo story; the first complete history of the H-D marque, with much info from people who were still alive in the early days. Extremely informative. Photos listed as (Sucher).
The first motorcycle to appear in Japan; a Hildebrand and Wolfmüller, in 1896 (Iwatate)
To understand the slow and chaotic beginning of the Japanese motorcycle industry, it helps to understand a little of the country's background, and history of its relations with the West. Japan was never isolated or ignorant of world affairs, having conducted sea trade for centuries with neighbors in China and Korea, and was well aware in the 1500s that an aggressive colonial expansion by European countries had begun in the New World. When Spanish and Portugese traders arrived on Japanese shores in the late 1500s, the introduction of Catholicism in southern Japan was seen as the spearhead of a possible colonizing effort by Europeans. In response, the Tokugawa shogunate (the feudal military rulers in Edo castle - this is also called the 'Edo period') passed laws starting in 1633 which drastically restricted contact and trade with the outside world, making entry into Japan by foreigners, and exit from Japan by locals, punishable by death. These laws remained in effect until 1868 (230 years!), the end of the Edo period, and the start of the 'Meiji Restoration'. As with all politics, while the colonial threat was the primary excuse for an iron grip on Japanese trade, an important effect was to enrich the Tokugawas and deprive rival feudal groups of trade revenue. Ultimately this unified Japan, and created a national identity.
A contemporary Japanese woodcut depicting one of Commodore Perry's steamships ('Net)
Japan still traded with the outside world, through tightly controlled channels: the sole European access was limited to the artificial island called Dejima, in Nagasaki harbor, where the Dutch East India Company handled imports and exports. All trade with China went through Dejima as well. Trade with Korea, the Ainu people of northern Japan, and the islands of the Ryukyu kingdom (Okinawa etc) were all handled at specific sites. Europeans tried for 200 years to establish relations with Japan by trickery or force, but were successfully repelled until July 8, 1853, when Commodore Mathew Perry brought four US Navy warships (the kurofune, or 'Black Ships') into Tokyo Bay, and broke the resistance of Japanese forces. He returned the following year with 7 warships, and forced the Shogun to sign 'Treaty of Peace and Amity'...classic 'gunboat diplomacy'; the treaty forbade the Japanese from levying tarrifs on trade (although of course the US could), and gave US citizens immunity from prosecution in Japan ('extraterritoriality' - same as in Iraq/Afghanistan today - some things never change). Such treaties were implemented soon after by European countries, a humiliating turn of events which led to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, which was replaced by the Meiji oligarchy in 1868 [which corresponds to the invention of the motorcycle, in France (the Perraux steam cycle) and the US (the Roper steam velocipede)].
The first railroad opened in Japan in 1872, between Yokohama and Tokyo (Shimbashi) ('Net)
The sudden/forced opening to European influence was embraced by the Meiji government, who saw modernization as the only way to defend Japanese sovereignty and culture. They organized 'learning expeditions' to the US and Europe from the 1870s onwards, where large teams of diplomats and students examined all manner of manufacturing and governmental institutions (military, courts, schools, etc). These missions served Japan well, for within a generation the country had become acknowledged as a modern global power, with a burgeoning industrial base.
Meiji-era advertisement for an American 'Auto-Bi' motorcycle, built by E.R. Thomas.A contemporary photos of an Auto-Bi c.1900, generally considered to be the first production motorcycle in America, by E.R.Thomas in Buffalo, NY. Later the company produced Thomas motorcycles - so Thomas Auto-Bi is the generally accepted name of the brand.
The first motorcycle appeared in Japan in 1896; a Hildebrand and Wolfmüller imported by Shinsuke Jomonji, a member of the Japanese House of Representatives, who demonstrated the machine in front of the Hibiya Hotel in Tokyo (destroyed by earthquake in 1923?). In 1901, a Thomas motorcycle and tricycle were imported, and the motorcycle was ridden extensively through Tokyo, and generated considerable press comment. The first motor vehicle race in Japan was staged between the two Thomas machines and a Gladiator quadricycle, on Nov. 3, 1901. The Thomas is generally considered the first production motorcycle in the US, and its appearance in Japan at this early date is remarkable.
The Thomas Auto-Bi Roadster, Gladiator quadricycle, and Thomas Auto-Tri 3-wheeler, at the first motor vehicle race in Japan, Nov 3 1901
1908 - The First Japanese Motorcycle:
The true pioneer Japanese motorcycle builder was Narazo Shimazu, who established the Shimazu Motor Research Institute in 1908, in Osaka. Using knowledge gleaned from Scientific American and the English book 'Motor Cycling Manual', he built his first gasoline-powered engine in August 1908, a two-stroke single-cylinder of 400cc, and installed it into a home-built frame from salvaged bicycles (there being no raw tubing available) - the first entirely Japanese-built motorcycle
The first Japanese motorcycle; the NS, built by Narazo Shimazu in 1908, in Osaka (Iwatate)
In 1913, Eisuke Miyata, founder of a gun and bicycle firm (in 1892 - 'Miyata' is still making bicycles today), purchased a Triumph and made a faithful copy as the 'Asahi' motorcycle, which was used by the Tokyo police and for gov't minister escort duty, despite its 180yen price. The Japanese motorcycle industry had truly begun, although there was as yet no unified highway code in Japan, and inter-urban roads were terrible. Urban roads were worse, as Japanese cities were intentionally built in a crazy-quilt pattern during their Feudal period, to slow the advance of invading troops. A lack of road signs and even street names, combined with the horrific state of road repair, made the advance of motorization difficult. Japan had never relied on horse and carts for general movement of goods in their Feudal period, and almost all traffic was by foot.
The Miyata-built 'Asahi' of 1913; virtually a replica of a Triumph (Iwatate)
Narazo Shimazu returned to the motorcycle business in 1926, producing the 'Arrow First', a 250cc sidevalve single-cylinder, and after 6 were built, he embarked on a well-publicized across-Japan moto-tour, sponsored by Japan Oil, Dunlop, and Bosch. Six riders, on four red motorcycles, took a 15-day ride of 1430 miles from Kagoshima to Tokyo. The publicity drew the attention of the Ohayashi group of companies, which whom Shimazu founded Japan Motors Manufacturing. He improved the 'Arrow First', and eventually sold 700 over the next 3 years, before the business went bust.
Escorting Prince Hirohito with a ca.1926 Harley Davidson 'J' with sidecar...but the Prince had his own Indian! ('Net
The first motorcycle race in Japan was held in 1913, at the Hanshin Racecourse, a dirt horse racing track in Nishinomiya (near Kobe). Around 30,000 spectators attended, a record for any kind of race in Japan. Racing became more common at venues across the country, and professional riders emerged, such as Kawamada Kazuo (who worked for Alfred Child at Harley Davidson Japan - see below) and the remarkable Kenzo Tada, the first Japanese rider to compete at the Isle of Man TT, in 1930, aboard a Velocette KTT. [Read more on Kenzo Tada here]
Kenzo Tada and his Velocette KTT on the Isle of Man in 1930 (Clew)
Just like the United States after WW2, it was the need for military mobility which sped up infrastructure improvement for Japanese roads. An increasingly belligerent Japanese military (annexing Taiwan in 1895, and parts of China and Korea by 1910) used motorized vehicles in greater numbers than the rest of the country. By 1919, a unified highway code was established along British lines (meaning they drive on the left), and civilian contractors hired to improve roads and bridges, while the military was allowed to subsidize vehicle manufacture at home.
March 1926; winners of the Shizuoka Championship. K.Nose (BSA Super Sports), Matsumoto (H-D single-cylinder), and Kawabata (New Imperial) (Iwatate)
During the 1920s, Japanese textiles were driving their export market, and increased prosperity meant more imports of motorcycles. Harley Davidson's #2 global export market in the 1920s was Japan (after Australia), and Indian sold just as many (around 1000/year), including to Prince (later Emperor) Hirohito, who enjoyed riding an Indian Chief with sidecar. Henderson four-cylinders were also sold in Japan, and manufacturers from Britain (AJS, Matchless, Norton, Douglas, Brough Superior, and Velocette), Belgium (Saroléa and FN), plus Husqvarna, Moto Guzzi, NSU and BMW exported to Japan as well. The Road Improvement Plan of 1920 estimated a 30-year project of completely paving Japanese roads, and building bridges over rivers, and the motorcycle as a pleasurable touring machine for wealthy riders became a reality. Motorcycle clubs sprung up, some of which forbade riders to venture alone due to the terrible state of roads, and a culture of tonori('riding far') grew.
An advertisement for Belgian Saroléa motorcycles, ca.1926 (Iwatate)
A massive earthquake destroyed much of Tokyo in 1923, killing hundreds of thousands, and the utter lack of motorized emergency vehicles, plus the impossibility of the road system for efficient rescue/reconstruction work, meant big changes for the Japanese vehicle industry, and the roads they used. Tokyo was rebuilt with a more rational road system, which doubled the number of vehicles in a single year (1924), and led to a push country-wide for a modernized road system. To further promote the nascent Japanese vehicle industry, import tariffs were imposed on foreign vehicles in 1925, which led Ford (1924), General Motors ('27), and Chrysler ('29) to establish factories in Japan. Harley-Davidson followed suit in 1929.
An Indian Chief and BSA 'Sloper', touring in Japan ca.1934 (Iwatate)
Several small motorcycle manufacturers set up shop in the mid-1920s, including the 350cc two-stroke Sanda ('Thunder') from Osaka, the SSD of Hiroshima, and the grand-daddy of them all, a 1200cc twin called the Giant, built by Count Katsu Kiyoshi in 1924. The Japan Automobile Company (JAC) produced motorcycles starting in 1929, which included 350cc and 500cc sidevalve singles, and a 500cc v-twin on JAP lines. In 1931 JAC built about 30 examples of 1200cc flat-twin, used for Imperial escort duty. Between the late 1920s and 1937, when the military effectively commanded all civilian vehicle production, quite a few large manufacturers had firmly established themselves in the Japanese market. Maruyama, Toyo (Mazda), Meguro, Cabton, Showa, Miyata, and Rikuo. Miyata alone produced nearly 30,000 motorcycles between 1930-45, and as mentioned, Rikuo built some 18,000 heavyweight H-D clones between 1935-42.
A sporting Meguro 500cc OHV model of the late 1930s (taken postwar with a US Marine) ('Net)
Information and photographs for this article were sourced from 3 excellent books:
- 'A Century of Japanese Motorcycles', by Didier Ganneau and Francois-Marie Dumas, which is to date the only comprehensive English-language book covering all years of the Japanese motorcycle industry. Given the market dominance of Japanese motorcycles since the 1960s, this is a remarkable poverty of books, compared to every other nation's motorcycling contribution. Photos scanned from here are listed as (Iwatate). It's a must-own book!
- 'Harley Davidson' by Harry Sucher, for the Rikuo story; the first complete history of the H-D marque, with much info from people who were still alive in the early days. Extremely informative. Photos listed at (Sucher).
Lady racer (?) on a Sarolea Model 23M Sports. Note 'Gargoyle' sweater - they imported Mobil oil products (Iwatate
The romance of the place is captured in the name, redolent of the invisible goals of speed. El Mirage is nominally a town in the SoCal desert, nearest Palmdale, which is itself nearly nowhere, even though inhabited by many thousands. Its raison d'etre is a dry lake bed, now bounded by the El Mirage Off-Highway-Vehicle Recreation Area, under the purview of the Bureau of Land Management.
Shinya Kimura with his long-time salt flats racer, a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead custom named 'The Spike'
The lake bed is very nearly flat, with a cracked mud surface occasionally pockmarked by potholes, but with nothing of the inches-tall cracqueleure of Bonneville, nor its corrosive salt crust. El Mirage lacks Bonneville's pristinely bizarre beauty, and its relative cleanliness - as vehicles pound the miles of dried dirt to reach the SCTA timing camp, clouds of sepia dust trail them, as it does the high speed vehicles racing across its surface. The effect is dramatic and beautiful, but layers everything and everyone nearby with an ultrafine grit. While some vehicles used air cleaners while racing, others take their chances gulping in the powder, and never need worry about bedding in their piston rings.
The full view of Willy's Lakester - a vision of a past Future, painted an unusual shade of mauve, supposedly a works Bugatti racing color
November 13th, 2015, became an infamous day for more nefarious reasons, but it was my first visit to the place, and I reveled in its spare beauty, and the fantastic characters who temporarily populate its puzzle-cracked earth. The goal was to explore, and take a few wet plate photos, which was accomplished. As the racing is over a weekend, not a week as in Bonneville, there's no 'village' feeling, and the layout of disparate camps is chaotic, making introductions difficult. Everyone is busy racing, and while very friendly, its hardly a relaxed place to take photos. Thanks to the several people who took time for my work, I hope you enjoy the results. See more at MotoTintype.com
Alp Sungurtekin, who exceeded 175mph on his home-built pre-unit Triumph, featured previously on TheVintagent.Coming soon to Intersection magazine; a few shots of the Vintagent at work at El Mirage, thanks to photographer Gilles, captured here at George's junkyard, beside a familiar RenaultA closeup of the remarkable aesthetic ingenuity built into The SpikeShinya Kimura's longtime dry-lakes racer the 'Spike'Willy with a breed unique to the SCTA - the Belly Tank Lakester. Built from a discarded aircraft fuel tank, this is a genre unique to dry lakes racing in SoCal. This one used a Ford flathead V8 motor, and sounded amazing.Alp's crew chief, Jalika, who betrays her former career as a fashion model
Occasionally a great talent slips completely off the radar of design aficionados, due to a lack of available historic materials, or lack of work in translated into English, or a simple lack of recent press. The work of Louis Lucien Lepoix (1918-1998) is such, one of a few unsung visionary designers whose ideas and efforts were far in advance of the motorcycle industry. His ideas for streamlining and rider protection weren't embraced by the industry for decades, and many still look modern, or at least like a future we'd still like to see. His son Bertrand oversaw the creation of a 550-page tome on Lepoix's ouevre, published after his death in 1998, from which these photos are taken.
Louis Lucien Lepoix and his spectacular, futuristic bodywork for his BMW R12 [Lepoix Family Archive]Lepoix was born Feb.4, 1918 in Giromagny, France, to a very poor family. He studied industrial design and architecture in Lyon and Paris, continuing his studies with a degree in engineering. After WW2, he worked in Germany at Dornier Flugzeugwerke (makers of interesting aircraft, etc) and ZF Friedrichshafen (still in business making ZF gearboxes etc) whose director Dr. Albert Meier designed a small car chassis that Lepoix clad in shapely bodywork, to much acclaim.
