Vintagent - wither the term? It was in currency in the 1930s in British automotive publications, and as noted in the following article there were already clubs formed to promote the reputations of automobiles of certain eras as 'vintage' - defined in Webster's dictionary as "adj: of old, recognized, and enduring interest, importance, or quality." The term begs the question, what machinery qualifies? In the motorcycle world, Vintagents were late to the scene, as noted in the article reproduced below, which is the first mention of the term Vintagent as applied to motorcyclists: all credit to staff writer Dennis May.
The original article in The Motor Cycle, illustrated with 8 machines, six of which your editor has owned...being a Vintagent himself apparently. [The Motor Cycle]
From the Dec. 16 1943 edition of The Motor Cycle - By Dennis May
In the car world they have a thing called the vintage cult. Its members, an ardent and disdainful body of men, style themselves Vintagents. A Vintagent is a citizen who turns misty-eyed and maudlin in the presence of a 30-98 Vauxhall, reaches instinctively for a bell, book, and P.100 Lucas [car headlamp - ed.] at the sight of a sibilating soft-sprung roadster, and hangs admiringly upon Mr Forrest Lycett's Bentleygyrics in the dear-sir columns of The Autocar, a collection of despatches which, if piled one on top of another, would make a smashing bonfire.
The 1923 Vauxhall 30-98, 900lbs lighter than a Bentley with similar power, a car worth of cult status. [Supercars.net]Where is the motor cycling vintage cult, if any? What were the vintage years of our industry? How, in your own mind, would you define a vintage motor cycle? Upon which particular models would you confer the title 'vintage'?
If we take 'cult' to mean an articulate and vocal body of opinion, then, obviously, no such thing exists as the motor cycling vintage cult. What, on the other hand, does exist is a substantial school of thought which, perhaps perversely and irrationally, insists on preferring, say, the 1931 Whatsit to its 1939 antetype. In the eyes of that school, then, 1931 will be a vintage year in the annals of the Whatsit factory. A cold-blooded comparative analysis may show that the 1939 model was faster, better braked, more comfortable and better protected than the 1931, but your Vintagent hasn't cold blood and he doesn't analyse - he is a creature of instincts and capricous zests. Perhaps if he did start analysing he would find that it was the relative discomfort and poor protection of the earlier model, together, perhaps, with a certain clean-cut classicism of line, that endeared it to him. Vintagents are odd in some ways. You mustn't coddle them and expect any thanks for it.
From the VMCC website: "On 28th April 1946, a band of 38 enthusiasts assembled at the Lounge Cafe, Hog's Back, Guildford, Surrey, with the object of forming a Motor Cycle Club for owners of machines manufactured prior to December 1930." [VMCC]Though the motor cycling Vintage cult undoubtedly exists, it is an underground movement - unsung, unpropagated, inarticulate. Its members, unlike the too-vocal car Vintagents, do not form themselves into clubs and pin badges on themselves and declaim a clamant gospel in the public prints. [It would only take 3 years for that to happen...ed.]
The 1912 B.A.T.-J.A.P....an ideal? [The Motor Cycle]Now for the question No. 2 - what were the vintage years? Perhaps the only reasonable answer would be that the vintage years were what any individual rider chooses to think, and good luck to him if he ups and proclaims the 1911 B.A.T.-J.A.P. a shining vintage example. But no, I'm not having that. Ordinary common sense, sone shred of which even a confirmed Vintagent like myself must retain, cries aloud that a 1911 B.A.T.-J.A.P. viewed in the light of modern motor cycle performance could in no sense be deemed a desirable property. Of course it is important to have tasted the best that the immediate pre-war designs had to offer if one's avowals of vintagism are to carry conviction. The owner of a 1932 Model 18 Norton who boasts of it as the superior of a 1939 OHC, then admits to having never ridden anything later than '35, can legitimately be pooh-poohed. For my part, I would rate the decade from 1925 to 1935 as the vintage epoch of motor cycling history. That was the period, in other words, which produced the greatest number of machines that, give the choice, I would own in preference to the pick of 1939's.
The original Rudge racing replica, the 1929 Ulster, based closely on Graham Walker's factory racer, the first machine to average 80mph in a Grand Prix race. [Paul d'Orleans]When it comes to defining a vintage motorcycle the temptation is strong to forestall the execration of the Editor's correspondents by writing the matter off as one of purely personal opinion; and after mentally trying over a few tags suitable to such occasions (de gustibus, etc, or perhaps quot homines, etc), and rejecting them all as badly shop-worn, one is right back where one started. Perhaps the issue might be narrowed by asserting that vintage machinery burgeons exclusively in the thoroughbred class, which is practically the same as saying the race-bred class. I don't ever remember The Motor Cycle applying that epithet 'thorough bred' to any mount of non-racing pedigree, good though many of these undoubtedly are and were. It would not, of course, be true to say that all, or even most, race-developed products qualify for the exclusive vintage class, whether or not produced during the decade specified.
A picturesque stop in Glacier National Park, your editor and the 1925 Brough Superior SS100 he rode across the USA in the 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball. [Paul d'Orleans]And now for some examples, chosen more or less at random and without regard to chronology: The early International Nortons, circa 1934 and thereabouts. The hottest and least luxuriously equipped S.S.100 Brough Superior of 1926 et seq. yclept Pendine [yclept being olde English for 'by the name of' - ed.]. The 350 big port A.J.S. of the latish 'twenties; the Flying Eight Coventry-Eagle with long-stroke overhead-valve J.A.P. motor - roughly 1928, speaking from memory (an exception this to the race-bred rule); and the pre-saddle-tank 350 Cotton-Blackburne, catalogue version of the mount that won Stanley Woods his first T.T. The pre-low frame two-port Sunbeam five-hundred, preferably the one with a small taper tank; the 499cc T.T. Replica Rudge with the radial valves and spidery exhaust pipes, which really was a replica of the Senior winners of that era, except, perhaps, in some of the materials used; and the road-equipped edition of the dirt-track Douglas of the early 'thirties, called the S.W. if I remember rightly (you very seldom saw one on the road)' this job was sold primarily as a grass-trackster, but the scantily shod, mudguarded and muffled version which I was lucky enough to ride a time or two - thanks to Francis Beart, its owner - was a most exuberant piece of machinery. And the least bulbous and elaborate of the early O.E. C.s with naked pushrod 350cc Blackburne engine, contemporary of the Cotton recalled above.
Stanley Woods in the 1921 Isle of Man TT aboard his flat-tank Cotton with Blackburne motor. [The Vintagent Archive]Of Scotts I shall say nothing, beyond confessing that one Scott is very much like any other to me. And if this heresy doesn't petrify the whole passionate army of Scott fans in their tracks, they are at liberty to take the dangerously esoteric subject off my hands an into the Correspondence pages.
Reverting from the particular to the general, it will probably be asked: 'What did these relics of the motor cycling Middle Ages have that the moderns haven't got?' Frankly, nothing. Rather, their attraction for us stubborn Vintagents lies in what they didn't have. They shared almost to a bike that lean and hungry look...not a surplus pound of what the ads for slimming diets call Ugly Fat.
The ultra-rare 1925 Sunbeam 'Crocodile' OHC racer your editor was privileged to ride in the Auerberg Klassik Hillclimb last September. An example of a wholly uncluttered machine, although the rider has gained a bit of Ugly Fat in his middle...years. [Uwe Rattay]They were simple and uncluttered with gadgets and accessories of the kind that make good sales talk for slick-suited spilers [salesemen - ed.] on the Earls Court stand, but are neither here nor there when you're battling into a barrage of gale-borne sleet at sixty. Their unpretentious starkness bore testimony to the designer's conviction that motor cycle should be a motor cycle and not a single-track chaise longe.
A rolling chaise longe, for sure! A typical 1970s Harley-Davidson Big Twin tourer, in this case 'Lee Roy', an original paint Electra Glide I road tested in 2010. [The Vintagent Archive]The contempt of the Vintagent - contempt is scarcely too strong a word - for what he considers overblown moderns is analogous to the contempt of the sailing dinghy owner for a puttering cabin cruiser with inbuilt cocktail cabinet and electric gramophone. Surplus avoirdupois, under which heading he lumps all poundage not directly contributory to performance in the purest sense, appears to him as anachronistic as an air-conditioning plant on a trotting gig [lightweight horse cart - ed.]. An incorrigible puller-to-pieces to see what makes the wheels go round, he deplores with great oaths the tendency to put a sheetmetal box round any or every part of the motor cycle which might remind you that it is a machine. He remembers with unfeigned nostalgia an era when pushrods were not shamed to be seen pushing in public, rockers rocking and springs springing.
Motorcycle Cannonball II pre-1930 Coast-to-Coast Endurance Run. Stage 10 - Yellowstone, WY to Jackson, WY. USA. September 17, 2012. Paul d'Orleans riding his 1933 Velocette Mk4 KTT - a thoroughbred machine if ever there was one. [Michael Lichter]To a true dyed-in-the Ethyl Vintagent, the faults of his vintage motor cycle are almost as dear as its virtues. Indeed, when that little word 'ideal' starts peppering the Correspondence pages, signifying a fresh campaign of designer-chasing, I am sometimes pessimistic enough to wonder whether in the course of years our Turners and Heathers and Goodmans may wearily succumb to this constant tyrannous importunity and eradicate the whole gamut of lovable faults that have made the modern motor cycle what it is.