Lepoix's pre-War sketch for his modern motorcycle design [Lepoix Family Archive]During the war, Lepoix, passionate about streamlined vehicles, sketched quite a few cars, motorcycles, and planes with futuristic curvy body styles and flowing lines. His son Bertrand claims that Louis Lucien Lepoix, who spoke no English, had no knowledge of the work of Raymond Loewy or Norman Bel Geddes, icons of the school of streamlining whose work for automotive, aircraft, and rail companies defined the ideals of an era. Their streamlined designs embodied the hope that the age of war, disease, and conflict would end with a coming age of Modernity.
Lepoix's 1937 'Air Car' [Lepoix Family Archive]An example of Lepoix's thinking is this 'Air Concept Car', drawn up in 1942-3, with seating for 7, and a clear emphasis on a low coefficient of drag. The general shape of the vehicle recalls Buckminster Fuller's 'Dymaxion Car', patented in 1937 (and revised in 1943), and the concept is identical - low drag equals high speed and efficiency, an aircraft for tarmac. The benefit of lower fuel consumption would have been very much on the mind of any automotive designer during WW2, given the fuel rationing imposed on all combatant nations, with eventual shortages as the war intensified. Fuller's Dymaxion was reputed to achieve 120mph and give 30mph - terrific for '37 - but the project was ultimately scuttled due to a fatal accident while the car was being tested...while a brilliant engineer, perhaps Fuller's ideas were ahead of their time as regards safety and stability. It wouldn't be sacrilege to suggest the same fate would befall the 'Air Concept Car'.
Rear view of the BMW R12 special showing its sweeping, integrated lines, and the original pressed-steel frame of the BMW beneath [Lepoix Family Archive]In 1947, Lepoix founded his own design atelier, initially focussing on two-wheeled projects, beginning with this amazingly futuristic bodywork for his 1934ish BMW R12, a 750cc sidevalve flat-twin with pressed-steel frame, which was considered quite stylish, with a bit of Art Deco flair. Lepoix purchased the BMW at an auction organized by the French military in Baden Baden, Germany (French HQ in occupied Germany at the time) and set about to completely revamp the bodywork, but not the structure of the BMW. Lepoix was a keen motorcycle enthusiast, and began work on his motorcycle with a brief to address the issue of a rider's exposure to the elements (cold hands, knees, and feet!), while making a statement about the Future. He had been working on drawings and models of his concepts during the war, and his sketches plus a hand-carved model motorcycle survive today.
Another view of the BMW special (note the BMW's original brakes and fork shrouds are incorporated) [Lepoix Family Archive]The finished result is spectacular, modernistic, and very stylish, if a bit heavy-looking. Very few motorcycles before 1947 had explored the concept of full streamlining of the motorcycle, and even more rare was consideration for the rider; in fact, it would be another 7 years before the Vincent factory introduced their Black Prince model, which was the first fully enclosed and faired (ie, the bodywork protected the rider with an aerodynamic, wind-cheating design) production motorcycle. To be sure, quite a few motorcycles built for speed records were designed with a full enclosure (Gilera, BMW, Brough-Superior, DKW, etc), but these were never meant for the road. Lepoix was in tune with the streamlining ideas of his time, and just that bit ahead of the curve in actually building a motorcycle with weather protection for the rider, so early after the War.
Sketches for 'Feet Forward' motorcycles using unit-construction two-stroke engines [Lepoix Family Archive]Remarkably, his sketches from the War years also include a totally aerodynamic Feet-First design, which predates the rage for this type of motorcycle (and bicycle) by fully 30 years! Very few FF designs like this were produced prior to 1943, although hub-center steered machines with 'tankless' seating positions were built as early as the Veteran period by Wilkinson ('09), Ner-A-Car ('19) [read our Road Test here]. The Ro-Monocar ('26) came closest to realizing an enclosed 'car on wheels' - the stated aspiration of so many designers. The Monocar has the clunky bodywork of a cheap saloon vehicle, but the seeds of the idea were sown. It's a shame Lepoix didn't have a Majestic [read our Road Test here] or Ner-A-Car at hand to modify, and realize his vision of a curvaceous and appealing body style with a proper hub-center chassis.
A sketch of the Horex prototype, built along the same lines as the BMW [Lepoix Family Archive]His later career was very busy, and occupied with cars, agricultural machinery, heavy truck cabs, aircraft, and a host of modernistic smaller designs (telephones, household appliances, etc). He was also busy designing motorcycles as late as the 1970s, for Kreidler, Hercules, Horex, Puch, Maico, Triumph, Bastert and Walba. According to the family, Louis L. Lepoix's 50-year career "included more than 3000 products, including around 300 vehicles." If he'd lived just a bit longer, his styling acumen could have vastly improved the 'plastic era' of motorcycling: the bodywork of modern motorcycles went through a long period without much sex appeal, and a man with Lepoix's flair might have produced bodywork with curvaceous sensuality superior to mass-produced four-cylinder appliances.
A 1950s catalog for the Maico Mobil, one design of Lepoix's that became famous for its rounded, universally appealing shape. [The Vintagent Archive]The Bastert scooter was another Lepoix design, built in very limited numbers. Only about 1200 Bastert scooters were produced from 1950, with all-aluminum bodywork and advanced technical specification. They are very highly sought after today, as they embody the best of Lepoix's design sense, and look stylishly aggressive even today. This machine was captured at the 2017 Concorso Villa d'Este. [Paul d'Orléans]The 1952 Bugatti Type 101, with bodywork designed by Lepoix. [Wikepedia]An even more spectacular set of bodywork on a Horex 400cc Regina, which sadly does not seem to have survived. [Lepoix Family Archive]
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.
When Georges Roy set out to combine the best qualities of an automobile with the thrills of a motorcycle, he created a remarkable machine – the Majestic. It’s the ultimate French Art Deco motorcycle, as his design enabled a free hand to create stylish, stunning bodywork over a radical chassis. The Majestic was revolutionary in 1929, and the ideas Georges Roy made into metal are still being explored by motorcycle designers.
Georges Roy himself with a prototype of his New Motorcycle. Love his riding kit! And the fishtail exhaust tips. [Private Collection]Roy’s first production machine was the ‘New Motorcycle’ of 1928, which used a pressed-steel monocoque chassis, rather than a tube frame. Roy was among the first industrial designers to grapple with mass-production techniques for auto manufacture, in which huge presses stamp out bodywork by the tens of thousands, very cheaply. Conventional motorcycle production with the bicycle-derived tube frame is labor intensive and expensive, and Roy correctly understood that inexpensive pressings could form the chassis of a motorcycle, including the frame, forks, and tanks.
Details of the New Motorcycle, showing its pressed-steel chassis. [Private Collection]
The catalog cover for the 1928 New Motorcycle, with Georges Roy aboard. [Private Collection]The monocoque concept was sound, and eventually became the norm in the automotive industry (called ‘unibody’ construction from the 1960s), although it’s rarely used on motorcycles. Pressed-steel frame parts, on the other hand, are absolutely the norm today, and the most popular motorcycle in the world, the Honda Super Cub with over 90 Million produced in 14 countries since 1958, uses pressed-steel forks, frame parts, and rear fender. The later C110 Sports Cub is also still in production (since 1960), and features a full monocoque frame of welded-up pressed-steel frame halves. Clearly, Roy's ideas were sound, and today, frame production is possible on a mass scale, very cheaply, using the ideas he explored. The New Motorcycle was hand-built and riveted together; robot welders and painters had yet to be invented, existing only as science fiction in 1928!
The Majestic
The original Majestic prototype used a Cleveland four-cylinder engine in a different chassis than the production models. [Private Collection]
The world soon caught up with George Roy’s concept, and even staid BMW produced motorcycles using a pressed-steel monocoque chassis from 1930-35. So Roy moved even further from the mainstream, exhibiting a prototype for a totally new design called the Majestic at the Paris Motor Show in 1929. The Majestic was in some ways retrograde from the New Motorcycle, as it uses a conventional automotive-type chassis with hub-center steering, technology that was old news by 1929. The industry had already seen the Ner-A-Car of the early 1920s, and even the Zenith Auto-Bi of 1907, among other hub-center steered bikes.
The full article introducing the Majestic to the public; MotorCycling, July 10, 1929. [MotorCycling]What differentiated the Majestic from earlier efforts was its totally enveloping bodywork; swooping pressed steel panels with unbroken lines from its beak-like nose to the sporting abbreviated tail. The sweeping curves of the design make the Majestic a brilliant Art Deco sculpture, and was made possible by the use of automotive ‘coachbuilding’ practice – placing a bespoke body onto a standardized chassis – for the first time on a motorcycle.
The tapering body and swells over the wheels are clearly visible; a stylish and elegant beast. [Paul d’Orléans]The chassis is constructed using two mirror-image side rails of square-section steel, which are joined by riveted cross members. Firewalls at the front and back of the engine are also riveted to the frame, with strengthening panels beneath the engine, plus the two large, fixed top panels. The whole structure is extremely rigid, yet very light. The rest of the bodywork is attached to thse fixed points, including the nose and tail sections, and the central engine covers, which are removable for engine access, and stylishly louvered for airflow, to keep the engine cool. The bodywork is thin-gauge steel pressed into shape, so the overall weight of the machine is fairly low, around 350lb with a single-cylinder Chaise OHV motor inside.
The fabulous, symmetric instrument panel on the Majestic's handlebars. This is the most elaborate version; some Majestics had far simple panels, or none at all. [Paul d’Orléans]The question of ‘what engine’, given an empty engine compartment, is open – the original Majestic prototype was built with an American 4-cylinder Cleveland engine! Other engines included Chaise and JAP single-cylinder engines, or a JAP v-twin mounted transversely. The fuel tank sits under the front bulkhead, and the instruments sat in a binnacle on the handlebars - in this case, a clock, speedo, and multi-position light switch. Conventional controls operate the machine, including a hand-shifter, which is a simple rotary device with a knob - no 'gate' for holding the lever in place, just a round boss with Roman numerals indicating the gear (there are III).
The Art Deco style of the 1930 Majestic catalog. [Private Collection]The steering and front suspension uses vertical rods for sprung movement (or ‘sliding pillars’ if you know Morgan sports cars), and a steering rod is connected between the handlebars and the central hub. The inside of the hub is complicated, as it incorporates very large bearings, the swiveling steering mechanism, and the front brake.
A Majestic is striking from every angle, and cast a long shadow on the design world. [Paul d’Orléans]The Majestic was an expensive, elegant machine, a true Grand Routier in French parlance, and could be ordered in several colors, or even an ‘alligator’ finish, which was hand-applied by very skilled artisans of the Guild of Decorative Painters. There is no other motorcycle built with such a paint finish, which far exceeds the skills of even the best coach-painter; it’s an artisanal and labor-intensive technique, using an inherently unstable process. The 'crackling' is created by using a fast-drying top paint layer over an incompatible 'base' paint coat. As the top layer dries, it shrinks and cracks into an alligator-like skin. That several Majestics have survived 90 years with this unusual paint scheme speaks well of the artisan’s skills.
A short-chassis 1930 Majestic; there were 2 chassis types available. [Private Collection]
The Road Test
The Majestic is clearly a different breed, and we approached the machine with curiosity and a trace of awe. After a short tutorial on the function of various knobs and switches, a quick sit astride the machine brings no sense there’s anything unusual going on. Except there are no forks to guide you; one is atop a totally enclosed vehicle with hub-center steering, and only the handlebars and extensive instrument panel can be seen from the perch. Starting the Chaise 350cc engine of our test machine was a doddle, and after a prod, a typical 1920's bonk emerges from the fishtail muffler. There was a slight valve clatter below the perforated engine covering, with no tank between rider and motor to muffle it. Not obtrusive, but noticeable.
Suitable for clergy! A priest on a Majestic. [Private Collection]Moving onto the road, the steering becomes very light, with no inertial sluggishness in changing direction, which might be expected for such a long machine. As the speed rises to the 30-40mph range, there’s a mid pendulum effect at the front wheel, as if it’s seeking to find balance, so a light hand is required on the handlebars to prevent a weave. Even with a delicate touch, the front wheel seems very slightly aimless - not hunting exactly, but not rail-like in steering; constant minor correction is necessary to keep the plot moving in exactly the right direction. That was the only unusual effect of the Majestic’s steering, which was still surprising, as other hub-center steered machines tend towards over-stability, and are difficult to deflect from a straight line! It might well be that Georges Roy chose his front end geometry to avoid exactly that tendency, and to keep the Majestic feeling agile rather than rock-steady.
The slimness of the design is clear from the front; it's little wider than a conventional single-cylinder motorcycle, and much narrower than a transverse 4. [Paul d’Orléans]The front suspension worked well, and the length of the machine meant bumps weren’t an issue at all. The Chaise engine isn’t especially powerful, so high-speed testing wasn’t possible, but as the throttle was wound back, the Majestic felt more stable than at ‘town’ speeds. The motor clattered away beneath the perforated steel cover, and the exhaust note was typical of the 1920s, with a tinny bonk from the silencer. At no point did the bodywork rattle or vibrate, and the whole machine felt completely solid, but in no way heavy.
The 'craqueleure' or alligator finish, an artisanal paint process requiring great skill. This example was spotted in the M2R museum in Andorra [Vincent Prat]The Majestic was, as Georges Roy said, a ‘new motorcycle’, and an extremely forward-thinking design. He attempted to build an 'ideal' motorcycle, which was a fascination before WW2, when all things were possible. His ideal was taken up time and again over the ensuing decades, with many small shops and even Yamaha and Bimota taking up the hub-center flag. It’s a ‘better’ system than conventional forks in many ways, except that motorcyclists are a very conservative lot. Far-seeing enthusiasts in the 1920s knew enclosed motorcycles were the future...and how right they were, decades ahead of time.
The hub-center steering mechanism in plain view, showing the steering rod connected to the curved steering arm. The brake plate is on the other side of the hub. [Paul d’Orléans]A luxurious Bernardet sidecar makes a perfect complement to a 1930 Majestic [Yesterdays]Access to the engine bay is easy with the top panel folded away. The Chaise 350cc OHV motor and Amac carburetor are visible and accessible. [Paul d’Orléans]How they're built today; a pair of replica Majestic chassis, showing clearly the contruction. Two mirror-image side rails, held together with riveted cross-members, strengthened by floorpans, and two bulkeads front and rear. The 'arms' extending forward hold the front wheel. [Private Collection]Side view of the remarkable Majestic-Bernardet sidecar outfit; the height of French Art Deco elegance [Yesterdays]
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 cover of Jeffrey W. Alexander's excellent new book, 'Japan's Motorcycle Wars'
Jeffrey Alexander has produced, in Japan's Motorcycle Wars: An Industry History (UBC Press, 2008) a scholarly account of the deepest origins of the Japanese motorcycle industry, exploring a host of tangential issues which impacted the early and later development of the industry as a whole. The book is academic in tone and structure, and feels like a doctoral thesis; he explicitly states that it isn't meant to be a 'motorcycle book', and there are few exemplary photos, but anyone seriously interested in Japanese motorcycle history would find the book a rewarding read.
Production line at the Fuji 'Rabbit' scooter factory in the late 1940s; definitely a hand-built body, at the least! And a different world from the highly centralized, efficient, and modern production lines Japan became famous for in the 1970s...
The gem of the book, interestingly, isn't the author's; it's a translation of a series of interviews conducted in Japan in 1972, of the Executives of several failed companies, and several interesting characters important to the Industry, including Kenzo Tada. These excerpts provide a diamond-hard insight to the ruthless and aggressive tactics used by successful companies to get ahead and stay there, including breaking agreements and cutting off supplies of vital components to competitors. The book also clarifies the attitude of the Japanese government, and agencies such as MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) which promoted all industries post-war, whose influence gave a great boost to certain companies, most notably Honda.
The Honda Type A moped, their first production model from 1946, using surplus generator motors.
In a far-sighted series of moves (and in total contrast to Britian or the US), massive cash incentives were granted to companies willing to adopt new techniques which benefitted several industries at a stroke, and which rewarded the development of the Japanese economy as a whole. As an example, MITI gave Honda 400,000 yen to investigate whether die-casting would give more accurate results than sand-casting his aluminum parts, and a further y100,000 when the experiments worked. Honda calculated, as did MITI, that the payback point of installing the die-casting equipment would come when production leaped from hundreds to thousands of units per month. Cash infusions and consequent increases in the volume of motorcycles produced are all listed in the book, which mentions as well the boost (like an Archibald Low rocket in fact) to all the major industries when the US forgave Japan's war reparations debt.
The Tamagawa Olympia Speedway races on November 2, 1949, with tens of thousands of spectators for Japan's first post-war race.
Alexander makes an argument that the successful motorcycle manufacturers post-war had all undertaken technically challenging munitions contracts during WW2, in which their production lines (out of necessity) were designed for use by unskilled labor - all of the skilled labor having been called off to war. This gave Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki especially, a great advantage over their dozens of rivals, as they all had experience with mass-production techniques, where any part was interchangeable with another, without the need for fussy and expensive 'hand assembly'... and therein lay the doom of the handbuilt motorcycle.
Racers at the Tamagawa Speedway races on November 2, 1949; the first and third bikes are Meguro singles with Harley-Davidson forks (Meguro built H-D clones under license from the 1930's); the second bike is an Ariel Red Hunter clone by Cabton.
There are a few choice anecdotes buried in the text: "Immediately after the war, Honda took some time off from manufacturing and whiled away the better part of a year drinking medicinal alcohol and working very little."... [Marusho] "signed an import contract with the owner of a Los Angeles sushi restaurant..." Monarch Motorcycles had dealers buying product "with a rucksack stuffed full of y100 notes...however, the promisory note appeared on the scene - and these notes were a problem." [!]
Tokyo police forces with Kawasaki (Meguro) W1 twins,Shiro-bai(white bikes), 1969; licensed copies of the BSA A10 650cc 'Golden Flash'
Some fun facts;
- in the 1920's, Japan was Harley-Davidson's #2 export customer, after Australia. Soichiro Honda copied their system of dealer support for the motorcycles they sold.
- postwar, the Americans established motorcycle racing (with legal betting) in Japan, to encourage industry, and raise money for local gov't, the Japanese Red Cross, and m/c manufacturers. In 1950, six companies - Meguro, Rikuo, Cabton, Abe, Asahi, and Showa - split 4.6million yen in subsidies. A single US-sponsored race in 1950 netted over 1million yen, and each race was attended by 30,000 to 95,000 people.
You can buy Japan's Motorcycle Wars: An Industry History here!
What could be more Japanese than Sumo wrestlers enjoying a Honda Super Cub on the beach? 'You meet the largest people on a Honda'
Jorge Ubico, president of Guatemala from 1931-44, the 'Little Napoleon of the Tropics', tearing through the countryside on his 1942 Harley-Davidson EL 'Knucklehead'
A recent publication from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC explored the history of one of their motorcycles (yes, they have many, includingSylvester Roper's 'first ever motorcycle' of 1867, and theCurtiss V-8 record-breaker of 1906, which clocked 136.3mph at Ormonde Beach, FL). Their intern Christine Miranda did a little investigating, and came up with this story - it seemed perfect for The Vintagent (and thanks to David Blasco for the nudge!).
"In museums, it's common for a single artifact to tell many diverse stories, far beyond the scope of any one exhibition. Christine Miranda, who interned with our Program in Latino History and Culture, explores this idea when she encounters a motorcycle used in Guatemala and digs further.
On the left, the museum's 1942 Harley-Davidson motorcycle as it appears in "America on the Move", designed to fit mid-century Portland, Oregon. On the right, the motorcycle parked in a driveway with a license plate that reads "Guatemala 1979-1983."
Our America on the Move exhibition on the history of U.S. transportation is designed to transport you around the United States. As visitors explore all 26,000 square feet of our Hall of Transportation, they "travel across America," entering a variety of carefully curated historical moments. One of the exhibition's later segments, "Suburban Strip," immerses museumgoers into the life of the "car-owning middle class" in Portland, Oregon, 1949. The display, complete with a replica road, features an array of vehicles typical of the time and place: a pickup truck, a Greyhound bus, a motor scooter, and even a genuine Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Despite the bike's 1949 Oregon license plate, it was never actually ridden in the Pacific Northwest.
Where was it really used? The roadways and landscapes of Guatemala. What's more, the customized motorcycle was owned for several years by the Central American country's president, Jorge Ubico.
Jorge Ubico in his days as a lawyer and politician in Guatemala, before assuming total control of the country
I discovered the object's mysterious past while searching the item catalogues for traces of hidden Latino history at the museum. I guess you could say I hit the jackpot. Though a Guatemalan ruler's motorcycle may seem like an odd choice for the collections at the National Museum of American History, its inclusion in fact sheds light on the global impact of U.S. transportation industries and broadens our understanding of who, what, and where "America" includes.
Jorge Ubico, a well-educated lawyer and politician from his nation's capital city, ascended to the Guatemalan presidency in 1931. He would then stay in that post for 13 years and become the self-proclaimed "little Napoleon of the tropics." Besides his flair for the ostentatious and suppression of political dissent, Ubico is best remembered for his aggressive pursuit of foreign investment and close economic alliance with the United States. Notably, Ubico strongly supported the U.S.-owned United Fruit Company (UFCO), the corporate giant nicknamed el pulpo ("the octopus") for its wide-reaching influence throughout 20th century Central America.
The locomotive Jupiter, a freight and passenger train used from 1876 through the 1960s, reveals that Ubico's motorcycle is not the only object in "America on the Move" with hidden Guatemalan history. In fact, Jupiter underscores the connection between domestic and foreign industrial development during the 20th century.
During his regime, UFCO became the largest landowner in Guatemala and enjoyed exemption from taxes and import duties. Via the International Railways of Central America (IRCA), UFCO also owned and operated the nation's rail network, which facilitated its own international trade. Interestingly, when visitors first enter our America on the Move exhibition, they encounter the giant steam locomotive Jupiter, ostensibly at home in Santa Cruz, California. Though the train did originate there in 1876, Jupiter actually spent the better part of its career transporting bananas along the IRCA in Guatemala!
Like Jupiter, Ubico spent many years traversing Guatemala with the help of American transportation technology. His flashy motorcycle, a 1942 Harley-Davidson Model 74 OHV (Overhead Valve) Twin, was infamous. As described by American journalist Chapin Hall in his Los Angeles Times column:
"When President Ubico, of Guatemala, starts on a tour of inspection, which he does several times a year, he doesn't order out the guard and a special train, but hops on a motorcycle, shouts 'c'mon boys,' and leads a squadron of two-wheelers, each one manned by a government department head."
Despite the almost comical image conjured by Hall's description of Ubico aboard his blue and chrome motorcycle, his "inspections" were the mark of his harsh, militaristic rule. Ubico's Harley-Davidson enabled him to travel to rural communities, where he personally settled local disputes and "imposed his own brand of justice," according to the same Los Angeles Times column.
As president of Guatemala, Jorge Ubico repressed democratic practice and political dissent. His pro-U.S. economic policy worsened the plight of the middle and lower classes, while his labor laws (designed to facilitate the development of public works, like roads) utilized indigenous labor. The image of Ubico atop his motorcycle, shown here, reveals the reality of justice under his rule: "the president might appear suddenly, almost out of nowhere, on his fancy, powerful machine to render judgment". (Quoteis from "I Ask for Justice: Maya Women, Dictators, and Crime in Guatemala, 1898-1944" by David Carey.) Image courtesy of Alvaro Aparicio.
This 1942 Harley-Davidson brochure, saved in the curatorial file for Ubico's motorcycle, emphasizes the company's role in military and law enforcement.
To my surprise, Ubico was far from the first to use a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for military purposes. Already used domestically by American police departments as early as 1908, Harley-Davidsons were ridden by General John J. Pershing's men in their unsuccessful nine-month pursuit of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. Harley-Davidson would go on to supply 20,000 military motorcycles during World War I and 80,000 during World War II. In fact, according to Paul F. Johnston, a curator here in the Division of Work and Industry, Harley-Davidson motorcycles were manufactured almost exclusively for the U.S. war effort in the 1940s, with Ubico's bike being a rare exception.
After the war, Harley-Davidson and other American corporations enjoyed a surge in the motorcycle's recreational popularity, with returning veterans bringing their experience and interest in riding back home with them. This is where Ubico's bike enters the story in America on the Move. Stylized with an Oregon license plate, the motorcycle helps recreate Sandy Boulevard, a burgeoning commercial area in the suburbs of Portland during the 1940s and 50s. By bringing to life this history of midcentury suburbanization, Ubico's motorcycle functions as a 1942 Harley-Davidson, not a symbolic set of wheels.
[Guatemala's political scene didn't improve much after Ubico; here's a Diego Rivera mural, 'Glorious Victory', which features CIA director Allen Dulles (who sat on the board of the United Fruit Co.) just after the US-orchestrated coup of 1954. - pd'o]In tandem, the motorcycle's two histories can help expand upon the themes of America on the Move and create important, interdisciplinary connections. Transportation history is industrial history is political history, and Ubico's acquisition and use of an American motor vehicle has everything to do with the economic relationship between the United States and Central America during the age of UFCO's prominence. When the tide turned for Ubico in 1944 and nationwide disapproval forced him to resign, Ubico sought refuge in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he lived in exile for two years before his death. Maybe it is ironic that his iconic Harley-Davidson followed him and found a final resting place in the Smithsonian.
Since its donation in 1981, the bike has been on almost continuous display, first in the Road Transportation Hall and now, of course, in America on the Move. Chameleonic, it continues to serve various purposes. Millions of museum visitors enjoy it as a classic American artifact, oftentimes recalling their own stories and experiences with motorcycle history and culture. I look at Ubico's bike and see that. I also see the overlapping social, military, and industrial functions of U.S. transportation, at home and abroad; the story of the man behind the motorcycle; and the multiple layers of history encapsulated by the most unexpected of museum objects. Perhaps, now you can too.
Jorge Ubico's chrome-tank 1942 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead at the Smithsonian
Cyril Pullin was a rare bird among the many fascinating motorcycle inventors of the early 20th Century; while there were many rider-designer-manufacturers during the era, he was in very rare company of men who not only designed, built, and raced motorcycles, but also won an Isle of Man TT race, a distinction he shares only with Howard R Davies (HRD) and Charlie and Harry Collier (Matchless).
Cyril Pullin in the 1913 TT aboard an early 2-speed Veloce, a very early example of what would become the Velocette marque. [The Vintagent Archive]Pullin began his racing career at Brooklands and at the Isle of Man in 1913, racing a Veloce, the first iteration of what would become Velocette (and finishing dead last), but the next year he moved to a Rudge, which he modified to suit his jockey-like stature. He lowered the top frame rail of his Rudge 'Multi', which not only gave a lower seating position and consequently lower center of gravity, but also updated the appearance of a typical 'Teens '5-bar gate' frame design, with parallel top frame tubes and tall saddle position.
Pullin aboard the Rudge TT Multi in 1914 at the Isle of Man. The 'Muli' was Rudge's patent variable-speed belt drive, which gave a variety of drive ratios, before gearboxes were common. [The Vintagent Archive]After Indian's 1911 1-2-3 sweep of the Isle of Man TT using two-speed chain drive machines, it was clear to all that multiple speeds equalled race success. Rudge and Zenith both built successful belt-drive racers using variable pulley diameters, and mechanical contraptions to take up the slack of the consequent belt looseness. While Scott used a 2-speed chain drive to win the 1913 TT, the Rudge Multi system had notches in its shift gate for 20 speeds, which did the trick in 1914, as Pullin beat Howard R Davies (Sunbeam) and Oliver Godfrey (Indian) to the line by 6.4 seconds, averaging a remarkable 49.5mph on the rutted, unpaved cart track which was the island circuit at that date. Rudge hoped to cash in on his success, and released a 'TT Replica' within the year.
Cyril Pullin aboard the first British motorcycle to achieve 100mph on British soil, a Douglas OHV flat-twin. [The Vintagent Archive]Pullin had an extremely inventive mind, and in 1916 submitted the first of 171 patents (at least, so far as I've found!) filed during his lifetime, concerning all manner of carburation, oil pumps, frame and fork design, brakes, etc. By 1920 he teamed up with Stanley Lawrence Groom on the design of a radically advanced two-stroke motorcycle with a pressed sheetmetal frame. This machine was the subject of 12 joint patents in Pullin/Groom's names, and drawings of the machine show clearly the forward thinking of this pair of designers. While the two-stroke design failed to materialize, many of the ideas for its chassis reappear later in the 1920s with the Ascot-Pullin, as does the team of Pullin and Groom.