We'd always had in our minds traveling to Vietnam. Its culture, people, landscapes and the ease of finding a bike to ride around the country, made this trip really appealing. But what really triggered us were pictures our friends Lucía and Pixi (responsible for "Perder el Rumbo" and both bike lovers) had sent us the year before, when they traveled around south-east Asia. Their pictures showed several motorbikes that had been absolutely transformed to make them suitable for forest and agricultural work in the jungle - the Jungle Men. That made our interest in the trip to grow, and for a year we planned our vacation to find those machines, their riders, and the mechanics who devised them.
At the tender age of 14, P.J. 'John' Wallace had an epiphany at a motorcycle exhibition, and knew he would build his own motorcycle. He bought a set of unmachined engine castings for £2 10s, and proceeded to build a workshop in his father’s garden, teaching himself to use a few simple machine tools. He soon realized the finishing work required of the castings was beyond both his equipment and his ability. So he bought a frame and wheels from a local cycle maker, plus a secondhand engine, and built his first motorcycle, which he promptly sold.
John Wallace racing his own Duzmo at the 1920 Kop Hill Climb. Dr. A.M. Low, another motorcycle designer, officiates. [Vintagent Archive]In 1912 (age 16), John landed an apprenticeship with Collier & Sons, makers of Matchless motorcycles, at the time the most successful British manufacturer in racing, having won the single-cylinder class of the very first Isle of Man TT, and many races at Brooklands after that. Unfortunately John had an industrial accident at the Matchless factory, and his father put a stop to his employment with the Colliers. The pill was sweetened by his father buying both John and his brother a T.T. model Rudge, which was a single-speed belt drive machine, stripped for speed. The brothers both joined the British Motor Cycle Racing Club (B.M.C.R.C., or 'Bemsee') and took to racing at Brooklands as typical 'clubmen'. However, things did not go as planned (ah, racing!) and in short order John crashed his Rudge, which was damaged beyond repair.
Herbert LeVack, who would later gain fame working for J.A.P. in engine development, both raced for and developed John Wallace's engine for Duzmo in 1920, including at the Isle of Man TT. [Vintagent Archive]With this meager Brooklands experience under his belt, in 1913 he secured a job as a test rider for the J.A. Prestwich (J.A.P) experimental department, where testing motorcycles at Brooklands was part of the job description. When the Prestwich family became aware of his age they promptly sacked him! Wallace spent the the next year studying engineering and training to become a draughtsman. With the onset of WW1, Wallace felt there would be little demand for motorcycles, so took a job at Scottish car makers Arrol-Johnston, as an aero-engine designer. This employment too was short-lived; it was over by mid-1915. However, his lengthening resumé was enough to land him a job with the design team at Westland Aircraft Company (Petters Ltd), which was to last until the end of the war.
One of Wallace's engine designs, this for a DOHC racing single-cylinder of very advanced specification. [Vintagent Archive]Late in 1918 Wallace returned to his first love, and laid out a design for an advanced high-performance motorcycle engine. When drawings were finished, he cleverly advertised his design in The Aeroplane, knowing aircraft builders would need to diversify after their war contracts had ended. One such company was the Portable Tool & Engineering Co. of Enfield, who were impressed enough to employ Wallace as Chief Designer. Their plan was to sell 'loose' engines to motorcycle manufacturers, and by September 1919 the prototype was ready for trials. Clearly, Wallace had learned a few tricks from cutting-edge aircraft technology, as his engine used Overhead-Valves and was 'oversquare' at 88.9mm bore x 76.2 stroke, giving a capacity of 475cc, using a fully-recirculating oil system with two oil pumps on the timing cover; all very advanced for 1919.
After Herbert LeVack left Duzmo, John Wallace hired Harold L. Biggs as his development engineer, and this is the original 'Duzmo Biggs Special' of 1921, using a single-speed chassis. [Vintagent Archive]Herbert LeVack had been employed during the war assembling and testing aero engines, and his services were secured by P.J. Wallace to build his new motorcycle engines. LeVack proved a valuable asset, with an uncanny ability to produce wonderful results from ill-fitting components. He built the prototype engine and got it running satisfactorily; a second engine was then fitted into a motorcycle chassis, and used by Le Vack in demonstrations to the trade and the public, and in competitions. LeVack's development and riding skills produced excellent results from Wallace's design. The motorcycle was first christened the ‘Ace’, then the ‘Buzmo’, before ending up as the ‘Duzmo’ in 1920.
Harold L. Biggs and John Wallace outside the Duzmo premises, 1921. [Vintagent Archive]LeVack won many speed events on his tuned single-speed belt-drive Duzmo, winning over 100 awards. Racing success created demand from the public, but the business plan with Portable Tool called for engine manufacture, not motorcycle manufacture, and Duzmo was barely a company! There was no chance of fulfilling orders for whole motorcycles with the small workshop that P.J. Wallace ran near the Enfield highway. Wallace suggested to the Board of Portable Tool that they take Duzmo 'public' and sell stock to raise capital for proper motorcycle manufacturing facilities, but they balked, and wound down production. A silver lining emerged when a kindly Board member loaned Wallace enough money to create his own company (John Wallace Ltd) to build his Duzmos.
The 1922 version of the Duzmo racing special at Brooklands, now using Wallace's engine and chassis design, developed by Harold L. Biggs (left). [Vintagent Archive]Ever looking forward, in 1920 Wallace and Le Vack altered their single-speed frame to fit a 3-speed Sturmey-Archer gearbox, for all-chain-drive. This machine completed the 1920 London to Edinburgh trial, and was then shipped to the Isle of Man for LeVack to ride in the 1920 Senior T.T. LeVack was no stranger to the T.T., having raced there in 1914 (the last T.T. before WW1) finishing in 15th place averaging 45mph on a Motosacoche, and winning a gold medal. Road conditions on the Isle of Man were atrocious, more resembling motocross than road racing to modern eyes, as the roads were mostly unpaved farm tracks, and the racing machines had almost no suspension, used narrow high-pressure tires, and had virtually no brakes.
After leaving Duzmo, Herbert LeVack made a real name for himself as one of a rare breed: designer/tuner/racer, who actually won. Here he is in 1921 being carried aloft at Brooklands after winning the 500-mile race on an Indian. [The Motor Cycle]At the 1920 T.T., our man LeVack took number 69 on his Duzmo, while a second Duzmo was entered by N.C. Sclater (number 67), who actually rode a Norton in the race (more on this shortly). Le Vack had some fierce competition from his Sprint and Brooklands rivals such as George Dance (number 65, on a sidevalve Sunbeam), Tommy de la Haye (also on a SV Sunbeam) and F.W. 'Freddie' Dixon (number 52) on an Indian.
John Wallace on the second-generation Duzmo circa 1920, before he was quite ready to manufacture motorcycles. [Mortons Archive]Press reports state Le Vack’s Duzmo arrived on the island via the Saturday morning boat, leaving little time to practice. Another report mentions Le Vack laboring over his machine since its arrival, working almost night and day, being rather handicapped by a lack of spare parts. Reading between the lines on these reports, it is possible Sclater’s Duzmo was sacrificed to keep LeVack's machine alive, and might be why Sclater ultimately rode a Norton in the TT that year.
The 990cc V-twin Duzmo, made by doubling up the single-cylinder model. [Vintagent Archive]The Senior race was held on Thursday, June 17th, in favorable conditions. Le Vack on the Duzmo had an excellent start, but on the second lap he had a bad skid at Governor’s Bridge and fell, bending his rear stand enough to rub the tyre; he was delayed eight minutes while he removed it and left it behind. He was reported passing through the grandstand on his third lap at speed, with his engine emitting a healthy bark. The fifth lap saw 16 competitors still in the race. Le Vack tried to overtake another rider near the Bungalow, when his quarry suddenly shot across his racing line, and Le Vack was brought off, damaging the Duzmo and forcing him to retire. The name of the fellow who supposedly cut off LeVack was never mentioned - was he forced into a ditch or did the Duzmo simply blow up? It was common practice for manufacturers to disguise mechanical calamity by blaming chains or magnetos or a spill. The race was won by Tommy de la Haye on a sidevalve Sunbeam.
The Duzmo decal used on the fuel tank and in advertising. [Vintagent Archive]Herbert LeVack could see the writing on the wall at Duzmo, and had greater ambitions, so by early August the press announced that he had severed his connection with Duzmo, joining Freddy Dixon in the Indian camp. LeVack's track career blossomed at Brooklands where he so regularly broke speed records, he became known as 'The Wizard', and by 1921 he had joined J.A.P. developing their racing engines for all customers.
The last-generation Duzmo single, with their own loop frame and curved gas tank. [Vintagent Archive]Wallace soldiered on racing with himself as tuner/rider, with much less success than LeVack. In a move which foreshadowed the legendary Vincent tale of 'doubling up' his single cylinder machine, in 1922 Wallace created a new 992cc OHV V-twin for racing at Brooklands by adding another cylinder to his original OHV design. He also designed a new single-cylinder chassis that year, with a unique sloping petrol tank, and while it was an attractive machine, sales were poor, and Duzmo was finished by 1923.
It was clear from the earliest days of 4-stroke engine design that multiple valves in a cylinder head had clear advantages over just two; the valves themselves would be lighter, making an easier life for valve train components and valves less likely to break. It's also possible to move more air through two (or more) small valves than one big one, as the total surface area of multi-valves could be larger than a single valve port, without risking a crack across the cylinder head from a weak structure with one mighty hole. Smaller valves meant a lighter valve train, and higher revs for the motor, which meant more power and less wear, as it's easier to shift heat away from many small parts than a couple of big ones.