The Pullin & Groom two-stroke of 1920, with pressed-steel monocoque chassis, perhaps the first in the motorcycle industry. Note what appears to be the facility for rear suspension? Note the strut below the saddle. [The Vintagent Archive]By 1922 Pullin was employed by Douglas in Bristol, and his sister had married that marque's chief designer and General Manager, Steven Leslie Bailey, and was soon racing Douglas machines in their heyday, while patenting many of the ideas he developed there. In 1922, he became the first man to record 100mph on a motorcycle on British soil, using a very special OHV Douglas flat-twin. He also continued to race at Brooklands and the Isle of Man, including at the 1923 TT, in which Douglas won both the Senior TT (Tom Sheard) and newly introduced Sidecar TT (Freddie Dixon, using a banking sidecar of his own design). Douglas, in its run of success, hired professional racer Rex Judd for a run of Brooklands records, and Pullin, ever the modernist, rigged a radio communications system with his rider, Judd having earphones within his helmet, from which he could communicate with Pullin back at the works garage - surely a first!
The patent drawings for the Ascot-Pullin monocoque chassis. [The Vintagent Archive]Even during these heady, successful days with Douglas, Pullin had a restless mind, and it seems the pull of his Great Idea - the pressed-steel motorcycle chassis - was too much to ignore. By 1928, he teamed up with Stanley Groom once again, and secured the old Phoenix factory in Letchworth, Herts, to establish the Ascot Motor and Manufacture Co Ltd. Their intention was to produce both a car and motorcycle of steel pressings, the car being based on the Hungarian 'Fejes', whose inventor, Jeno Fejes, held similar views to Pullin's own, although the car was far more radical than Pullin's designs, having even the engine built of welded-up pressings! The Fejes car (and what an unfortunate name...) was never actually built at the Ascot works, but Groom and Pullin drew up 22 patents relating to their two-wheeled venture, many of which found their way into the Ascot-Pullin motorcycle.
A press report from 1928 , with 100mph claim for the Ascot-Pullin. [The Vintagent Archive]The bright dream of a motorcycle inventor/racer could be forgiven if it looked like a camel, but Cyril Pullin had already proved with Rudge and Douglas that he had a designer's eye, and his sketches for the 1920 pressed-steel two stroke show a deep appreciation for aesthetic engineering. The Ascot-Pullin proved to be far more than a 'slide-rule special', having a perfection of line and proportion revealing its designers to be men inclined towards elegance; the complete machine is a gem of the English Art Deco design movement, being the happy integration of modern machinery and contemporary style. It's pressed-steel bodywork is at once more restrained than its extravagant contemporary rivals, like the French 'Majestic', yet more cheerful than the sober BMW R16.
The Ascot-Pullin as produced, a very handsome machine [Bonhams]We were lucky enough to become thoroughly acquainted with a 1929 Ascot-Pullin, its indulgent owner allowing a free hand to explore the machine's character, regardless that it's one of perhaps 7 survivors. The first impression of the machine is one of unity - an easy summary given the monococque chassis - and luxury. The machine is beautifully appointed with every gauge one could hope for on a late '20s car of the era, an appropriate comparison given the 'two wheeled car' ideal Pullin was aiming at. This notion of an 'ideal' motorcycle with fully-enclosed mechanicals, silent running, full instrumentation, and weather protection (not to mention an adjustable windscreen and wiper - an option on the Ascot-Pullin!) was an idea constantly referenced in the motorcycling press of the day, and which proved to be absolutely correct...50 years later. Witness the Honda Gold Wing, and every modern tourer today.
The forks of the Ascot-Pullin are pressed-steel, as is the chassis. The hand-shift is visible, as is the easy access to the cylinder head for valve adjustment. Not the quality of the finishes. [Paul d’Orléans]Pullin's baby bristles with both innovation and attractive design touches, like the numerous chromed star washers and a rocket-ship exhaust system. The engine is an advanced flat-single cylinder design, much like the contemporary Moto Guzzi but OHV, and with a geared primary drive to its en-bloc transmission. As noted, the chassis and forks are pressed steel, with strengthening indents accented with two-tone paint, while the wheels are interchangeable on Pullin's own quick-release patented hubs, complemented by his own-patent hydraulic brakes, the first on a motorcycle. The symmetrical instrument binnacle holds a speedo, clock, oil pressure gauge, multi-position light switch, ammeter, and unique mirror-image levers for the magneto and air controls. The bike sits on Pullin's patented telescoping center stand, which has 2 positions - parking and 'wheel removal'. There's plenty of room for tools in the tanktop toolbox, and access for mechanical adjustments is easy, via removable panels.
Access to the gearbox and magneto is easy, via a removable panel. The kickstart and clutch cable entry are clear. [Paul d’Orléans]With such elaborate specification, the Ascot-Pullin still only weighs in at a bit over 320lbs, and the saddle height is low at just over 26". The engine isn't a racer, as evidenced by a fairly low compression ratio, and consequent easy kickover. The beast starts with a woffle from its twinned exhausts, and the slow-scroll internal throttle reminds the rider that one needn't be in a hurry on such a fine piece of machinery. Pullin's own press releases claimed a 100mph top speed for the Ascot-Pullin, but that's not the impression we got - probably in the 80s is more accurate. At every speed, the extra-low center of gravity from the flat-single mass gives stable and secure handling, inspiring complete confidence approaching the S bends of our testing grounds. Still, Pullin didn't build this machine as a scratcher, and hard cornering will leave souvenirs of expensive chrome on an unappreciative pavement. Scrubbing off speed with those novel hydro-brakes was as about as good as any 1920s bike we've ridden, which is to say, plan your stops and leave room for surprises. Enjoy the feeling of extreme quality this machine exudes; luxury motorcycles went extinct by WW2, and the Ascot-Pullin is as good as any on the road in its day.
The road beckons! Sadly, this is probably the only road-going Ascot-Pullin on the planet, such is their rarity. Note the twin fishtail mufflers. [Paul d’Orléans]Cyril Pullin's two-wheeled brainchild was an idea too far ahead of its time, but he was absolutely correct in his ideas. Today we see motorcycles ticking the boxes of his spec sheet on every highway, with stereos blaring from weather-protecting fairings, and engines invisible under shapely steel (or more likely plastic) car-like coverings. In the heady year of 1929, the Crash greeting the Ascot-Pullin meant its doom, and the factory closed its doors a year later, after an estimated 500 machines had been produced. Pullin went to work for Douglas once again, before setting off into the skies with his new interest; helicopters. His son Raymond became the first pilot of a British built helicopter, designed by his father, in 1938, and Pullin carried on in the aero industry the rest of his working life. A few examples of his motorcycle masterpiece remain, and it was sheer pleasure to sample the unfettered ideas of one of motorcycling's greatest figures.
Cyril Pullin from a publication featuring cartoons of motorcycle industry bigwigs from the 1930s. [The Vintagent Archive]The lavish dashboard complements the overall finish, and was the apex of cool in 1929. [Paul d’Orléans]
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.
Malle London is an accessories company with the right attitude; they set up events where their gear can be used, and for the sheer fun of it. 'The Mile' is their grass-track dragstrip on a private estate held the past few years, and now they've hosted ‘The Great Mile’, a 1000 mile, 72-hour motorcycle rally, that ran from the Northern Tip of Scotland to the Southern Tip of Cornwall. It was an event open to 'custom, classic and cafe racers', limited to 100 entrants, which they claim to be 'the greatest motorcycle rally in the country.' That might just be true, as British motorcycle rallies tend to be short-mileage events!
Photographer Fabio Affuso was along for the ride, and send us these shots from the route, which was a mix of wet and dry weather, held on small roads, and planned carefully by the Malle crew for maximum sightliness and fun riding. Taking the back roads through Scotland and Wales is a motorcyclist's dream, and having someone else organize the route, the food, and the bed makes for a great experience - ask any Cannonballer! It's also, at best, a great builder of comraderie between the participants. We at The Vintagent love a good moto-rally, and give the Malle team high marks for putting on fun events.
Sturgis: to a Café Racer, a sporting rider, or even a plain ‘ol vintage rider, it’s a name with zero resonance. We all know the deal: it's swamped with a quarter of a million bagger Harleys, peppered with unridable (except at Sturgis or Daytona) customs, salted with unasked-for exposed flesh (that cannot be un-seen), and washed out with drunken, boorish behavior. We’ve been there as your emissary, and must report that all of your assumptions are correct. What’s also true is the Black Hills of South Dakota is a magic landscape, sacred to its original inhabitants, and a place of gentle beauty. The landscape is an infinity of soft green grass and rolling hills, with exceptional motorcycle roads cupped between its swelling rises.
Photographer Michael Lichter, a legend in the Harley-centric world of Sturgis and V-twin ‘custom lifestyle’ books and magazines, has a warehouse-size exhibit hall dedicated to his ‘Motorcycles as Art’ exhibit, held annually at Sturgis since 2000. The exhibit was off our radar until we met Michael on the 2012 Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Rally; he's the official photographer for the event, and has ridden backwards across the USA several times now! In early 2013 Michael asked if we could help source vintage Café Racers for his 2013 Sturgis show, to be called ‘Ton Up! Speed, Style, and Café Racer Culture’.
Michael Licther with Mars Webster's Godet-Egli-Vincent
We were immediately on board, and suggested a formal collaboration as co-curators, as Café Racers were our first vintage love. Paul d'Orléans' clip-on and rearset credentials go back to the 1980s, when he co-founded the ‘Roadholders’ Café Racer club in San Francisco, and he's owned a very long list of classic Café Racers, and covets his 1966 Velocette Thruxton as his 'you'll take it from my cold dead hands' bike.
Mark Mederski (National M/C Museum) also supplied his low-mileage 1970 Velocette Thruxton
What was Michael's reasoning for bringing a bunch of non-American canyon carvers to the mighty Bagger Bacchanal? "I've been watching the explosion of interest in Café Racers over the past few years on the internet and TV, and I see parallels with the Harley custom world - the personal expression, the quality of the work - and it seemed a good, if controversial, subject for this year." The absolute explosion of interest in the Café Racer and ‘CB’ Custom world since 2010 has overlapped with the best of the Harley custom world, and plenty of builders known for Choppers and Bobbers are now making performance-oriented motorcycles which can be ridden around corners.
The legendary Willie G. Davidson in front of his 'Serial #1' H-D XLCR, his epic attempt to manufacture a real cafe racer in America.
In fact, when word leaked of the Café Racer theme for Michael’s 2013 exhibit, we found ourselves turning away well-known shops who were eager, sometimes even desperate to be included in ‘Ton Up!’ It was overwhelming actually, how many shops proposed building machines just for Sturgis: I had underestimated the importance of Michael Lichter’s show to the builders themselves. In the end 7 bikes were built expressly for ‘Ton Up!’; they ranged from Sportster to Triumph to Victory to an RD Yamaha, with stock or home-built chassis, from visually fairly ‘standard’ to completely radical and unique, from the factory-slickness of Zach Ness to the hand-hammered and sticker-covered scratcher from ‘Brewdude’.
Roland Sands/BMW (RSD) 2013 BMW prototype 'Concept 90' with a BSA Gold Star and Dunstall Norton
We collared our Vintage pals for prime examples of 1960s-70s Café Racers, from Herb Harris’ immaculate ’62 BSA DBD34 Gold Star Clubman and Mark Mederski’s original-paint ’70 Velocette Thruxton, to a totally killer all-black Godet-Egli-Vincent Black Shadow, loaned by Mars Webster. The 13 ‘period’ Café Racers laid the exhibit’s groundwork, as the starting point for a show covering 50 years’ continuous history for the genre. The style of motorcycle characterized as Café Racer did not begin or end during the ‘Ace Café’ era, but is an impulse as old as motorcycling – the desire for a Racer on the Road. As a touchstone machine, we included Mark Mederski’s original-paint 1962 Norton 30M Manx, the last year of Bracebridge Street production of this seminal racer.
Mark Mederski's low-mile, original-paint '62 Norton Manx, included as the benchmark against which all Café Racers were measured
The Manx was hugely successful on the track, but was equally remembered for the perfection of its style, which is emulated on newly built Café Racers today, whether the bike underneath is British or Japanese. The continued evolution of the clip-on brigade included a pair of divergent Ducati round-case 750s; the Fuller Hot Rods Duc being a pared-down and slick traditionalist, and Shinya Kimura’s ‘Flash’ representing the far end of the artistic expression spectrum.
Willie G Davidson (retired head of H-D design); 1977 HD XLCR Serial #1
Another pair of machines, separated by 4 decades, showed the enduring strength of Café Racer style. Willie G Davidson pulled from his personal garage the ‘Serial #1’ HD XLCR, a landmark machine and a masterpiece from the legendary former Head of Styling at HD. In some kind of ‘first’, Willie G’s replacement at Harley, Ray Drea, on hearing his former boss would include the #1 XLCR, immediately started building his own all-Harley Café Racer, based on an XR1000 engine. The resulting ‘XR Café’ is a drop-dead gorgeous Milwaukee marvel, with completely uprated suspension, brakes, carbon fiber wheels, and hand-made aluminum bodywork which closely echoes the XLCR lines; a total performance-oriented street racer, which inherited the tough-guy good looks of its spiritual father, but kicks butt all over Dad’s spec sheet. It’s so good, I asked to buy it - but Willie G. beat me to it!
Ray Drea (then H-D head of design) built this incredible 1984 HD XR1000 'XR Café'
The response to ‘Ton Up!’ by Sturgis regulars, both industry pros and tipsy campers, was universally ‘WOW’. Even though we were beat from hand-placing 35 bikes on their plinths, and hanging over 200 pieces of art on the walls from 12 photographers and painters, our reaction was the same. Remarkably, I can’t recall a museum-quality exhibit of Café Racers, anywhere on the planet, until seeing ‘Ton Up!’ set up, lit, and filled with nearly 1300 people on opening day.
1280 visitors for the exhibition opening, August 5th, 2013
Not a negative peep was heard about the show’s content and non-Harley focus, and dudes covered with wrinkled, sun-faded tattoos and Rip Van Winkle beards were as fascinated by the Docs Chops’ Yamaha Virago(!) as by the super-tough Brawny Built H-D Sportster. Many times I heard ‘this show could travel anywhere’, and while moving the whole show is prohibitively expensive, luckily Michael Lichter and Paul d'Orléans collaborated on a book based on the exhibit. Motorbooks International changed the name to 'Cafe Racers: Speed, Style, and Ton Up Culture', and the book is in print in several languages (English, French, and German so far), and the text by Paul explores the real history of the 'racer on the road' impulse, and the nails the date of the first factory Café Racer to 1914! You can buy it here.
'The 69' - Dustin Kott's (Kott Motorcycles); 1969 Honda CB450David Zemla's 2003 HD 883 'DZ Sportster'Cover Girl! Yoshi Kosaka (the Garage Co) brought his gorgeous 1967 Triumph-Rickman MetisseBuilt for the exhibit! Jay Hart's 1972 HD XL 'XLMPH'The Pitch! This is how Willie G. Davidson presented the concept for the XL-Cafe Racer to the Board of H-D in 1975!The Zach Ness Victory with Shinya Kimura's 'Falsh'David Edwards (Bike Craft editor, former Cycle World editor); 1975 Triumph T140VThe only machine that didn't make it into the 'Cafe Racers' book, due to a logistical error. Ridiculous! Jonnie Green's (Ton Up Classics) 1965/7 TritonInstalling the show was like playing Tetris, sorting various-height plinths and where each machine fit in the schemePaul d'Orléans' '65 Triumph Bonneville was a useful work table during installation, and a perfect way to blow off steam after the intense work of installing the exhibition!Steve 'Carpy' Carpenter built this terrific 1969 Honda CB750KO 'Tenacious Ton'Brad Richards (Ford Motor Co) built this substantial 1999 HD 'Sporty TT'. Brad is now Chief of Styling at Harley-Davidson
Skeeter Todd's (OCC) 1979 HD XR1000 'American Café' - he said he 'wore two holes in front of his milling machine' to make the XR top end fit an XL bottom end...The '21 Helmets' display, which grew to 27 helmets!Thor Drake's (SeeSee Motorcycles); 1985 Yamaha RZ350 'BH347'[Michael Lichter]Richard Varner's (Champions Moto) 2004 Triumph Bonneville 'Brighton'Ray Drea and Willie G have a private chatThe display as completed; 15,000 visitors saw the exhibit over one week.Roland Sands and Ola Stenegard (BMW's chief motorcycle designer)Zach Ness; 2013 Victory Judge 'NessCafé Victory'How customizers thought of Cafe Racers in 1987; the "Ness Cafe" custom bike built by Arlen Ness [Michael Lichter]Michael Lichter set up his photo studio inside the Micheal Lichter Pavilion at the Buffalo Chip. These photos were used in the 'Cafe Racers' bookEpic! Gordon McCall's (McCall Motorworks); 1965 Dunstall Norton AtlasSeveral of the bikes stretched the definition of Cafe Racer - they certainly weren't light or racy! But the Brian Klock (Klock Werks); 2013 Triumph T'Bird 'Café Storm' had enough other cues to qualitySpeed, style and finesse; Kim Boyle (Boyle Custom Moto); 1971 Norton Commando 'Ed Norton'Kevin Dunworth of Loaded Gun Customs with his 'Bucephalus' with unique alloy-plate chassisLovely Michael Lichter shot of filmmaker Karen Porter in front of the Ace Café, part of his display of photography, which I hung next to David Uhl's fantasy painting of a Triumph-riding woman in the very same spot.Always fascinating; Jay LaRossa's (Lossa Engineering) 1967 Honda CB77 'Lossa CB77'Bryan Fuller's Honda CB550 with amazing Ukiyo-E engraved bodywork and chassis, the subject of Paul d'Orléans' profile in Cycle World.Jason Paul Michaels (Dime City Cycles) presented this pristine 1968 Honda CB450 'Brass Cafe'Woolie's way; the Deus ex Machina 1978 BMW R100SThe art of Conrad Leach was featured.Technically fascinating; Kevin Dunworth's (Loaded Gun Customs) 1967 Triumph 'Bucephalus'Steve 'Brewdude' Garn's (Brew Racing Frames) 1974 Yamaha RD350 'Streak'The Brandon Holstein (Brawny Built) 2003 H-D 'Brawny Sportster' on set up day for Born Free 5 at the Oak Canyon Ranch. [Michael Lichter]The $20 'bikini bike wash' seemed like a pretty good deal - the girls were thorough!Shinya Kimura's 1974 Ducati 'Flash' in epic company, waiting to be installed in the Ton Up! exhibitUnique! The Chris Fletchner (Speed Shop Design) 1965 BSA 'Beezerker', which we've ridden!Two women riders, in very different gear! Such is Sturgis...
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 rare art of Plumasserie is the labor-intensive process of cutting, dyeing, and applying feathers by hand, typically on very expensive clothing and accessories. The tradition dates back to French Haute Couture houses from the 1800’s, and has very few practitioners today - it's almost and extinct skill, although some luxury houses feather their products. Those that do keep Maxime Leroy going; he's the master plumassier behind a revival of the craft with a contemporary twist.
We caught up with Maxime Leroy at the Grand Palais in Paris, during the Révélations show, the International Biennial of Fine Craft and Contemporary Creation. We were invited to see Leroys' collaboration with Blitz Motorcycles of Paris on the 'Black Angel', an incredible helmet/bike combination of cut black feathering, hand-applied to leather, covering the helmet entirely (including laid-down quills for the Blitz 'lightning bolt' logo), and the top of the fuel tank. The mix of feathers on the fuel tank is almost vulgar, with hydraulic tubes, air vents, and fuel lines contrasting with the organic delicacy of the hand-cut and hand-dyed goose feathers.
The fuel tank of the Blitz 'Black Angel' - almost vulgar in its contrast between the organic and mechanical.
LeRoy founded his own luxury brand M.Marceau, as well as Sacco Baret, a collaboration of Jayma Sacco, Maxime Leroy and Paul Baret. All are exploring new venues for the old craft, and brands like Chanel, Givenchy, Jean Paul Gaultier and Louis Vuitton have featured their incredible featherwork. Leroy was recently recognized internationally as "one of the most inspirational and influential artisans" in Olivier Dupon’s book “Encore! The New Artisans”. He was also selected to create the centerpiece for an art installations at Paris' Palais de Tokyo, for the exhibition 'Double Je'.
'Celine' by Maxime Leroy for the 'Double Je' exhibit at the Palais de Tokyo
For 'Double Je', Leroy totally covered the bodywork of a Suzuki GSXR, that he named 'Celine'. I was the heart of the exhibit, which was itself a large-scale installation of many artists' work, themed around the crime-thriller novels of Franck Thilliez. 'Celine' is perhaps the most haute-couture motorcycle ever built, and perhaps the most evil-looking! We can honestly say we've never seen a helmet like this, nor motorcycles like these! Follow the work of Maxime Leroy at his M.Marceau brand, and at Sacco Baret.
The helmet for the Blitz 'Black Angel'The helmet deserves scrutiny, as the detail is simply amazing.The tank top of 'Celine' - all made of feathers and quills!Maxime LeRoy from the website of his couture brand M.Marceau
As noted in Part 1, it typically took two years for a team of English enthusiasts to build up a Speed Record machine in their off-hours, while keeping a small factory busy building road machines. The face-slap of the BMW record at the very onset of the Depression made for interesting bed-fellows among former rivals. Freddie Barnes had spent perhaps too much time in his race shop building Gold Star winners, and not enough making a profit, and the kidney-kick of the '29 Crash had sent Zenith into bankruptcy. Their ace rider Joe Wright acquired the big Zenith-JAP speed machine, which by now had a supercharger, but was contracted in a hurry by Claude Temple to attack the record again in 1930, to snatch the laurels from upstart BMW.
Joe Wright, many time World Speed Record holder, beside the supercharged OEC-JAP at the Olympia Motorcycle Show in 1930. Note his less-than-enthusiastic smile... (Aldo Carrer collection)
The FIM Speed Record book claims that on 6th November, 1930, Joseph S. Wright took his Temple-OEC, with supercharged JAP 994cc engine, to 150.7mph (242.59kph) down the rod-straight concrete pavé at From Cork, Ireland. The 1930 record was a significant advance on the Ernst Henne/BMW record of 137.58mph, achieved only weeks prior at Ingolstadt, Germany, on a supercharged 750cc ohv machine. But in this case, the history books are all wrong.
Joe Wright aboard the Temple-OEC-JAP record-breaker, which failed to take a record that day. Just behind it is Wright's personal supercharged Zenith-JAP, which took the actual record run.
But a pair of machines was present at Cork that day; the OEC which had been prepared by veteran speed tuner Claude Temple, and a 'reserve' machine in case it all went pear-shaped. The second-string machine was a supercharged Zenith-JAP, of similar engine configuration to the OEC, but in a mid-1920s Zenith '8/45' racing chassis. Zenith at that date was technically out of business, so no valuable publicity could be gained for the factory from a record run, nor bonuses paid, nor salaries for any helpful staff who built/maintained the machine. While Zenith would be rescued from the trashbin of the Depression in a few months, and carry on making motorcycles until 1948 in fact, the reorganized company, with its star-making General Manager Freddie Barnes, never sponsored another racer at Brooklands or built more of their illustrious special 'one off' singles and v-twins, which did so well at speed events around the world - from England to Argentina!
A beautiful shot of Joe Wright aboard the Zenith at Brooklands, before the supercharger was added
Joe Wright had already taken the Motorcycle Land Speed Record with the OEC, back on August 31st at Arpajon, France, at 137.32mph, but Henne and his BMW had the cheek to snatch the Record by a mere .3mph, on Septermber 20th. That November day in Cork was unlucky for Wright and Temple, as the Woodruff key which fixed the crankshaft sprocket sheared off, and the OEC was unable to complete the required two-direction timed runs. With the OEC out of action, and FIM timekeepers being paid by the day, as well as arrangements with the city of Cork to close their road (and police the area), a World Speed Record was an expensive proposition, and the luxury of a 'second machine' was very practical...although the 1930 Cork attempt by Wright/Temple may be the only instance where a second machine was of a completely different make. Imagine Ernst Henne bringing a supercharged DKW as a backup for his BMW; simply unthinkable!
Wright was successful, and set a new Motorcycle Land Speed Record with his trusty Zenith at 150.7mph (242.59kph), although the press photographs and film crews of the time were solely focused on the magnificent but ill-fated OEC, as Zenith was out of business, and OEC paying the bills. Scandalously, everyone present played along with the misdirection that the OEC had been the machine burning up the timing strips, and the Zenith was quickly hidden away from history, a situation which still exists in the FIM record books.
Joe Wright's supercharged Zenith-JAP at the 1930 Cork World Record attempt
Photographs from the actual event show the Zenith lurking in the background while Joe Wright poses on the OEC, preparing himself for a blast of 150mph wind by taping his leather gloves to his heavy knit woolen sweater, and wrapping more tape around his turtleneck and ankles to stop the wind from dragging down his top speed. His custom-made teardrop aluminum helmet is well-documented, but the protective abilities of his wool trousers and sweater at such a speed are dubious at best...but there were no safety requirements in those days, you risked your neck and that was that. Nowadays, when any 'squid' can hit 150mph exactly 8 seconds after parting with cash for a new motorcycle, Wright's efforts might seem quaint, but he was exploring the outer boundaries of motorcycling at the time, and was a brave man indeed.
A screen capture from the British Pathe film of the 150mph record shows clearly the bike is Wright's Zenith!
The record-breaking Joe Wright Zenith was a rumor for decades, becoming a documented story only in the 1980s via the classic motorcycling magazines and the VMCC journal. The whereabouts of the Actual machine was known only to very few. I've had the great pleasure of making the Zenith's acquaintance, it does still exist, and is currently undergoing restoration; ironically, it now lives in Germany, having been in safe hands with arch-enthusiasts for decades.
== All BMW, All the Time ==
Ernst Henne with his supercharged BMW WR750 in 1936
For the next 7 years, as England struggled with economic calamity, the World Speed Record became a BMW benefit, as speed-man Ernst Henne piloted increasingly sophisticated, and increasingly streamlined, supercharged flat-twins to higher speeds. The Ingolstadt road proved troublesome, so the hunt was continued for a very long, flat, and straight road, somewhere in Europe. The plains near Tat, in Hungary, were the next speedway, with the Hungarian officials happy to sponsor such a publicity coup. In 1932 Henne upped the Zenith record by a hair, reaching 244.40kph on a slightly better-shaped WR750. BMW of course shouted the achievement through posters and catalogs, and spent the next 5 years raising their own record. A few more tweaks to their bodywork in 1934, and a move to Gyon, Hungary, raised their own record slightly to 246.07kph.
Ernst Henne and his streamlined 'Egg'
By 1934, Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels were eager to use all aspects of international sporting activity in service of their fascist state, which included car and motorcycle racing. BMW and DKW benefitted from wheelbarrows of cash supplied by the Nazi government, and both factories used the money boost to make radical technical changes to their cars and motorcycles. DKW was part of Auto Union by 1932, a huge conglomerate of car and motorcycle manufacture, with DKW by then the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. The story of their Auto Union racing cars, the most powerful and exotic GP cars ever, and their competition with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo, is a direct parallel to our motorcycle story. BMW at the same time developed their 328 sports-racer, an incredibly competent and beautifully designed car, considered an all-time classic.
A very rare photograph of Adolf Hitler inspecting the DKW factory. (Aldo Carrer collection)
In accepting Hitler's cash, the racing and record-breaking teams of both factories came under the scrutiny and supervision of the Ministry of Sport (DRL), and suddenly, their drivers and riders wore swastika armbands over their racing coveralls and leathers, and raised their arms in the fascist salute while 'Deutschland Uber Alles' played for the crowd. This has unfortunately given the impression that all German competitors were Nazis, which is certainly not the truth; they were racers in Germany in the mid-30s, and some were fascist supporters no doubt, but many private stories from the pre-war period depict legendary motorcycle racers like Georg Meier pooh-poohing their Nazi handlers. Not all Germans were fascists, and plenty of Englishmen, Americans, and Frenchmen supported fascism...but that's another story.
Looking like a letter to the future, the DKW record-breaker without its canopy, which badly affected handling
There seems to have been a gentleman's agreement between DKW and BMW to stay off each other's racing turf, as DKW focussed on 250cc and 350cc GP racing and record-breaking, while BMW concentrated on 500cc racing and the absolute World Speed Record. While BMW is perhaps better known for their speed record bikes, DKW as equally at the forefront of the new science of streamlining and engine development, having pioneered the Schnurle-loop scavenge system on their two-stroke engines, and the use of superchargers with twin-piston combustion chambers, so the blowers didn't simply push the fuel mix straight out the exhaust pipe!
The DKW record-breaker with its full bodywork; a science-fiction wet dream…but very loud!
The photographs with this article show 250cc and 350cc racers of stunning speed and sophistication, with fabulously compelling bodywork, developed in wind tunnels (something they could afford with Nazi cash) alongside their Auto Union GP cars. BMW's experiments with supercharged 500cc GP bikes bore fruit with an entirely new design, which was never intended to have a 'street' version.