The original 8-Valve roadster? This very interesting special was built in 1925 in England, using a 1914 Hedstrom motor with Indian 8-Valve cylinders and heads, according to the notebooks of Harold Biggs, the bike's builder/tuner, who documented all the changes necessary to create this machine. The bike is road registered and includes one of the earliest flyscreens I've seen on a motorcycle. Wish I'd found this photo before publishing my history of fast road bikes - 'Ton Up!' - which includes lots of such lost evidence of a continuous thread of hot rodding road bikes from the earlier days of the industry. [Vintagent Archive]Thus, in the 'Teens and '20s a lot of factories experimented with 4-valve single cylinder or '8-valve' V-twins, especially in the racing world. Indian was first with their pushrod 8-valve twin racer in 1911, that dominated board track and dirt track racing for several years, but was a fairly crude and fragile design, with poor lubrication to its delicate valve train. The Indian 8-Valve did well in European and Australian racing too, but to my knowledge, only one or two were ever converted to a road bike, as photographic evidence here demonstrates.
Jean Péan aboard the amazing 1914 Peugeot M500 8-valve parallel twin DOHC beast. This machine is road registered, as long-distance street racing was the norm in France until 1923, when the Monthléry speed bowl was built. This machine also raced at Brooklands before WW1. [Jean Bourdache]The 8-Valve concept was greatly expanded in 1913 by Peugeot, who revealed a parallel-twin double-overhead camshaft racing motor with four valves per cylinder, based on their all-conquering Grand Prix racing car, designed by Ernst Henry and 'Les Charlatans.' The Peugeot 500M was raced at Montlhéry and Brooklands, and was fast, but not dominant like the water-cooled GP Peugeot cars. It would take years of development after WW1 for it to become competitive, which required the loss of one camshaft and four valves! Still, a remarkable technological achievement. Sadly, none survive, and it appears none were ever used on the road. Read more here in our article 'The Lost Peugeot Racers.'
One of Harry Hacker's remarkable conversions, using replica Harley-Davidson racing cylinder heads atop JDH twin-cam crankcases. This is the 8-Valve version, which looks fearsome indeed: the 2-Valve version with Peashooter cylinder heads puts out 70hp! [Paul d'Orleans]Harley-Davidson, finally interested in catching up with Indian on the race track after abdicating all factory involvement for years, revealed their own 8-Valve V-twin racer in 1915, and built several versions through 1927. None to my knowledge were converted to road bikes in the day, although the rise of small-batch manufacturing of reproduction 8-Valve engines (both H-D and Indian) has broadened specialist builder's horizons. One such is Harry Hacker in Germany, who has combined both Peashooter 2-valve racing cylinders and heads with twin-cam JDH V-twin crankcases, making a powerful special with 70hp. He's also used replica 8-Valve cylinders and heads atop a JDH base, which is a fearsome beast indeed.
The Croft was one of several small manufacturers to use Anzani 8-Vavle V-twin engines: this one is clearly intended for road use, with a parcel rack on the rear fender! [Hockenheim Museum Archive]In Britain, an 8-Valve V-twin was produced commercially by British Anzani, who supplied engines for all applications, from aviation and boating to cyclecars and motorcycle. The Anzani 8-Valve motor was designed by the Belgian Hubert Hagens, who had considerable experience in racing before joining British Anzani. Company founder Alessandro Anzani was by then wrapping up his involvement in his several branches in England, France, and Italy, and retired in 1927 at age 50. The Anzani V-twin was also produced in a 2-valve configuration, and sold as the Vulpine. But for racing, and a very few road bikes, several manufacturers took the bait, including Montgomery, McEvoy, Croft, and Zenith, all of whom produced 8-Valve motorcycles in the single digits. Those that survive (the cynical would say, more than were ever produced) are spectacular motorcycles, and extraordinarily valuable in their rarity and technical savoir faire. All of these producers found 2-valve V-twins to be more reliable for regular use, but there's no denying the appeal of such a fearsome engine in a hot road bike.
The 1924 Montgomery roadster with Anzani 8-Valve engine that sits firmly on our Top 100 Most Expensive Motorcycles list of all-time highest prices paid for a motorcycle. [Bonhams]It should be noted that several British marques built 4-valve single-cylinder road bikes, like Triumph's Ricardo (1921-24) and the Rudge 4-valve/4-speed line (1924-40). Many specialist builders over the years have adapted these well-proven 4-valve cylinder heads onto V-twin engines of JAP or Harley-Davidson manufacture, with mixed results. The immediate increase in power meant of course, increased heat in the engine to deal with, and no direct lubrication to the valves until the late 1930s Rudge motors with enclosed valves. The new-found power also exposed weaknesses in the clutch and gearbox (as Vincent-HRD found with their first OHV V-twin Series A Rapide in 1936), as well as the frame, forks and brakes, which were well adapted to a 24hp sidevalve V-twin, but not to 60hp from a far better-breathing upgrade.
The Triumph Ricardo 4-Valve cylinder head, designed by Sir Harry Ricardo, and produced from 1921-24. Lubrication for the rockers and valve stems is by grease, and hope. [Vintagent Archive]And back in Europe, it appears the German Wanderer company built an 8-Valve V-twin motorcycle in the mid 1920s. The cylinder heads are closely based on the Anzani pattern, but retain Wanderer's distinctive horizontal finning. This machine was spotted at Rétromobile in 2011, and I'd love to know more. How many other companies built 8-Valve V-twin in the 1920s? I'd love to know about more obscure examples: it Italy Moto Guzzi built the C4V 4-valve racing single, for example, based on their 1921 prototype designed by Carlo Guzzi: clearly the concept was explored in many countries.
Seen at Rétromobile in 2011 on the Motos Antiguas stand, a Wanderer 8-Valve. [Paul d'Orleans]Today's tinkerers adding 4-valve cylinders and heads to antique V-twin motors are hardly alone, as the game is an old one. Way back in 1924 the Excelsior importer for Belgium, a Mr Taymans, decided to fit a pair of Triumph 'Ricardo' 4-v cylinder barrels and heads atop an American Excelsior V-twin, making a very handsome road-going OHV roadster, the 'American-Excelsior-Triumph'. According to The Motor Cycle magazine, he built several of these beasts, although this article is the only evidence I've seen of one...have any survived?
The elegant Excelsior-Triumph special built in limited numbers in 1924 by Mr Taymans of Brussels, Belgium. A robust chassis, a powerful motor, but still no front brake! [Vintagent Archive]From The Motor Cycle, July 24th, 1924:
AMERICAN-EXCELSIOR-TRIUMPH
An American V-twin Fitted with British Four-valve Cylinders
Something new in ‘hybrids’ has been evolved by Mr. R. Taymans, a well-known motor cyclist and motor cycle agent of Brussels.
Agent for the American Excelsior, he has a great admiration for the strength, rigidity, and excellent steering qualities of this machine; he has also an equal admiration for the productions of Britain. So he has manufactured an eight-valve American Excelsior, employing two four-valve 500cc Triumph cylinders adapted to the Excelsior crank case.
Standard Parts
With the exception of a slight alteration in the cams to produce greater efficiency, entirely standard parts are used, and the only structural alteration has been the dropping of the engine almost two inches in the frame. The standard Schebler carburetor is fitted, and with it the machine will do 78mph; this is increased to 82mph with a three-jet Binks.
According to the constructor, the acceleration is terrific. Altogether, the machine has been on the road for a full year, and with a sidecar. It is not purely an experimental machine, but is actually on the market, many of them having already been sold all over the continent of Europe. Complete with electrical equipment, the machine is priced at £132. Mr. Tayman’s firm is Taymans Fréres, 641, Chausée de Waterloo, Brussels, Belgium.
Another Indian 8-Valve racer converted for road use. The chassis is clearly from a roadster model, not the short-coupled and minimal chassis of the board track racer: it's still a single-speed machine, though, with a clutch and all-chain drive as standard from 1901 on Indians. I don't know anything more about this photo - who what where? [Vintagent Archive]
As the technological high points of 1920s motorcycle racing began to look - and perform - like the antiques they'd become by the 1930s, the fratelli (brothers) Benelli took stock of the obvious trends of Grand Prix racing. The future of racing was clearly headed towards extracting more power from multi-cylinder, supercharged engines. Moto Guzzi, Gilera, BMW,DKW, NSU, and even AJS and Velocette in England were racing or developing such engines by 1938. As champions in the 250cc racing class, Benelli set about that year designing a new 250cc racer, with four cylinders, twin overhead camshafts, a supercharger, and watercooling. Trends in chassis development were also attended, and as sketched, the new machine would retain the hydraulic-damped girder forks and rear swingarm suspension of their singles, plus large-diameter alloy brakes to manage the inevitable blistering speeds to come from such an engine, given Benelli's expertise with tuning small engines, especially in cam design, intake porting, and carburation.
The original Benelli four-cylinder DOHC racer of 1939-41, with integral supercharger and a 146mph top speed. [The Motor Cycle]The gem of an engine designed by Giovanni Benelli produced in 1939 had a short stroke (42mm stroke x 45mm bore), with 12:1 compression pistons, and spun to 10,000rpm, which was astronomical at that date. At peak revs the motor cranked out 52.5hp, good enough for 146mph on test runs - the fastest 250cc racer by a long shot, and fully 16mph faster than their nearest rival, the brilliant supercharged 250cc flat-single from Moto Guzzi. With such devastating performance (exceeding by 20mph the factory 500s of Norton and Velocette!), Benelli were confident of another European Championship, but the little 'four' wasn't ready for the 1939 racing season. By the time the 'engine bugs' were sorted, it was 1940, and the competition was no longer playing nice.