The new BMW OHC flat-twin engine, with integral supercharger, Type RS255
Their new OHC flat twin had a supercharger designed with the engine, integral with the crankcase casting, and fast as hell. While their GP racers used a version of the roadster R5 chassis with a tube frame and rigid rear end, the record-breaker chassi retained a version of the old WR750 tube frame, but was now placed in a better streamlined body. The new OHC engine was far more powerful than the old pushrod 750cc, even with a 1/3 capacity reduction.
The BMW three-wheel record breaker with its full streamlining, which was more stable than the DKW bodywork
It was no longer necessary to search Europe for a suitable speed venue, as Hitler had ordered new autobahns built across the country, and the A3 was set aside by an eager government to prove the new BMW's speed. With an engine now half the size of their English competition's JAP V-twins, Ernst Henne might have been expected to incrementally increase the Speed Record, but in 1936 he blistered the new concrete of the Frankfurt-Munich autobahn at 272.01kph, in his fully-streamlined silver projectile with only his helmet visible, giving rise to the nickname 'Henne and his Egg'.
Eric Fernihough aboard the semi-streamlined Brough Superior-JAP record breaker in 1936, at Brooklands, after his successful 163.82mph run
George Brough was many things; a showoff and blowhard, but also a truly gifted motorcycle stylist, and a keen competitor. Brough Superior remained a tiny factory, producing during its entire 20-year lifepan (around 3200 machines) less than one month's output of rival DKW. While his roadsters had become chunky Grand Tourers by the mid-30s, the fire of competition and national pride still burned in his heart, and he had been quietly working with veteran racer Eric Fernihough to build a new, supercharged and streamlined, Brough Superior-JAP record-breaker. Without the benefit of government support or a wind tunnel, their work cladding the Brough in aluminum sheet was instantly old-fashioned compared to developments in GP car racing and aircraft aerodynamics, and the machine relied more on sheer brute horsepower from the big blown V-twin engine. They must have felt like David with a slingshot against the Goliath of the huge German factories, but their effort worked in 1937, as Eric Fernihough piloted his oil-leaking beast to squeak past the BMW record by 1mph, at 273.24kph.
The spectacular Gilera Rondine, with its laid-down across-the-frame DOHC watercooled, supercharged 4-cylinder engine; the most advanced motorcycle engine in the world, which set the pattern for motorcycle engines through the present day.
Of course, while Alfa Romeo battled Auto Union's GP projectiles, Gilera had also seen the future, and purchased the plans, rights, and tooling for the remarkable water-cooled 4-cylinder DOHC supercharged CNA 'Rondine' (Swallow) in 1935, arguably the most technically advanced motorcycle engine in the world. The Rondine had its roots back in a 1923 across-the-frame 4-cylinder OHV engine from the OPRA research firm, which was slowly developed by engineer Peiro Remor into an OHC and finally DOHC engine. OPRA went bankrupt in 1929, but Remor then created the CNA research group, and the engine became DOHC. Remor moved to Gilera as part of a 'deal' with CNA in Gilera's purchase of this incredible machine and all rights to produce it. Gilera had the racing history to develop the chassis, and the resources to develop the engine of the Rondine, and by 1937, it was the fastest motorcycle in the world. Proof was provided on the Brescia-Bergamo A4 autostrada in 1937, as GP racing driver Piero Taruffi (who began his career like most Italian racing legends, on motorcycles) raised the record to 274.18kph, on a poorly-streamlined egg with handling issues. Outside of a fully-enclosed fairing, the Gilera trounced the BMW in top speed stakes, which pleased Mussolini (see photo), although the watercooled engine was still too heavy for the razor-sharp handling required of GP racing.
Mussolini inspects the Gilera Rondine DOHC 4-cylinder, watercooled racer, the fastest motorcycle in the world for a few months in 1937
While post-war Allied archivists documented Hitler's cash 'donations' to German motorcycle and car factories, I've never seen evidence of a corresponding gift from the Italian government; the Rondine was a home-grown product developed over 15 years to a remarkable state of tune, and lived on postwar as the normally carbureted Gilera 4-cylinder racers which dominated the GP World Championships of the 1950s, while BMW's problems with race handling prevented anyone but the German ex-cop, the super-tough superman Georg Meier, from winning a World Championship or an Isle of Man TT.
Benito Mussolini inspecting the Bianchi factory, from a Bianchi promotional poster (Aldo Carrer collection)
BMW answered the Italian challenge on the morning of 28 November 1937, when Ernst Henne averaged 279.5kmh with his BMW 'Egg'. Henne then retired from record breaking, and his egg-record remained unbroken until 1951.
Ernst Henne and his stunning mid-30s BMW record-breaker, after his retirement
1938 was a big year for global motorcycle racing, as Ewald Kluge won the Lightweight Isle of Man TT on his supercharged DKW two-stroke, the first time a German rider won the TT on a German machine, and resoundingly so, finishing 11 minutes ahead of his next competitor. The invasion of sophisticated Italian and German racing bikes on British soil was but a precursor to the coming years of war and misery, although most civilians still crossed their fingers that a war would not come. George Brough was the lone English factory up to the challenge presented by Gilera and BMW, and returned to Hungary in 1938 with a slightly improved Brough Superior-JAP racer, with Eric Fernihough in the saddle again. Sadly, the streamlining on the Brough presented a barn door sized target for cross-winds, and Fernihough was killed when his machine ran off the narrow road at over 250kph. The death of his friend took the wind from George Brough, and he returned to England, gradually transforming the Brough Superior works from motorcycle production to specialized machine work for the military; it was a scene echoed across the small factories which once defined the British motorcycle industry.
Eric Fernihough aboard the streamlined Brough Superior he rode in Gyon, Hungary, where he was blown off the road and killed
1939 was an even more dramatic year in racing, when Georg Meier won the 500cc Isle of Man TT on his kompressor BMW, raising the red-and-swastika flag over the very heart of British racing. The defeat of Norton and Velocette in this race was a stunning blow, and a huge propaganda coup for Germany, finally victorious in the world's toughest road race. Germany hoped such victories were a portent of greater success on the world's battlefields, and so it proved to merely a year later. Of course, certain complications like the Royal Air Force and a stubborn Russian populace halted Hitler's seemingly unstoppable expansion across the globe. The brave lives lost racing for two-wheeled glory were suddenly overshadowed by millions of deaths for national survival, as the symbolic battlefields of speed records and GP success were traded for real battlefields, and the rival countries battled it out directly, thankfully to a very different outcome.
The immortal Georg Meier aviating the BMW RS255 at the Isle of Man TT in 1939
If you happen to be in London, I recommend a visit to the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, which houses one of the best painting collections in Europe. The original building was designed by William Wilkins in the 1830s, has since had many extensions added, becoming the neo-classical heap you'd expect of a big national institution of the 19th Century.
While every sign and security guard says 'No Foto', we couldn't help but document the surprising discovery of a motorcycle on the floor of the National Gallery. We are firmly in the camp of the Photo Liberation Front, a group of artist-tourists sick of being reprimanded for taking photos in museums!
We were delighted to discover on a recent visit the delightful mosaic of 'The Pleasures of Life', discovering a cartouche labelled 'Speed', which of course features a motorcycle! The entire entry and mezzanine level floors are covered in mosaic murals, but the upper right mezzanine is where you'll find the bike. The image is stylistically rooted in the late 1920s/early 1930s, and depicts a readheaded woman astride a 'flapper bracket', with a fishtail exhaust beneath her high heels. The exhaust is distinctive; a sedate production item, and not a full-house racing 'Brooklands Can', and very much in the style of a four-valve Ariel single-cylinder ca.1930, or perhaps a Rudge.
A broader shot of Boris Anrep's mosaic tile murals in the National Gallery lobby
As the mosaic covers the entire floor around the grand 1889 staircase (by Sir John Taylor), it's not easy to find an information plaque explaining them, but a quick search revealed the artist as Boris Anrep, a member of the Bloomsbury group, which included the writer Virginia Woolf, economist John Maynard Keynes, and painter Vanessa Bell. Anrep was a Russian lawyer who abandoned his practice in 1908 (age 25), to study art in Paris and Edinburgh, eventually settling on the mosaic as his chosen medium by 1917. He spent WW1 as a Russian officer in Galicia (an ethnically diverse kingdom in the Austria-Hungarian empire, now straddling Ukraine, Poland, and the Czech Republic). In 1917 he was sent as a military attaché to London, and never returned to his homeland, probably because of the Revolution in Russia, as well as his burgeoning art career, and the commissions for mosaics which kept him busy the rest of his life.
Anrep on Oct 28 1929, working on the 'Speed' mosaic; what laborious work, and no assistants in sight! The scale of the image is clear, as is the pile of tesserae used to make the mosaic. [Getty Images]Anrep's work at the National Gallery began in 1928, the 'Labours of Life' and 'Pleasures of Life', of which the Flapper on a motorcycle is part; the mosaics took 5 years to complete. In 1952 he returned to lay the 'Modern Virtues' at the foot of the staircase, which incorporates portraits of Winston Churchill, Dame Margot Fonteyne, and Bertrand Russell...whereas the earlier mosaics included Virginia Woolf and Greta Garbo, but no attribution is given for the woman on the Ariel.
Greta Garbo as Melpomene, the Greek muse of Tragedy...
[From Iron&Air magazine. Words: Iron&Air staff. Photos: Gregory George Moore & Scott Toepfer]
Wheels & Waves California [co-produced by The Vintagent and the Southsiders MC] is a tight-knit, invite-only moto event that is a much smaller, complimentary version of the well-known annual European motorcycle show. This past August, the star-spangled version of Wheels & Waves took place over three days in the small surf town of Cayucos, California, 200 miles north of L.A. if you follow the famous Pacific Coast Highway.
Iron & Air teamed up with our friends at Converse to roll in and cover this "who's who" of two-wheeled culture. Hosted by Wheels & Waves organizer Vincent Prat and the Vintagent himself, Paul d'Orleans, the invite-only event was capped at 300 people. You know when you walk around a party, hoping to stumble into at least one person who has even a modicum of something interesting to say? Wheels & Waves California isn’t that kind of party; every person we met was interesting, accomplished, and unique.
Take, for example, Alan Stulberg, founder of Austin’s Revival Cycles. Or good ol’ Roland Sands, who needs no introduction. Or Go and Masumi Takamine, the delightful couple behind Brat Style. Adorable moto duo Shinya Kimura and Ayu Kawakita of Chabott Engineering were in attendance, too, as well as fellow Japanese builder Toshiyuki “Cheetah” Osawa. We hung out with Fred Jourden from France’s Blitz, David Borras from Spain’s notorious El Solitario, and Max Hazan, the dashingly handsome creator of rolling sculptures. We watched OG skateboarders Steve Caballero and Max Schaaf shred a mini-ramp in downtown Cayucos, sitting alongside Scotty Stopnik and his old man, Big Scott, who run SoCal’s Cycle Zombies chopper shop. We spent time on the road and hit the beach with surfer and shaper Troy Elmore, then discussed the golden era ofmotorcycle racing with Miguel Galuuzzi, design director at Piaggio’s Advanced Design Center. And when we ran out of words, we shut up, collapsed on a couch, and listened as musician Rocco DeLuca worked a slide along the strings of his steel Dobro while the documentary Sugar & Spade played through a projector.
This wasn’t some bullshit parade of old bikes puttering up California canyon roads—people rode hard. One day Roland Sands and racer-turned-entertainer, Jamie Robinson of MotoGeo, were ripping full-tilt through the hills, and the next day they were neck and neck during down-and-back sprint races at the Santa Margarita Ranch airport. People gathered at the start-finish line on the runway—some carried bougie paper parasols to help cut the oppressive 105-degree summer heat—and everyone cheered as racers warmed their tires with indulgent burnouts. Individuals who stalled at the line were lovingly harangued, and the crowd went absolutely mad the few times races ended in a photo finish. Far-flung individuals from around the world, all sweaty and smiling, bonding over an extremely eclectic mix of motorcycles.
Thanks for the memories from friends new and old. We hope our invite is in the mail for next year. Until then... Iron&Air
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.
What are the most expensive motorcycles ever sold? Take a look; here are the Top 10 highest prices paid for a motorcycle, to the best of our knowledge. A few of these are private sales, and the figures are approximations based on reports from individuals close to the sale. It's wise to recall that only auction sales are verifiable, a matter of public record, and auditable! There are rumors of other private sales over $1M, of Honda RC166 racers et al, but I have no information on these: if you do, feel free to send a note! Check out our full list of the World's Most Expensive Motorcycles - the Top 100 sold at auction.
1. The 'Captain America' Chopper: ~$1.3Million (private sale, 2014)
[Profiles in History] Without a doubt, the 'Captain America' chopper from 'Easy Rider' is the most famous and recognizable motorcycle in history. Unfortunately, three of the choppers used in the film were stolen before the film was finished, including the two 'hero' bikes, and a 'Billy' stunt double. The machine pictured was the subject of intense media scrutiny in 2014, when it appeared at a Profiles in History auction, complete with an affidavit from 'Grizzly Adams' (Dan Hagerty) that it was built from the remains of the last original movie bike, from wreckage he possessed after the stunt bike was blown up in the film's climactic scene. The original stunt bike was built by Larry Marcus under the direction of Cliff 'Soney' Vaughs, with (Marcus claimed) a silver spray-painted chassis, and none of the fine details required of the 'hero' bike ridden by Peter Fonda. Dan Hagerty kept the remains of that chopper for decades, until finally building a replica of the 'hero' chopper from the parts. But there was a problem; Hagerty had previously sold another 'Captain America' chopper, and given the very same affidavit of authenticity! That machine was displayed in the Guggenheim Museum's 'Art of the Motorcycle' exhibit during its Chicago iteration. The owner of the Guggenheim machine called foul, Peter Fonda refused to certify the Profiles in History bike, a story was done in NPR about the whole mess, and although the bike was reported in the LA Times as 'sold' at auction for $1.65M, the bidder backed out, unsatisfied this was the real 'Captain America'. But, in a secret deal months later, the chopper was sold to a Billionaire memorabilia collector and philanthropist in the Seattle area, for an awful lot of money. The bike has recently been exhibited - catch it if you can!
Ivan Mauger is the widely considered the greatest Speedway racer in history, having won the Speedway Individual World Championship 6 times (and 2nd place 4 times), taken the Long Track World Champion 4 times (and twice runner-up), and the Pairs Championship once (with 5 runner-ups). On the verge of winning his 3rd World Championship title in in a row in 1970 - nicknamed the 'Triple Crown' - two American arch-fans (George Wenn and Ray Bokelman) promised that if Ivan won his third World Final at Wrocław (Poland), they would have his winning bike gold-plated. Mauger won the race, and the bike was taken to the USA to be gold-plated, and was dubbed 'Triple Crown Special'. Mauger recently sold all his motorcycles and memorabilia, and in a private sale, the Canterbury Museum in New Zealand purchased the gold-plated Speedway racer (plus assorted memorabilia) on Aug. 4, 2017 for NZ$1.8M - about $1,26o,700 on the day, making it the second most expensive motorcycle sale known to date.