The original 1940 Benelli 250-4 still exists today. [The Vintagent Archive]Lacking martial confidence in their native Italy, Benelli race chief Vincenzo Clementi stashed the entire racing fleet in rural areas away from their industrial base in Pesaro. It was rumored their precious new 250cc 'four' engine was hidden at the bottom of a dry well, while the chassis slept under a haystack, inside a barn. Their decision proved wise, as during 1940 and '41, Pesaro was bombed heavily; the Benelli factory had been converted to aero engine production (Daimler-Benz and Alfa Romeo designs), and when the Allies advanced northward in Italy, all the precision machine tools were moved by the German army to more secure territory inside Austria and Germany.
An exploded view of the 1960 Benelli four-cylinder motor, with gear-driven DOHC and no blower...and 16hp less than the pre-war motor! [Motorcycle Sport]When the company returned to single-cylinder racers postwar (netting them a World Championship in 1950), by 1960 Benelli's line of small-capacity motorcycles was selling very well, even in the USA through the department store Montgomery Wards. With profits in hand, funds were allocated for the design of a new four-cylinder Grand Prix racer. Race chief Ing. Savelli and Giovanni Benelli designed an entirely new engine which bore resemblance to the 1938 design, but in truth, by 1960 a DOHC four with gear-driven cams had become the accepted pattern for a racing engine, having been developed by Gilera (from the original CNA/Rondine 'fours' dating back to 1926!), copied by MV Agusta, and then again by Honda, who won the 250cc World Championship title in 1961.
The complete 1960 Benelli four-cylinder 250cc GP racer, on its press lauch. [Hockenheim Museum Archive]The new Benelli four used an even shorter stroke than the pre-war motor (40.6mm stroke x 44mm bore), a 6-speed gearbox, weighed only 264lbs, and gave 40hp at 13,000rpm (oh, how supercharging was missed! This was 12.6hp less than the blown 1939 design). The completed machine was revealed with great publicity in June of 1960, but wasn't ready to race until 1962, and Silvio Grassetti had only one 'win' that year, at Cesenatico, but it sounded a bell at Honda, as both Jim Redman and Tom Phillis were bested on their Factory Honda 4s. MV had withdrawn from the 250cc class the year before, to concentrate on retaining their 350cc and 500cc GP dominance.
Tarquinio Provini on the 250cc Benelli 4 in 1965; note the 7" dual disc brakes. These are American Airheart brakes from Go-Kart racers, and were possibly a first in GP racing, but proved inadequate on at 143mph, especially in the wet. While the concept was sound, the brake pads hadn't yet evolved for serious high-speed use. Benelli used them only in '65, retreating to reliable racing drums... [Motorcycle Sport]Tarquinio Provini, a veteran racing star with two World Championships, joined Benelli in 1963 to develop and race the new four. He shortly increased power to 52hp at 16,000rpm, with a 7-speed gearbox, and 141mph top speed. A new frame lowered the center of gravity and pared weight down to 247lbs. Years of ignition troubles with the high-revving engine were finally cured by fitting an American racing magneto...from a Mercury two-stroke boat engine. Provini won every race in the Italian championship in '64, and the Benelli shocked the world by out-running the Japanese opposition at the super-fast Monza GP in 1965.
Tarqunio Provini hard at it in 1966. [Motorcycle Sport]By '66, the Four had 8 gears, and a larger version with 322cc was introduced to compete in the 350cc GP events, going head to head with the 'big boys', MV Agusta, Honda, and Yamaha. Provini had a bad crash at the Isle of Man TT that year, and injured his spine enough to retire from racing. Benelli had never fielded a 'team' of professional riders who came and went with lucrative contacts; the family business had close bonds with the one or two racers they supported, and Provini's injury took the steam out of Benelli's race department for over a year.
The immortal 'Paso', Renzo Pasolini, in 1968. [Motorcycle Sport]Benelli re-entered the racing fray with rider Renzo Pasolini, who won second place in both the 350cc and 250cc classes at the 1968 Isle of Man TTs, and dominated the Italian Championship in both classes the rest of '68, giving Giacomo Agostini and his MV and excellent view of the Benelli's tailpipes all year long. In 1969, Kel Carruthers joined Pasolini, and the pair made an unbeatable team, each winning three GP victories that year, giving Benelli their second World Championship title.
Renzo Pasolini leaping Ballagh Bridge at the 1968 Isle of Man TT, which he won. [Hockenheim Museum Archive]Kel Carruthers joined Yamaha in 1970, but Pasolini took third place in the World Championship that year. That year the Benelli family sold the factory and name to Alejandro de Tomaso, more famous for his automotive exploits than two-wheeled savvy, and support for developing the racers waned. Still, Jarno Saarinen was hired in '72, and won his début races at Pesaro in both 350cc and 500cc classes.
Renzo Pasolini with Kel Carruthers in 1968. [Motorcycle Sport]Both Saarinen and Pasolini left Benelli for '73 (for Yamaha and H-D, respectively), and Walter Villa became Benelli's top rider. With horrific irony, Villa's 350cc Benelli was blamed for leaving a trail of oil during his race at Monza, which was then not cleaned up for the 250cc race, in which a multi-machine crash killed both Saarinen and Pasolini. The details of the accident have been debated ever since, although it seems a catastrophic seizure of Saarinen's Yamaha (not an uncommon occurrence) may have led to the chain-reaction melée.
Kel Carruthers at the 1970 Isle of Man TT. [Motorcycle Sport]Benellis interest in racing plummeted when new FIM rules limited 250cc racers to two cylinders and six speeds, which guaranteed an unstoppable rise of two-stroke racers, as their double-time combustion could only be opposed by outrageously sophisticated four-stroke engines, such as the Honda 6-cylinder... and a secret Benelli 250cc V-8 which was under development. That would certainly have put Benelli on par with Moto Guzzi as masterful creators of racing exotica. The FIM, in their wisdom, preferred the crackle of two-strokes to a technical war of miniaturized-miracle racers, a decision that eventually killed Grand Prix motorcycle racing entirely, and led to the birth of MotoGP. But that's another story.
Jarno Saarinen...with his wife Soeli famously giving pit signals in her bikini. It was certainly hot in Italy... [Motorcycle Sport]
Habla Español? Our friends, new Spanish publishers La Mala Suerte, are ramping up their publications list with Spanish translations of books originally printed in English. Regardless that Spanish has the second-largest number of native speakers in the world (Chinese is first), at 450 Million people, the truth is very few motorcycle publications bridge the language divide. My own books 'Cafe Racers', 'The Chopper: the Real Story', and 'Ton Up!' have been translated to French, but never Spanish, for whatever reason: perhaps because the right publishing partner had not yet appeared?
'El Vehiculo Perfecto' by Melissa Holbrook Pierson: the perfect book to start with. [La Mala Suerte]I met La Mala Suerte co-founder Marina Cianferoni when she lived in Italy, and had written a comprehensive thesis on motorcycles in film. I asked her to help with a chapter on choppers in film for 'The Chopper: the Real Story' (along with The Vintagent's future Editor for Film, Corinna Mantlo), and she was soon drafted as a judge for the Motorcycle Film Festival. Marina announced several years ago her intention to create a Spanish-language publishing house after a move to northern Spain, and she's fulfilled that promise first with the publication of Melissa Holbrook Pierson's 'El Vehículo Perfect0' , the perfecto first book for a new publishing house dedicated to motorcycles. They have also translated Matthew Biberman's 'La Leyenda de Big Sid y la Vincati', and up next is Brian Belton's amazing, no-holds-barred biography 'Faye Taylour: la Reina del Speedway.'
'La Leyenda de Big Sid y la Vincati' by Matthew Biberman. [La Mala Suerte]As for the future? "We are currently working on the publication of the third book in Spanish - the biography of Fay Taylour - and on the fourth, the tour of the world by Elspeth Beard. The Italian editions both of Elspeth's and Biberman's books are expected to be available early next year, if we have luck with the money, you know, this is the worst moment to start an activity... Actually I feel extremely coherent with the name La Mala Suerte!!!"
Coming soon: 'Fay Taylour: la Reina el Speedway'. [La Mala Suerte]It's likely a title or two of my own will finally be available en Español: if you support Spanish-language motorcycle books, visit La Mala Suerte, and give them a little love: they're doing a good thing.
Marina Cianferoni from her days as a judge for the Motorcycle Film Festival. [Marina Cianferoni]
The Mar. 19, 1936 edition of The Motor Cycle included this intriguing story of a future motorcycle ride, with famous brands of the day - Norton, Rudge, B.S.A., Triumph, Scott, Sunbeam - that have all evolved different power sources, including steam and electric. The story is possibly a response to the first-ever road test of an electric production motorcycle earlier that year, of the Belgian Socovel electric scooter, which the magazine called 'gentlemanly in every aspect.' Food for thought for a writer with a bent on prognosticating...and the scenario imagined here could in fact be from 2020!
The fabulous hand-drawn Art Deco lettering of the original 1936 article in The Motor Cycle magazine. [Vintagent Archive]
Shilling in the Slot
An Imaginative Tale of Motorcycling in the Year 1986, by K. Fairfoul
Bill Sanders, the club secretary, shut off his engine and swirled into the forecourt of the Eastern Counties M.C.C.'s headquarters, and pulled up alongside a little group of men and machines. Ironical cheers greeted his arrival.
"What ho! Here's the Sec. and his kettle."
"Tea-water boiled yet, Bill?"
A club secretary is used to this sort of greeting. Sanders merely grinned and hauled his B.S.A. steamer on its stand.
"If some of you explosion merchants kept pace with the times and tried steam you'd get along faster than you do."
Jimmy Farrant, one of the internal-combustion die-hards, eyed a thin wisp of steam that curled upwards from the B.S.A.'s condenser with grim disfavour.
"You've got a leaky gasket there. 'Pon my word, I don't know what this game is coming to. It's steam, steam, or Government Power all the time. Nowadays half the boys don't know the difference between a camshaft and a gear box. All they seem to care about appears to be squirting oil into a burner or putting a shilling in a slot and twisting a grip."
The future imagined by a motorcycle designer, Laurie Jenks, who actually built his ideal machine, the Mercury: read about it here. [Hockenheim Museum Archive]
Self-change Gears
"Not quite so bad as that yet, Jimmy," said the Sec. "There's just as much to play about with in a steam motor as in a petrol bike. I thoroughly agree with you about Government Power , though. The fellows who use that are beyond the pale. Thank goodness none of our boys have fallen for it yet. Anyway, there's as many petrol bikes about as any other type."
Jimmy groaned. "And what bikes! When Norton went over to four-cylinder two strokes and self-changing gears they knocked the bottom out of the game. I bet I get a bigger kick out of that old '36 Norton, that was doing duty in a field as a scarecrow until I picked it up, than any of you chaps with your modern machines. That old bus was doing seventy during the Old Crocks race at Brooklands last week. When your bikes are fifty years of do you think they'll do that? Not on your life!"
The exponents of modern design were joining forces to tear the diehard to pieces when the arrival of the captain provided a diversion. His totally enclosed Ariel swept up, dropped is retractable side-wheels, and came to an upright standstill. He swung back the transparent cockpit cover and stepped out.
"Hullo, you fellows, rowing again?"
Jimmy grunted. "I'm merely telling all you steam and two-stroke merchants where you get off. I'm all for the good old days of singles and camshafts."
"Well, what with steam and Government Power, i.c. motors would only be seen in South Kensington Museum nowadays if it wasn't for the two-strokes," said the captain. "Look at that mass of fiddley bits on your Norton. Yet even in its prime that old single could whip up the horses of my two-stroke 'four' of half the size."
"That's the stuff, Skipper," cut in the Sec., "let him have it."
"The amazing thing is," continued the captain, "that old brigade had the key to real power under their hands for nearly forty years before they discovered they'd got it. About the only use they had for a two-stroke was in a potter-bus. Why, it wasn't until that four-cylinder Scott wiped up the field in the 1948 Senior T.T. that the boys started talking in terms of end-to-end scavenging and multi-stage supercharging. You read the moor cycling history and find out."
"Carry on, Skipper," said somebody. "What happened after that?"
"Why, Nortons and Rudges and the rest of the pack found that they couldn't get anywhere near those Scotts, so they scrapped everything they'd done and started designing all over again. They had to. Nortons brought out a four-cylinder supercharged two-stroke, which was something on the lines of an old D.K.W. that was running in 1936, except that the Norton had four cylinders and self-changing gears. Douglases designed an axial five-cylinder swash-plate job with the whole unit lying horizontally in the frame. And Rudges abandoned internal-combustion engines altogether and came out with the first steamer."
What the Future looked like in 1935, courtesy Meccano magazine: enormous monowheels, which crop up regularly even today! [Vintagent Archive]
"Government Power"
"Between them they swept the board, and everyone else fell into line. B.S. A.s and Triumphs went over to steam and the rest to two-strokes. Ten years later the only four-strokes were side-valve potter-buses. Funny how things move in circles, isn't it?"
There was a hum of rubber tyres on the road, and a yell of horror interrupted the yarn.
"Hey, look at that bike Harrison's just brought along. It's running on Government Power!"
All eyes turned to look at a black-and-gold Sunbeam that had glided silently up to the group. It was entirely sheathed in metal and beautifully streamlined. The only outward proof of its propulsion was a small slot in the instrument panel. Harrison detached himself from his machine and addressed the clubmen with lofty condescension.
"Well, what do you think of my new bus? She's one of the first Show models on the road. Marvelous bike!"
The clubmen were speechless.
"Oh, I know exactly what you're thinking," went on the heretic, "but you take my word for it that there will be nothing else on the road in a year or two. It knocks all your old-fashioned bikes into a cocked hat. Do you know that if I give it full throttle the acceleration is enough to rip most of the tread from the rear tyre? Come and have a look."
He opened an inspection door in the metal shell, revealing a large electric motor driving the rear wheel direct by shaft. Mounted above the motor was a box containing a complicated mass of electrical mechanism.
"That's all there is," he said. "The Government power stations transmit electric power in teh form of wireless waves, and this arrangement here picks it up, rectifies it back into ordinary current, and passes it into the motor. The beauty of it all is that you pay for your power through this slot meter in the instrument panel. As soon as you run through twenty units you pop in another shilling an carry one. No fooling about with garages or running out of fuel miles from anywhere. Anyhow, the Government is selling its power as cheap as dirt."
2020 nailed in 1930! Ladies on their mobile phones, chatting with beaus or babies, just like today. From a remarkable set of collector cards out of Germany, from the margarine company Echte Wagner. The back of the card reads, "Wireless Private Phone and Television. Everyone now has their own transmitter and receiver and can communicate with friends and relatives. But the television technology has also improved so much that people can speak to each other in real time. Transmitters and receivers are no longer bound to their location, but are always placed in a box of the size of a camera." [Vintagent Archive]
Not So Good!
"Of course, they are," growled Jimmy. "It's all a gigantic stung. Power will be cheap until all the petrol and steam motors are driven off the road, and then the Government will be able to do what it likes. Why, ever since motoring began Governments have tried entirely to control it, and now it looks as if they are going to be nearer to doing so than ever before."
"Oh well," said Harrison, "I think I'll be getting along. I just thought I'd drop in to show you a decent bike." He straddled the Sunbeam and gave the clubmen an airy wave of his hand. "Cheerio!" He twisted his grip slightly and the machine ghosted away. After a dozen yards or so it came to a standstill again. The clubmen strolled over.
"Anything the matter?" enquired Jimmy.
"Only run out of power," said Harrison. "Now note the ease of it all. If I had been one of you fellows I should probably have had to walk a mile or so to the nearest garage. As it is, all I have to do is to put a shilling in the slot." He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a handful of silver and copper. For a moment he sorted the coins over. "I say, and any of you fellows change half-a-crown?"
The clubmen felt in their pockets and withdrew a miscellaneous collection of money. Then they smirked at each other.
"Hasn't anyone got a bob?" moaned Harrison.
Nobody had a shilling!
Georges Roy in 1928 with his New Motorcycle, a unique design with monocoque chassis. His Majestic would be even more radical in appearance: perfect for a steamer, multi-cylinder two-stroke, or even Government Power! Read more about the Majestic here. [Hockenheim Museum Archive]Notes: In 1936, who would have imagined that 50 years later, in 1986, there would be no British motorcycle industry at all? The story gets a few things right, as advanced four-cylinder two-strokes dominated Grand Prix racing by 1986, producing far more power than any other engine type. Electric motorcycles were nowhere though, and are still struggling with enough staying power for long rides. If motorcycles could tap into Government Power running on the airwaves, all those battery issues would be solved, and electric motorcycles would surely dominate the market. A charming 'what if' story, in any case.
Charles Burki is not well known in the English-speaking world, as a Dutch illustrator/designer whose work was primarily published in Europe in the 1920s-70s. Burki was actually born in 1909 in Indonesia when it was a Dutch colony (the Dutch East Indies), in Magelang, Mid-Java, where his father was an architect. He received his primary education there, and showed an early aptitude for drawing, and a love for motorcycles and cars, a passion he apparently inherited from his father. By 1924 his drawings of motorcycles were being published in Holland in Sport in Beeld, That year, at age 15, he purchased his first motorcycle, a BSA 500cc Sloper, which began a lifelong love for fast British motorcycles.
Charles Burki circa 1937 with his beloved Norton International M30 500cc, the top of the line of British sports motorcycles, with an enviable pedigree in the Isle of Man TT. A stylish and handsome man on a stylish and handsome motorcycle! [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]He moved to the Netherlands in 1929 to pursue a degree in architecture, in Delft, and was an enthusiastic supporter of motorcycle racing, especially the Dutch TT at Assen. At races he would sketch the riders and their machines, noting their various riding styles and of course the details of their mounts, in a golden age of 1930s racing. In 1932 he moved to Paris to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and remained there for three years, making connections at Moto Revue and regularly contributing illustrations for the magazine. That includes these spectacular 1932 studies of fantastical streamlined racers, for an article discussing the need to split the air efficiently, as opposed to simply applying more power (puissance in French) to push against the atmosphere.
From the article 'Streamline ou Puissance' in the Jan-March 1933 edition of Moto Revue. Note the resemblance of the machine to the OEC-Temple-JAP record-breaker of 1930 (with Duplex steering system), while the bodywork looks much like the later Brough Superior bodywork of 'Leaping Lena'. [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]When Burki's father died in 1935, he was forced to give up his Parisian life, and returned to the Hague to secure his reputation as an illustrator, and earn his own living. He met and married Sophia in 1938, and the couple took a honeymoon in their Norton International M30 with a Steib sidecar, riding to Genoa in Italy in high style. From Genoa, they took a boat with their sidecar to the Dutch East Indies, and decided to remain in there. In 1942, Japan declared war on the Netherlands, and occupied Indonesia: Charles and Sophia Burki were taken as prisoners of war, which began an extremely dark period of their lives. Burki documents the nightmare of imprisonment in his 1979 book 'Achter de Kawat' ('Behind the Barbed Wire'), which includes drawings he was able to make while imprisoned, on scraps of paper, while at a camp in Bandung for 14 months.