3. The 1947 'Bathing Suit' Vincent: ~$1.1Million (private sale, 2011)
[Photo by Kevin Hulsey]Old racing bikes are usually like 'Caesar's Axe'; authentic certainly, but they've had their heads replaced twice, and their handles four times. The ex-John Edgar Vincent, developed by Rollie Free in 1947 in cooperation with the Vincent factory, is probably the second most famous motorcycle in the world, as the image of Free at the Bonneville salt flats, 'flat out' in his bathing suit at 150mph, is one of the most popular postcards ever reproduced! The actual machine was retained in a slightly de-tuned, road-going form by Edgar, until he had a minor crash and stopped riding it. The bike kept most of its original parts in the following 60 years, and was restored by Herb Harris back to its Bonneville configuration. It was eventually sold to a Hong Kong-based banker, who reportedly keeps the machine at his manse in Carmel Valley, CA. To his great credit, he has allowed the bike to be filmed for History Channel shows with Alan deCadanet aboard at Bonneville, and is shown at motorcycle events on occasion.
4. 1936 Crocker Big Twin Serial #1: ~$1Million
Al Crocker's V-twin was the fastest production motorcycle in the world in 1936, not that there was much production: it's estimated less than 75 were built between 1936-43. The Crocker predated the Harley-Davidson Knucklehead as the first OHV V-twin built for the street in the USA, and it was probably 20mph faster than a standard Knuck, especially if the customer ordered the full 100ci engine capacity available (they were usually 61ci - 1000cc). Al Crocker offered a money-back guarantee to any Crocker owner who was beaten by an Indian or Harley-Davidson, and there was never a need to make such a refund. Crockers have only grown in demand, with prices topping $600k in 2019. But Serial #1, the very first Crocker Big Twin, apparently sold to a California collector for a cool $1Million a few years back. I've heard the rumor from Those Who Know, and the purported owner could certainly afford that - he has quite a few Crockers in his warehouse! (Sorry - no photo available)
5. 1925 Brough Superior SS100 Serial #001: ~$950,000
[Bonhams Auctions]
The Brough Superior marque is as blue chip as motorcycles get; any example is guaranteed to be expensive, and keep its value...probably. The SS10o was George Brough's masterpiece, and one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever built. The first edition, using a JAP racing KTOR engine of 1000cc, is the most valuable of all, as it's the rarest, lightest, and most sporting of the lot; they gradually became more 'sports tourer' than outright speed demon. The final SS100s of 1935-40 were the most sedate of all, with a Matchless OHV v-twin motor not nearly as powerful as its JAP rivals, regardless it was smoother, quieter, and more reliable! The very first SS100, serial #1, was sold by private treaty for nearly a $Million, confirming its place in the pantheon.
[Bonhams Auctions]Jack Ehret's Vincent Black Lightning is the most famous of a very famous breed, the 33 Lightnings built by the Vincent factory for racing only. Many people think the 'Rollie Free' bike is a Lightning, but it was built before the factory came up with the model, so it's actually highly modified Black Shadow. This is the real deal, with solid gold competition history, including an Australian national speed record at over 141mph. A real Lightning hasn't sold at auction since 2010, so the eyes of the world were on this sale, and two determined bidders pushed the price up, and up, and up during the auction, becoming the worl'ds most expensive motorcycle ever sold at a public auction...and eventually this prize went right back to Australia!
[Mecum Auctions]The magic of Steve McQueen propelled this 1915 Cyclone engine, housed in an Indian racing chassis, to the previous top auction spot. Mecum Auctions held a special March 2015 sale at Las Vegas for the collection of legendary hoarder E.J. Cole, who had purchased the ex-McQueen Cyclone at the Imperial Palace sale of McQueen's motorcycles back in 1984. The sale of E.J.'s motorcycles was a big deal to enthusiasts of early American motorcycles, as his expansive collection had depth and breadth, and included some very special racing motorcycles, like this Cyclone. Plus, it was Steve McQueens, which adds an X factor every time.
8. 1906 H-D 'Strap-Tank' - $750,000 (Mecum Auctions, March 2015)
[Mecum Auctions]The Holy Grail of Harley-Davidsons. The 'Strap Tank' was H-D's very first model, built from 1905 to 1908, and this machine was the 37th built in 1906, and the 94th Harley-Davison ever built, including the first two prototypes of 1903. Remarkably, at over a Century old, it still retains its original factory paint and equipment, and is in remarkable condition, with all the lettering, paint, and pinstriping clearly visible. There is no more valuable Harley-Davidson to collectors, unless the Real 'first Harley', serial #001, appears from the ether. That machine was known for some time, and even offered to the factory in the 1960s, but has since disappeared, and its last known residence (in Florida) was demolished in the 199os. It's hoped the bike has survived, and is still being sought by earnest collectors. It's estimated that as few as 3 original-paint Strap Tanks exist.
9. 1939 Crocker 'Big Tank' - $704,000
[Mecum Auctions]The top-selling motorcycle at the 2019 Las Vegas vintage motorcycle auctions was a shocker - a '39 Crocker selling for twice the nearest auction price for any Crocker. Crocker prices had been hovering at the $350k range for ten years, and perhaps it was simply time for an update...but what an update! This was a spectacular machine, formerly the property of the MC Collection of Sweden, which sold in rapid bidding at the Mecum Las Vegas Sale in January 2019.
[Bonhams]AJS built some revolutionary racers in the 1930s thru '50s, before succumbing to economic downturns, and being sold by parent company AMC. In the 1930s their V-4 DOHC racer, in both air- and water-cooled forms, produced awesome power but were 100lbs heavier than their competition. The far simpler post-War E90 'Porcupine' racers were laid-down parallel twins with DOHC cylinder heads, and a modern chassis with a double-loop welded tube frame, and an all-magnesium engine. The E90 was good enough to win the inaugural 500cc World Championship in 1949, but was improved in 1952 with cylinders tilted upward at 45deg, a new/longer oil sump, a pressed-up crankshaft with one-piece connecting rods with bushings for a high-pressure oiling system. Rod Coleman was their star rider, and found the bike far faster than the Nortons, and the equal of the new World Champion Gilera 4-cylinder machines. The E95s were further improved in 1954, and made 2nd place in 2 GPs, but AJS pulled the plug on racing that year, after 4 E95 Porcupines were built. This machine hailed from Team Obsolete, and failed to sell at auction, but was later reportedly sold via private treaty to an unknown buyer.
11. The White Falcon: ~$675,000 (gallery sale, 2013)
[Falcon Motorcycles]Falcon Motorcycles is world renowned for building the most exquisite, technically brilliant custom motorcycles in the world. Their 'White' was built by Ian Barry and his team in 2012/13, from the remains of a 1-of-10 factory racing 1967 Velocette Thruxton. In truth, they only used most of the engine and gearbox of the Velocette, building a remarkable chassis for their creation from solid chunks of aluminum and stainless steel, hand-carved into gorgeous shapes, fitted together with ingenious technical details. The 'White' was exhibited with a $750k price tag at the Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles, and the machine is rumored to have sold to a wealthy industrialist in the Pacific Northwest, for an undisclosed sum. Our estimate includes a typical 10% discount galleries offer to 'good customers.' Flabbergasted at this price for a custom motorcycle? See our #1!
[MidAmerica Auctions] The Cyclone was one of very few motorcycles built before WW2 using an overhead-camshaft V-twin motor. It set the racing world ablaze before WW1, being the first motorcycle to lap a track at 100mph during a race, and typically taking the fastest lap honors wherever it appeared. The design was penned by Andrew Strand, and produced by the Joerns Manufacturing Co; at its 1912 debut, it was surely the most advanced motorcycle design ever produced for sale, and the racing version was capable of 115mph, a phenomenal speed for the day. The lubrication and metallurgy before WW1 was simply not sufficient to keep the motor cool, lubricated, and intact on a long race, and Cyclones were plagued by technical problems on the popular 100- and 200-mile races at America's board tracks. The company went bust in 1917, and Cyclones were never built again, but remained fixed in the imagination of collectors as the 'ultimate' American motorcycle.
13 (tied): 1913 Cyclone Roadster: ~$500,000 (private sale - 2019)
Dug out of a Fresno home, and according to the story, in storage since the 1970s, our tied-for-13th place Cyclones were purchased as a pair in dilapidated condition, although some restoration work had been done on both. The engines were both quite worn, showing significant evidence of use (and not new repro). This rare Cyclone road model came with its original leaf-spring suspension at both the front and rear ends, which is significantly different than the totally rigid-chassis racers. With a short leading link up front, the forks are similar in principle to an Indian fork of the era, but are unique to Cyclone. The rear suspension predates Indian's introduction of a leaf-sprung rear end, although with no 'guide' at the top of the triangulated swingarm, the handling must have been interesting. When found, items like the clutch were missing from this machine, which was otherwise very complete. Both machines are in running condition now.
13 (tied): 1914 Cyclone Racer: ~$500,000 (private sale - 2019)
This 1913 7H.P. Twin Cylinder Stripped Stock model Cyclone is set up much like Jim Lattin's legendary original-paint 1915 Cyclone racer - the only one known in original paint - this machine also uses an Indian racing fork. At some point a 'patina' paint scheme was added although decades after its application it has become double-patinated with time and shop wear.
14. 1929 Brough Superior SS100: $495,000 (Bonhams auction, 2014)
[Bonhams]The 'Rolls Royce of Motorcycles' had their heyday between 1925 and 1938, when Broughs (rhymes with rough) were the fastest, most expensive, and most beautiful motorcycles in the world. Designed by George Brough, each SS100 model of from 1925-34 used a highly tuned racing JAP (Joseph A Prestwich, London) engine of 1000cc capacity, and was guaranteed to have lapped the Brooklands race bowl at 100mph. There was nothing like it on two or four wheels, except perhaps a Bentley or Bugatti. Brough Superior SS100s cost the equivalent of a decent house in Britain at the time, at £120, and still costs the equivalent of a house today! The SS100s of the 1920s are the most highly coveted by collectors, and remain generally the most expensive road-going motorcycles today, barring the odd original-paint Harley-Davidson Strap Tank!
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.
Tall, independent, strong, and beautiful, Anke-Eve Goldmann has become a 21st Century icon, a leather-clad goddess on two wheels. The commotion began in 2008, when a selection of photos mysteriously appeared on the photo-sharing website Flikr, showing AEG in a skintight leather racing suit, aboard a BMW R69 in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. The photos naturally went viral - the original Internet 'who is she' meme - and were quickly reposted in other photo collections about motorcycles, women in leather, and bondage. AEG was as compelling in the 1950s as she is now, although the controversy she stirred is long forgotten - except by her. The exploitation of her image for others' fantasies isn't new either; she corresponded with French author Andre Peyre de Mandiargues in the mid-1960s, and she was surely the model for 'Rebecca' in his 1968 novel 'The Motorcycle.' What other woman, after all, was wearing one-piece leather catsuits while riding motorbikes in the mid-1960s? 'The Motorcycle' was Mandiargues' best selling book, and was soon adapted for the Marianne Faithful movie 'Girl on a Motorcycle', or as the rest of the world knew it, 'Naked Under Leather'. AEG was not pleased; soon, she disappeared entirely.
A picture of innocence? Anke Eve Goldmann was a schoolteacher in 1955, pictured here with her second BMW, an R69 sports model.
By vanishing from view in the mid-1970s, after 20 years of being very much in the public eye as an internationally published journalist, Anke-Eve became a cypher, because a beguiling woman riding a motorcycle in the 1950s remains extraordinary. Her real life story was almost forgotten, as those who knew her best have mostly died, and AEG herself, born in 1929, is not long for this world (if indeed she's still alive). The chance to interview her directly has passed. But...The Vintagent corresponded with and eventually interviewed her ex-husband Hans in 2012, after Anke-Eve, through her daughter, made it clear she wanted no part of a biography. She was too upset that the Internet had exploited her image for 'pornography', as she put it. Then again, even Hans admitted,
"She was devastating on a motorcycle."
Anke Eve's ten years of writing for motorcycle magazines has survived. The Vintagent has already republished her article on the women's motorcycle racing series in the Soviet Union, originally published in Cycle World in 1962 ['Soviet Racing Women']. She wrote regularly for Moto Nytt in Sweden, Motorrad in Germany, Moto Revue in France, Motociclismo in Spain, Auto-Moto in Hungary, and even Japanese magazines. She corresponded with women riders everywhere, and was instrumental in founding WIMA (the Women's International Motorcyclist Association) in Europe, and was their press officer for many years. She wasn't anonymous, just the opposite; she was a famous figure in her day, although as a woman she faced considerable opposition - first at home, then in the German motorcycle community, then with racing organizations, and ultimately with patriarchy, which constrained her activities while exploiting her image.
In action at a Women's race in the UK aboard her R69, c.1960
To clarify a few questions usually asked about her: she wasn't Jewish, despite the Goldmann name. She was born in Berlin in 1929, and after the war took a job teaching German at a US Air Force school near Dortmund, where her family had moved when Berlin became uninhabitable. She spoke good English, with an American accent. She first started riding motorcycles in 1953, on a BMW R67/3, trading it in on what is believed to be the second production BMW R69 built, in 1955. This period saw her full commitment to motorcycling; racing in the UK, organizing WIMA Europe, gaining recognition from BMW as a brand ambassador, writing articles for magazines, and working with German riding gear manufacturer Harro to build riding suits to her design. Her distinctive racing suit used a diagonal zipper across the chest for easy entry, and was form-fitting for style and wind resistance. Harro presumably also built her heavy winter riding gear, kidney belts, and other accessories she's photographed with...also presumably these were one-offs, as no other women wore such gear in the 1950s, and very few people rode their motorcycles in the snow! She was an avid fan of the mid-winter Elephant Rally in Germany.