Burki in 1938 with a Steib sidecar attached to his Norton, and his lovely new bride Sophia in tow, likely en route to Genoa on their honeymoon. [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]When he learned he would be transferred to Japan as part of their slave labor force (1944), Burki carefully rolled up his drawings in cotton sheets inside a sealed zinc tube, which was placed in a tarred wooden box and buried near the entrance of the prison camp. Burki was shipped to Nagasaki on the ill-fated cargo ship Tomahuku Maru, which was torpedoed by a US submarine the USS Tang (SS-306), and 560 of the 772 prisoners were killed, within Nagasaki harbor. Burki survived, and was sent to the Fukuoka 14 labor camp. On August 9, 1945, the Fat Man nuclear bomb exploded a mere 2 kilometers from the Fukuoka camp, yet miraculously, Burki survived unharmed, while 40,000 others perished directly from the bomb. The Japanese surrendered after this second nuclear attack, and eventually Burki was able to return to Indonesia, where he located his wife Sophia, who had survived her own harrowing experiences as a prisoner.
An illustration from Burki's account as a prisoner of war in Indonesia. [Christie's]In December 1945, Charles and Sophia Burki returned to the Netherlands, where he took up his illustration career once again, which was extremely successful. A talented illustrator proved invaluable during the period of rapid economic growth in Europe in the 1940s and 50s, and Burki's client list was impressive: besides numerous magazines, he became the visual voice for DAF, Shell, Philips, KLM, Goodyear, etc. His futuristic ideas for cars and motorcycles were an inspiration to designers, and he also provided illustrations for hundreds of books of literature and poetry. He lived in the Hague until 1994: sadly, the only books published about/by him are in Dutch, but we reviewed one of them here.
More speed! And clearly, more horsepower, in another notional speed machine from the Jan-March 1933 edition of Moto Revue. [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]A smaller machine with extensive streamlining out back - in line with thinking of the 1920s, and barely advanced in the early 1930s when this was drawn. [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]Burki's book 'Achter de Kawat' is available, but only in Dutch. [Dutch National Library]One of the drawings Burki made from memory while imprisoned, of a factory racing Norton at the Dutch TT in 1937. Buried in a zinc tube within a tarred wooden box at the entrance of his prison camp, Burki was able to enlist a friend after the war to retrieve the box. [Hockenhiem Museum Archive]Talk about Puissance! A six-cylinder inline engine in a very beefy chassis, ready for a land speed record. [Hockenhiem Museum 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.
What's an auction house to do when all public gatherings are cancelled, and everyone is sitting at home with their computer? Go online of course. Mecum hosts the world's largest motorcycle auction in Las Vegas every January, and fingers crossed our current requirement for isolation will pass by then. Mecum includes bikes in their 'car' auctions too, finding a few well-placed premium machines have an audience among the four-wheeled afficionados too...and of course, all two-wheeled fans have cars as well. The crossover of interest is complete on Mecum's first online sales floor, which is not an auction at all but a showroom for direct negotiation.
A 1938 Zundapp K800 four-cylinder sidevalve: a fascinating machine that's turbine-smooth and has remarkable styling and technics. [Mecum]The Mecum Gallery currently features 18 vehicles, four of which are motorcycles, all of which represent an intriguing variety of machinery, from a 1922 Brough Superior Mark 1 with OHV J.A.P. '90 bore' engine to a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB long nose coupé. Mecum have themselves mooted the creation of an online auction, which is a complicated business, as many have found, requiring considerable online and real-world infrastructure that will take time and a major investment. Surely Mecum and other auction houses must balance such an investment against the fact that our current quarantine must pass eventually, begging the question of whether they will continue with online auctions. For now, a simple gallery of machines they know are available seems much simpler. And, it's likely to be a buyer's market soon. Have a look at the Mecum Gallery here.
A 1953 Series C Vincent Black Shadow, looking immaculate. [Mecum]Sex on wheels: a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB long nose. [Mecum]Flat tank BMWs are so rare and so coveted: love this 1927 BMW R42. [Mecum]Note: Mecum Auctions is a sponsor of TheVintagent.com. This is an advertorial. We are grateful that companies like Mecum support what we do! Want to support TheVintagent.com? Contact us!
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.
In response to the shutdowns of schools and universities during the COVID-19 crisis, the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library, has launched the National Emergency Library. Now anyone in the world can access their 1.4 million (and growing) books for free, without a waiting list: each book can be 'checked out' for 14 days, so its online reading only, after which access must be re-granted. But, it's a great way to check out some of the 495 books listed in a 'motorcycle' search, as well as the million+ other titles of sometimes amazingly obscure works.
Start browsing on your 'motorcycle' search...[Internet Archive]The National Emergency Library, according to DesignBoom, "addresses the immediate need for access to reading and research materials, as the ongoing crisis has shuttered the classrooms for one-in-five students worldwide, plus an additional one-in-four from higher education classes (according to UNESCO). The internet archive’s suspension of waitlists will run through June 30, 2020, or the end of the US national emergency, whichever comes later. After that, waitlists will be dramatically reduced to their normal capacity, which is based on the number of physical copies in open libraries."
One preview sample, 'Dream Garages'. Give it a look. [Internet Archive]You might have found the Internet Archive on a search for old websites: it's a non-profit digital library of Internet websites that includes 'snapshots' of literally everything on the Internet, and their storage capacity is enormous. I've even used it to refer to lost Vintagent posts! The Archive provides free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print-disabled, and the general public. And now, it's available to anyone with an internet connection, without a wait.
Because this is what the Internet was intended to be... [Internet Archive]The Internet Archive's digital librarian Brewster Kahle states, "the library system, because of our national emergency, is coming to aid those that are forced to learn at home. this was our dream for the original Internet coming to life: the library at everyone’s fingertips."
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.
Amsterdam artist Jan Hoek (b.1984) collaborates with and photographs particular subjects, who might be identified as outsiders to 'normal' society, and overlooked. That has included photos series about an ex-heroin addict who fantasized about being a supermodel, and Maasai tribesmen who reject their 'jumping' image: he's also a writer, whose work in print is equally unusual, like a psychedelic 'zine about the sex tourism capital of the world, Pattaya in Thailand.
"Machete" rider. [Jan Hoek]Hoek's latest work was inspired by the boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riders of Kenya, who typically customize their motorcycles to attract customers in a highly competitive field. Their motorcycles are painted and accessorized with fantastical themes, from comic books and sci-fi films, but Hoek envisioned the boda boda riders taking their style one step farther, by making costumes to match their bikes.
"Red Devil" rider. [Jan Hoek]Hoek worked with Ugandan-Kenyan fashion designer Bobbin Case (!) to create customized outfits to match their machines. They selected sever riders whose machines they thought were "the most awesome", and worked with each one to create outfits to "complete the characters." Hoek then photographed the riders with their machines "in the style of real life action figures, in front of Nairobi landscapes."
"Mad Max" rider. [Jan Hoek]While the collaboration created works of art, the boda boda drivers also found their income rose with their new outfits, so they continued to wear their costumes for daily work. "Maybe if you by chance visit Nairobi one of them will be your taxi guy."
"Rasta Man" rider. [Jan Hoek]"Lion" rider. [Jan Hoek]"Ghost" rider. [Jan Hoek]"Vibze2" rider. [Jan Hoek]Jan Hoek and Bobbin Case with the Boda Boda riders. [Jan Hoek]
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.
From the curation team that brought us the 'Art of the Motorcycle' exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in 1998, comes a new motorcycle exhibit in a very different location. The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane, Australia will host 'The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire', and exhibition of over 100 motorcycles, from a c.1871 Perreaux steam velocipede (also seen at AotM, and on loan from the Musée Sceaux in Paris) to contemporary electric motorcycles of impeccable design.
The 1930 Majestic, designed by Georges Roy, is a landmark of motorcycle design. [Serge Bueno]This exhibit reunites the Guggenheim curation team of Ultan Guilfoyle and Charles M. Falco on a new museum show for the first time since 1998. Ultan Guilfoyle is a filmmaker focussing primarily on architecture, who was given the task of organizing a groundbreaking motorcycle exhibition at the Guggenheim by then-Director Thomas Krens. Guilfoyle brought Charles M. Falco, a Professor of optical physics at the University of Arizona, on board to help with the monumental task of organizing the Art of the Motorcycle exhibition, which featured over 150 motorcycles in the stunning context of Frank Lloyd Wright's New York City museum. The exhibit seemed made for the space, with its descending spiral galleries making a seamless 130-year chronological timeline, with the Perreaux steam cycle on the floor of the Guggenheim's atrium as the star attraction. It remains the top-attended exhibit of that museum, and it's a wonder it took over 20 years for another major museum to mount their own exhibit on the theme of motorcycles.
Curator Ultan Guilfoyle with a few of his friends in New York. [Ultan Guilfoyle]Guilfoyle and Falco (both friends of the writer) have dropped hints for the past year that something big was coming in Brisbane, and now the news can be spread. The new exhibit at GoMA Brisbane (also called QAGoMA) will cover new ground from the AoTM exhibit, and is more focussed on motorcycle design per se, with an almost entirely new cast of 'characters', including hugely important developments in the motorcycle industry since 1998, including the then-nonexistent electric motorcycle scene. The exhibit will run from November 28 2020 through April 26 2021. Plenty of time to plan a visit, in other words!
Physicists and motorcycle historian Charles M. Falco as seen on the 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball with his 1928 Ariel single. [Paul d'Orléans]The exhibition has received significant support from the Queensland government, who expect a boost in tourism. Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones explained support for ‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire’: "We invest in events because they support local jobs. Tourists want to experience something they can’t get anywhere else when they’re on holiday. Bringing this exhibition exclusively to Queensland will be a major drawcard for thousands of tourists. We expect this exhibition alone to generate more than 63,000 visitor nights for local businesses."
The Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane, Australia. [Wikipedia]The AotM Guggenheim exhibit was criticized in its day for receiving major sponsorship from BMW, who included a display of newly available models in the Guggenheim: today such commercial sponsorships are common, and even vital given the drastic cuts in US gov't funding of the arts since the 1980s. TheVintagent's parent organization, the non-profit Motorcycle Arts Foundation, has itself gratefully accepted donations from commercial sponsors for our exhibits at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles: such is the modern dilemna, and funding solution, for arts orgs. The Queensland gov't understands that a major exhibition is an excellent tourist draw: with over 350,000 attendees to the AotM exhibit at the Guggenheim alone (the exhibit also traveled to Las Vegas, Chicago, and Bilbao, Spain), surely the impact on its various host cities' economies was significant.
The Perreaux steam velocipede, now thought to be built circa 1871, seen here in front of its home, the Musée Sceaux in Paris. [Olivier Ravoire]The 'Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire' exhibit will of course be accompanied by a gorgeous hardback catalogue: let's hope Charles Falco updates his excellent bibliography found in the AotM catalogue! We'll keep you posted on developments with the exhibit as we're allowed.
The Britten V1000 racer of 1991, worthy of inclusion in any art museum. [Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.]
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.
Only a monumental fool would deny the Velocette Thruxton its rightful place upon the mount of Olympus, to drip oil beside Zeus and Apollo, glowing modestly while the gods beside it trouble the earth. I know all this because I am a Thruxton's caretaker, so blessed for 31 years now, and the machine told me so.
My 1965 Velocette Thruxton, VMT260, otherwise known as 'Courgette', pictured in 1989 outside San Francisco's Ace Cafe [Paul d'Orleans]I retain my marbles, nor is my walnut cracked; the Velocette spoke over tens of thousands of miles in my company, providing an embarrassment of pleasure, enough that should she take on human form, I would feel compelled to give her my wages entirely each week, and happily so, while protecting her from the burden of children and other mundane obligations, retaining her in a gilded, perfumed, and pillow-strewn room for the sole purpose of my selfish excitement.
A dawn ride to the peak of Mt Tamalpais in Marin County circa 1990, with the author and his Thruxton. [Andy Saunders]I was introduced to Velocetting via Classic Bike magazine, discovering that formerly-essential quarterly Bible of Old Bikeism in its earliest days, the first years of the 1980s. I'd never seen a Velo in the metal, but I studied those magazines until the pages turned to ragged tissue and the staples wore holes in the covers, which I mended with clear library tape. I have them all, from issue #1; they were equally my education and my pornography.
On the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of Don Danmeier's 50th birthday, a model hired for the occasion poses with Paul d'Orleans' jacket and Thruxton. [Paul d'Orleans]The first Thruxton I encountered in the wild was all-black with gold pinstriping, plus a half-fairing and shortened hump seat; it had been ridden 90 miles from Sacramento to San Francisco for an unworthy local swap meet in 1985; my day was spent gazing rapt, annoying the owner with questions. Not long after, a friend gained employment at an open-secret motorbike museum deep in Oakland; a visit revealed this cave of moto-gems contained a green Thruxton, in truth the lowliest machine among the 300 ultra-rare Broughs and prewar Vincent twins which crowded those dark halls. Yet it was that green bike which I coveted, longed for, dreamed about.
The author with the 'Velocette' jacket beside Josiah Leet in his 'Norton' jacket; jacket art by Paul, from a period of many such paintings for riders of everything from Vincent twins to Panther singles. Easter Morning, 1989. [Vintagent Archive]The 'museum' owner was caught with $3M in cash and 6 tons of amphetamine powder, necessitating the scurried removal of 300 machines to a new, secret, location, and the rapid sale of same to pay lawyer's fees. As I'd made my desire known (many times), the Thruxton was offered in exchange for an $8900 bank cheque, within 24 hours. At 27 years old I was an under-employed layabout, earning just enough to cover my rent, my fun, and my motorcycle parts, but I borrowed the money, and my sweaty and nervous palms shortly held the title to that green Velocette. It cost 8 times any motorbike I'd ever bought, and I was actually scared to ride it those first few days. Trepidation soon disappeared, and within the month we'd cracked across the Golden Gate Bridge at 4am, at over 115mph.
Bestie Velocettists, still today: Bill Charman and Paul d'Orleans circa 1989 at Alice's Restaurant in Skylonda. Denise Lietzel's blue Venom Special, Paul's green Thruxton, and Bill's black original-paint MSS. [Denise Leitzel]My Thruxton gained a name ('Courgette') and a reputation, as I attempted piecemeal to duplicate Velocette's famous 24 hours at 100mph record. She let me down once only - my fault - being otherwise flawless and peerless, even enduring a two-year stint as my sole transport and daily commuter. We have been from Los Angeles to the Canadian Rockies and every twisted road between, earnestly scrubbing away sidewall rubber as her gaping carburetor sprayed petrol vapor on my right knee. She fires right up and scampers away, is dead smooth at 80mph, with the confluent sound of intake, exhaust, piston rattle, and valve gear symphonic beneath me.
Touring through Canada by Velocette, the author on his Thruxton on a Velocette Owner's Club Summer Rally, circa 1990. [Denise Leitzel]Together we are invisible to police, having never been stopped, and I am revealed as a half-green Centaur of prodigious speed and agility. She is as important to me as my own liver, and as familiar. My greatest blessing would be to wish you a long a fruitful marriage to a Velocette Thruxton, such as I have experienced, and it's a great pity more riders who imagine they enjoy motorcycles will not have such an opportunity. The beasts are simply too rare, so I am required to tell the truth about this machine, as it has been told to me by the Thruxton herself, all these many years.
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.
As the death toll from board track racing mounted in the 'Teens, and public condemnation of the sport grew, two new styles of racing took over in the 1920s as the most popular moto-sports in the USA. While dirt track racing was by default the original American competition venue (as there were hardly any paved roads in the USA until the 1930s), so-called dirt track racing on half-mile ovals echoed around the world in the mid-1920s, and became the most popular sport of all. American racers like Sprouts Elder became racing ambassadors in Australia, and in the early 1920s the sport became enormously popular there, drawing crowds in the tens of thousands. Soon, a global dirt track circuit emerged, with professional riders moving from the USA to Australia and South America to race, circling back to England for year-round racing that was extremely lucrative. With regular race attendance of 50-80,000 people, both promoters and riders got rich, and spectators loved the newly developed art of broadsliding.
A Harley-Davidson 'Peashooter' racer, with 350cc OHV motor, is better known for its dirt track prowess, Here one is modified with chains on both wheels (!) for hillclimbing. [Jeff Decker Archive]But another, peculiarly American form of competition emerged in the 1920s: hillclimbing. American hillclimbing was completely different than the rest of the world's understanding of the term, as point-to-point racing up a paved hillside road. As paved roads were nonexistent, American riders found it plenty entertaining to find the steepest nearby hill, and challenge themselves on who could make it to the top, and make it in the shortest time. Given the crude suspension of the day, hillclimbing more resembled bull riding in its requirement of strength and agility for the rider: the basic strategy was the pin the throttle and wrestle your machine up the best path.
The view from the bottom: how fast can you get to the top, if you make it? [Jeff Decker Archive]As the sport developed, hillclimbing began to attract big crowds, at times equalling dirt track with tens of thousands of spectators crowding what became National Championship events. Starting around 1925, the Big 3 factories (H-D, Indian, and Excelsior) developed specialized, alcohol-burning hillclimbers, with increasingly long frames and riding positions that perched the jockey directly over the engine for better control. These were essentially uphill dragsters, and what had been board track racing engines were installed into freakish hillclimb chassis that were useful for only one event, and bore no resemblance to road machines.
One mean machine: a factory Indian A45 750cc overhead-valve hillclimb special, capable of 125mph on alcohol. The rider looks as tough as his bike! Note the abbreviated exhaust stacks, the huge rear sprocket, at the chains around the tire. [Jeff Decker Archive]Plenty of amateur riders loved hillclimb competition, and modified their ordinary road bikes for competition. In the 1920s that meant simply stripping down a machine with no lights or front fender, and an abbreviated rear fender, with chains around the rear tire for traction. As the sport developed in the 1930s, racers stretched their wheelbase with longer rear subframes, in an echo of factory practice, and today a hillclimber is a wildly specialized machine that resembles no other motorcycle.
A factory Harley-Davidson DAH overhead-valve 750cc racer, in what is likely a factory promotional photo. The DAH was a very rare machine, built for a purpose, with 25 built between 1929-33. They took the National Hillclimb Championship starting in 1932, with riders Joe Petrali, Windy Lindstrom, and Herb Reiber. [Jeff Decker Archive]This collection of photos from the late 1920s through the mid-1930s was originally part of John and Jill Parham's personal collection (the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa Iowa), which have recently passed into artist Jeff Decker's archive. They're from the water-damaged photo albums associated with a Portland motorcycle dealer, East Side Motorcycle Co., and include a mix of Brownie snapshots and professional photos by the likes of Bill Hupp. Sadly, it's almost impossible to distinguish who shot what, as the albums have disintegrated, and only selected photos survive, but what we have is still a spectacular chronicle of a poorly documented era of American riding and racing.