Trackside at the Nurburgring in the late 1950s, Anke Eve is clearly the object of admiration
It was the end of an era for AEG when BMW introduced the R75/5 in 1970. She bought an early example, but thought it ugly, calling it a 'Hyena'. She felt it was no competition for other sporting motorcycles on the market, like the Honda CB750 and Norton Commando, and so she looked elsewhere - to Italy, actually. In late 1970, at age 40, she purchased an MV Agusta 750 Sport, perhaps the only woman to buy such a machine new. She loved the handling, and the power, and the noise, and the looks. In 1973 she commissioned a fully race-tuned MV 750 Super Sports with an overbored engine, larger carbs, and open megaphones, that produced over 100hp. It was the first motorcycle in Germany road-registered with magnesium wheels and triple disc brakes; it was an awesome machine, utterly gorgeous, and one of the finest cafe racers ever built. Hans laments she never raced the hot MV, because
"a motivated Anke-Eve riding the MV Agusta on a race track would have been a tremendous experience"
After a dear friend was killed on his MV Agusta in the mid-1970s, AEG gave up motorcycling. She traveled considerably, in Asia especially, and usually solo. Over time, her story was forgotten, until an image-hungry Internet raised her profile again, and The Vintagent ferreted out her identity and her story, which will be told in full when the stars align. She was a pioneer of women in love with speed, and a feminist hero, working for the recognition of women in her chosen domain of motorcycling. In her youth she facing jeers for her riding and racing, was called horrible names by the public and kicked out of her home, but carried on regardless, ultimately changing how people think about women on wheels.
Anke Eve with her second MV Agusta, a specially tuned 750SS wiith over 100hp, making it one of the fastest motorcycles in the world in 1973. She was a devastatingly fast rider
Roberto Sigrand in 1929, with his Zenith 'Championship' Model with JAP KTOR 1000cc racing motor. Strictly a track machine, its construction supervised by Freddie Barnes. It's estimated only 6 were built.
Sometime after 1930, Roberto Sigrand's Zenith-J.A.P. KTOR became the subject of extensive modification, in a quest for a World Speed Record. The top photograph, taken either at a trade show or in Sigrand's factory (Aros Kim), shows the Zenith atop a display of the Kim factory products; cylinder liners, piston rings, etc - replacement parts for the motor trade.
Aros Kim, the piston ring manufactory of Roberto Sigrand, just outside Buenos Aires, Argentina. Super Kim sits proudly on display in 1931
The display states the machine is the holder of the South American speed record from 1930, that Roberto Sigrand was the 'pilot', and that the motorcycle was modified later mechanically 'entirely in their works', which included the addition of a compressor and twin magnetos. The text is obscured, but it seems to claim that in this new configuration, 'Super Kim' should be capable of 250kmh. This figure for 'Super Kim' is optimistic, but not outrageous, as in 1937, Eric Fernihough took another J.A.P.-engined motorcycle ( a Brough Superior) to 273.44km/h (169.68mph).
A closer view of Super Kim on display in the factory, showing the bike in exactly the configuration it was sold in 2000
On inspection of this machine in 2001, the bores, cylinder head and valves were entirely clean and appeared new. There was never a claim that Super Kim, in this guise, made a full speed run - I'll have to press the family for more details. It is possible that the machine was never used in anger in this guise. Certainly, it came to me identical in detail to the machine as in this photo, as if it had been stored for a long time (70 years).
1925 Zenith catalog for their 'Championship' model...the stuff dreams are made of. Approximately 6 were built; Super Kim took the South American speed record solo and sidecar in 1929, while another Zenith took the World Land Speed Record in From Cork, Ireland in 1930, with Joe Wright aboard.
Some details; two lightened 'baskets' on the crankcase and clutch are milled steel, and support outrigger bearings for extra-long shafts on the crank and gearbox, necessary for the dual runs of duplex chain on the primary side. One chain went to the gearbox, which sits high under the seat, the second chain runs parallel and drives the supercharger, which sits below the gearbox. The frame is unmolested - Sigrand found a method of installing the blower which didn't require major modifications. The inlet tract emerges at the bottom of the machine, and branches to each side of the rear wheel, where a pair of twin-float Amac TT carbs feed the blower. The inlet manifold is an aircraft-style finned tube and incorporates a blow-off valve for excess pressure. I didn't measure the capacity of this tube, but for proper supercharger balancing, it must be equal in capacity to the engine size (1.1 liter). The supercharger also must be the same capacity as the engine, and this 'Garrett' blower looks identical to those used on MG 'K' cars, which have 1100cc engines - a likely source for this item.
The incredible steel basketry on Super Kim's primary drive, with an extra-long mainshaft needed to drive two primary chains (for gearbox and supercharger), and outrigger bearings at the outside of the baskets.
Sparks were provided by TWO twin-spark Bosch magnetos, firing two different sets of plugs; a pair of 14mm plugs (Bosch ceramic, in black) on the timing side, and a pair of 18mm plugs (Bosch again, but with translucent Mica insulators - very pretty!) on the drive side. My thought was that these mags weren't run simultaneously; that one set of plugs were 'soft' and one 'hard', for warming up and open throttle work - one could switch from one magneto to the other with a kill switch. It would be extremely difficult to 'time' the two magnetos to fire at exactly the same moment, if they were indeed run together.
The heavily drilled, finned, extra-large diameter rear brake on Super Kim
The gearbox is a 'Super Heavyweight Special Brough' item from Sturmey-Archer, one of six made for ultra-high-speed work (and meant for GB; I'm curious where Sigrand sourced this one!). Gear changing was accomplished with the rider's knee; a Norton 'dolls' head' positive-stop shifter has been grafted on the drive side near the petrol tank - when crouched over the machine, the rider's knee fits between the tank and the lever. Thus, upshifting is accomplished by nudging the lever outwards. The rear brake looks to have been milled from solid, and is a 10" finned item with skeletal drum, heavily drilled for lightness, but clearly meant to work. The 'seat' is a simple steel sheetmetal plank, completely unsprung and unpadded. The footpegs are very near the rear axle, making for a loong rider's layout. My intention was to rehabilitate the motorcycle without 'restoring' it, and take it to Bonneville for a flat-out run. Perhaps someday it will be resuscitated...
Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood, perhaps the most famous motorcycle racer of all time, competed only once in Canada, in 1967. But was that his last appearance in the Great White North? Not according to Elizabeth McCarthy.
Canada has only ever hosted one World Championship motorcycle road race, in September 1967. The Mosport circuit was the first purpose-built race track in central Canada; a state-of-the-art layout when designed in the late 1950s; flowing and forested, 10-turns, 2½-miles in length, strategically located near the main highway connecting Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal. In the early ’60s, the track held high-profile sports car races drawing big crowds, and 1967 was Canada’s Centennial year. A Centennial Commission was created to fund suitable events; the Canadian Motorcycle Association secured a grant, and petitioned the FIM to sanction a first-ever Canadian Grand Prix. With funding and a world-class track, the CMA got its Grand Prix; World Championship races in the 500, 250, and 125cc classes. The downside - it was scheduled between the last European round at Monza in early September, and the season-finale Japanese Grand Prix in mid-October.
The Mosport race program for the first Canadian motorcycle GP on September 30, 1967
Late September weather is iffy in Canada, and the ’67 GP lived down to expectations. Cold, drizzling rain threatened to turn into snow. The racers and spectators who came out for the poorly-advertised event still shiver at the memory. You may think that the 2017 MotoGP season was close-fought, but it was nothing compared to the ’67 title chase. The Japanese GP at Fuji did not include a 500cc race, so the premier-class championship was actually decided in Canada. According to the rules, racers counted their best six results from the 10-race season. Giacomo Agostini (MV Agusta 4-cylinder) came to Mosport with five wins and one second place. Mike Hailwood (Honda RC181 four-cylinder) had four wins and two seconds. Agostini merely had to follow Hailwood home, and they’d be tied at 46 points apiece. The first tie-breaker was number of wins, and they’d be equal there, too, with five apiece. The next tie-breaker was second-place finishes, and Ago had one more of those, so if it all went to plan, Ago had it in the bag.
Of course, there were potential spoilers in the field. Gary Nixon planned to race, but he was recovering from injuries incurred on the AMA circuit. So, he loaned his 500cc Triumph twin to TT star Ron Grant. And, there was Mike Duff, Canada’s greatest racer and a past GP winner, but he'd been hobbled by a smashed-and-replaced hip, plus a Matchless G50 racer that wasn't as fast as either Hailwood’s four or Ago’s triple. The 500 race took place in the rain. Grant crashed out early, while Hailwood tried to lure Agostini into really racing – he let Ago lead the first several laps past the grandstand, then passed him at will on back straight. With a few laps to go, it was clear the Italian was not taking the bait. Hailwood, frustrated, cleared off and won by a yawning 38 seconds. Duff was the only other rider on the lead lap.
Agostini leading Hailwood at Mosport in 1967, riding steady to finish second and win the World Championship [Ed Cunningham photo]
The Mosport GP made a sad coda to the last GP World Championship year for the remarkable Honda RC181, and the far more remarkable Mike Hailwood. Honda exited the premier GP class for several years, and actually paid Hailwood not to race GPs in 1968. He left Mosport by helicopter, straight to the Toronto airport, where a plane was being held for his flight back to England. Monday was a bank holiday, and he’d committed to a big-money non-championship race at Brands Hatch. Thus ends the Mike-Hailwood-visits-Canada story.
But it’s funny what will show up, unprompted, in a journalist’s inbox. Years ago, I made a passing reference to Hailwood and that ’67 Grand Prix, and a stranger named Elizabeth McCarthy queried if I had any photos from the event? We exchanged emails, had long phone calls, and she sent a 20-page typed memoir of her time with 'Mike the Bike'.
Elizabeth McCarthy met Mike Hailwood in 1967, at a hotel reception early in the week before that Mosport race. She didn't recognize him, but soon got to know him, and they were inseparable for those few days. She recalled how Mike’s hands got so cold between practice sessions that he could hardly work the controls, and how she'd pull up her sweater so he could warm them on her breasts. She told how Mike often traveled with a clarinet, and how he wished he’d brought it to Canada so he could play for her.
Elizabeth 'Liz' McCarthy in 1987, on her 40th birthday, in Toronto
As a young Toronto girl, Elizabeth Smith (her maiden name), was the first female in the Canadian student chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). She’d attended the marshaling school at Mosport, and through racing acquaintances found herself at a Toronto hotel reception for racers and sponsors. As she recalled, she and Hailwood spent hours talking, and she didn't realize who he was. When he finally identified himself, he told her he planned to marry her in the next breath. This was the Swinging Sixties, and ‘marry’ might have been a figure of speech; almost every paddock photo of Hailwood or Agostini from that era includes fetching young ladies. But Elizabeth's story goes a bit deeper; she explained that two years before meeting Mike, she’d had a near-death experience, and spirits had explained her purpose on earth was not automotive engineering, but helping the poor and disenfranchised.
With a typically cynical journalist like me, stories of guiding angels don't lend credibility, but it's well known that Hailwood had been told by a psychic he wouldn't die racing, but would be killed by a lorry. Some of Elizabeth's stories were hard to swallow, like this one; "[H]e took [the RC181] out for a couple of record-smashing laps and then quickly jumped off. I jumped on, putting his goggles around my neck and his helmet on my head and his gloves on my hands. I bent forward and pointed to the front wheel pretending to convey something of importance to the two mechanics who were surreptitiously helping me hold up the bike. I wonder what Ago thought when he walked by. Mike was in the back of the Honda pits, nearly doubled over with laughter."
Rock Stars! In 1967 Mike Hailwood, Bill Ivy, and Phil Read were global sex symbols on the GP circuit
Elizabeth says she spent a week with Mike’s father, Stan Hailwood, in the Bahamas, and Stan introduced her as his son’s girlfriend / future daughter-in-law. But it was not fated to be; Elizabeth’s mother had cancer and needed her help, so she stayed in Canada. Both Elizabeth Smith and Mike Hailwood got married in 1975, but not to each other. Then Mike died in 1981...yes, in an accident with a lorry, as foretold by a psychic in South Africa. Elizabeth wrote that she learned of Mike’s death from the pastor at a spiritualist church. "At the end of the service the minister, who was a Scottish woman, began giving messages to people in the congregation. Then she came to me and said, “There is a man standing behind you who wants to be recognized. Do you know anyone who has recently passed to spirit?” “No,” I answered. She said “He is disappointed that you do not remember him. He is nice looking and I think he is probably English – does that help you?” “No” I replied. “He is holding a little girl in his arms who looks just like you – now do you know who he is?” “No, I am sorry I don't.” I answered Then she said, “He says he has three things he wants to tell you: The first is, "It was so fast he didn't feel a thing". The second is, “It was one of those damn lorries.” (Hearing that, tears flooded my eyes.) The third thing is “He loves you and will never leave you.” “Now do you know who he is?” “Yes, now I know.” I was fighting back tears." Elizabeth told me that many years after Mike’s death, a real estate agent called to ask if the house she'd just moved out of was haunted. Had she ever seen a ghost there, carrying a clarinet?
Mike Hailwood captured by Cycle World's Kevin Cameron at Mosport; Elizabeth McCarthy has just stepped out of the frame!
I've never seen a ghost, but as a motorcycle journalist and historian of our sport, I can honestly say that Elizabeth McCarthy’s story haunted me. She first sent her story years ago, and I didn’t know what to do with it. It's my job to explore long-past events, and plenty of the stories I hear are self-aggrandizing, or at least exaggerated. Even sincere recollections, after half a century, describe a mix of what actually happened and what the person believes happened. So, as a journalist I have to verify stories - "Is there anyone who can corroborate your account?" I asked Elizabeth if she had any letters or postcards from Mike, or any photos of them together. She does not. That said, I’m still ready to believe parts of her story – that she spent the better part of a week fifty years ago inseparable from Mike. And I’m certain that she has never fallen out of love with that memory, which included undoing her bra to let Mike warm up his hands that cold race day.
Michelle Duff on the same Arter-Matchless G50 she rode (as Mike Duff) in 1967, now owned by Team Obsolete [Photo by Bill Murphy/VRRA]
I’ve wanted to write about Elizabeth McCarthy for some time, but couldn’t find a point of entry. Then the VRRA announced it was going to assemble as many racers as possible from that 1967 Mosport GP. Elizabeth told me she wouldn't attend. In the end, the most famous rider to return was Phil Read, who finished second to Mike in the 250cc class both in Canada, and in the Championship that year (another class in which 1st and 2nd were tied on points!). Agostini was a no-show; he wanted too big an appearance fee. Mike Duff is now Michelle Duff, and came to ride the very same Matchless G50 – built by Tom Arter, now owned by Rob Iannucci – she rode in 1967. Michelle told me, “My biggest concern was actually getting on the bike with feet on the footrest and hands on the handlebars. But I managed for a couple of laps. Damn the bike was quick from what I remembered 50 years ago!” Of course, the real hero of that one-off GP was Mike Hailwood. And after September 30, 1967, he never made another appearance in Canada. Unless you believe in ghosts.