A home-built hillclimb special Harley-Davidson JD, with 1200cc motor, and specially modified cylinders. Crude but effective. [Jeff Decker Archive]As the bulk of the machinery pictured was manufactured by Harley-Davidson, I'll assume East Side Motorcycle Co was an H-D dealer. There are Indians and Excelsiors in the mix too, but the variety of Harley-Davidsons is striking, from modified JD twins and single-cylinder Peashooter racers, to factory special FH twin-cam and DAH overhead-valve hillclimbers that were built in very small numbers from 1923 onwards. Among the Indian machines is a very special overhead-valve alcohol-burning overhead-valve 45ci (750cc) racer, a factory job of which only about 25 were built in 1926, and which dominated hillclimbing until 1928, when Excelsior built a few very special machines that took the National Championship from 1928-30 under the likes of Joe Petrali and Gene Rhyne.
Rider Chuck Ferrier aboard his Excelsior Super X hillclimber special, likely an early F-head model circa 1928, before the Big Bertha F-head and OHV factory racers in distinctive green livery. Chuck gives a smile and a thumbs up! [Jeff Decker Archive]The factory specials from the Big 3 are among the most interesting and rare racing motorcycles of the 1920s, and not enough has been published on them. These hillclimbers were the most potent racing motorcycles of the era, and their development in the hands of factory designers and tuners made them the equal of any motorcycle in the world at that date. As an example, a factory Indian A45 racers built only in 1926/27 had a 15:1 compression ratio and produced over 60hp from their 750cc motors. That was serious power in 1926, and proof of concept was provided at El Mirage dry lake in 1928, when Jim Davis was timed at 125mph on his unstreamlined A45. To put that speed in context, the motorcycle World Speed Record in 1928 was held by O.M. Baldwin on a Zenith-JAP 1000cc OHV racer at...124.27mph. But the American governing motorcycle sports body of the era, the FAM, was having a spat with the 'global' motorcycle sports agency (the FIM) at that time, so American companies didn't bother with FIM certification of speed records. But that's another story...clearly these were badass machines for backwoods racing, in the crazy sport of hillclimbing that's still popular today.
The Indian team from the Seattle dealer with their special A45 racer. Note the rabbit's foot on the dealer's belt! [Jeff Decker Archive]Another Harley-Davidson factory hillclimber, a circa 1925 FH racer with twin-cam engine and F-head cylinders, the precursor to the roadster JDH. [Jeff Decker Archive]A view from the top, with a professional sports photographer crouched for action, but in the way. [Jeff Decker Archive]Stuck in the muck! An Indian Altoona sidevalve 61ci hillclimber. [Jeff Decker Archive]A Harley-Davidson Peashooter hillclimber with extra wide handlebars for full control. [Jeff Decker Archive]Oops! Hillclimbs are spectacular for this reason - amazing aerobatics, and riders are rarely injured. [Jeff Decker Archive]Ladies out for a day at the races circa 1930. [Jeff Decker Archive]The track. Getting traction on a raw surface like this is half the battle. [Jeff Decker Archive]A home-modified Harley-Davidson JD model. Note the extra reinforcing strut on the forks. [Jeff Decker Archive]An Indian rider on what looks like a factory special. [Jeff Decker Archive]The cars are lined up on the road, and the full track can be seen. It's a long way down! [Jeff Decker 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.
Mecum is following up its blockbuster 2020 Las Vegas auction with a full slate of motorcycles at their Glendale AZ sale next week, March 11-14. With 'only' 100 motorcycles on offer, the selection is digestible, and one can look over the entire online catalog in a few minutes to find something you can't live without. That might include a genuine and achingly beautiful 1954 Matchless G45 production, or a super rare 'upside down' Indian Four, or an awesome bruiser of a Maico 500cc two-stroke motocrosser. Have a look at our faves below, and check out the whole catalog online.
Poetry in motion: the 1954 Matchless G45 combined good looks with raw power. [Mecum]The first 500cc production racer from AMC (AJS/Matchless) was not the single-cylinder OHC racer everyone expected, but an adaptation of their G9 500cc twin-cylinder road bike engine in the chassis of the AJS 7R single. The engine had terrific speed and acceleration, as parallel twins tend to, but as Triumph found with their Grand Prix models, early success does not guarantee continued success. The G45 had some early wins in serious competition, including victory in the 1952 Manx Grand Prix, which was controversial because the model was a factory job, and not yet offered to the public. When deliveries began in 1953, the limitations of the roadster-based engine became an obstacle to development, and mechanical gremlins could not easily be rectified. Only 80 G45s were sold between 1953-57, making this one of the rarest production racers of the postwar era. It's also perhaps the most beautiful of all, with the lovely deep finning of the twin-cylinder motor and heart-shaped timing cover, combined with the perfection of the AJS 7R chassis, makes for a heart-stoppingly gorgeous motorcycle, that's capable of 130mph.
Made by a vacuum cleaner factory outside Copenhagen, the Nimbus is a charming anachronism that can be used every day. [Mecum]At the other end of the performance scale is this Nimbus four-cylinder machine, which simply oozes charm. The specifications were quite advanced when it came out in 1934, with an overhead-camshaft motor (albeit with exposed valve springs) and shaft drive, and a simple frame built of flat strip steel. The design proved good enough for a 25 year production run, and one ride on the Nimbus tells why: it's built for the long haul, not the short burst, and proved perfect for utility work with the Danish Post Office and military. They're fun and smooth and simple, and are often hitched to a sidecar, which suits them well and adds to the fun factor. They're lovely machines, in short, and are full of character, which is welcome in an age of jellybean cars and plastic motorcycles. They've been ridden around the world (even recently), and their stately performance reminds you that winning isn't always about being first.
The 1936 Indian 436 is a very rare bird, with beautiful lines. [Mecum]The famous 'upside down' four was Indian's first full redesign of their four-cylinder engine since they purchased their design lock, stock, and cylinder barrel from Ace in 1926. The 436 moved the exhaust valves upstairs (and the intake below, in an inverted F-head design) in a successful bid to increase power, which made the 436 a real hotrod, but also a hot ride. Riders complained that the exhaust system gave them hot leg syndrome, but their complaints seemed more resistance to change than an actual issue. Regardless, Indian swiftly changed the design, making the 436 a rare machine. Also, it was built at the absolute apex of Indian's Art Deco styling era, with gorgeous sweeping fenders complementing the teardrop fuel tanks, and the best DuPont paint scheme Indian ever devised. Let the sayers nay: the 436 is an exquisite motorcycle, and faster than any other Indian four.
King of the jungle: the Maico 501 was the most powerful motocrosser for many years to come. [Mecum]If you've raised children, you know that getting what you asked for does not always mean you get what you want. The Maico 501 was such a case: when released, it was the most powerful motocrosser ever made, and just oversize enough to compete in the 750cc class of AMA competition - hillclimbs, ice racing, motocross, what have you. The 501cc capacity was built at the request, of course, from the American importers of this German beast, and significant development was required to make the crankshaft/rod/piston successful for such a large two-stroke without vibration issues. It worked, and the 501 became legend, mostly for being outrageously potent. Cycle magazine testers thought most riders would never get out of first gear, while pros could hardly keep the bike flat out in second gear: nobody could keep it wide open in third. And that was it: the earliest 501s only had 3 speeds, as more were not necessary...but any bike imported to America had 4 gears, for the sake of normalcy if not utility. It's hard to describe the impression this bike made on the MX scene in the early 1970s, but let's just say it blew everyone's mind that such a monster was even built, let alone raced. If you like dirt, you need this awesomeness in your life.
This ex-factory Excelsior OHV hillclimber is one serious piece of badass, from a lost era of vertical drag racing. And, it comes with a glass case! [Mecum]Here's the deal: this Excelsior is a bona fide, blue chip, jaw-dropping factory racing motorcycle. Also the deal: most collectors are sheep, and buy what they know other people want. Not many contemporary motorcycle collectors really understand the importance of hillclimbing in the American racing story: factory hillclimbers are super-exotic racing motorcycles that had big money thrown at them, because hillclimbing was the most popular motorcycle competition in late 1920s America. Board track racing was over, and dirt track racing was coming up to replace it, along with vertical drag racing, otherwise known as hillclimbing. The Big 3 (Excelsior, Indian, and H-D) duked it out in a National Championship series, and sent their best stuff to the game, which by 1930 included alcohol-swilling monsters with 80hp developed from overhead valve engines they didn't offer to the public. Excelsior was kicking everyone's ass in 1928/9/30, with Joe Petrali winning the National Championship via 31 straight victories in '28/9, and Gene Rhyne winning the Championship in 1930 with a bike identical to this one. Was it this bike? We don't know. What we know is its next owner (Excelsior called it quits in 1930) was Indian dealer Al Lauer, who painted this bike red and raced with an Indian jersey, fooling exactly nobody. The next owner, George Hass of San Francisco, wisely left the Excelsior in exactly as-last-raced condition when he bought it from Lauer in 1988, and also built this cool glass case for it! I would be happy to stare at this bike every day forever.
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Photographer Thierry Vincent spent two years in India in 2009/10, documenting the changing motorcycle culture in Mumbai: his show 'Mumbaikers' was displayed in 2010 at Tendance Roadster in Paris, a Royal Enfield dealer (what else!) in the Levallois district. Vincent's photographs offer a glimpse of an emerging world, one which we take for granted in the 'developed' countries - motorcycling as a leisure/lifestyle activity, and not a basic and cheap mode of transportation.
Perhaps the first custom motorcycle builder in India? Akshai Varde with one of his creations. [Thierry Vincent]As India explodes into a capitalist powerhouse, a vast middle class has emerged, who have money to spare on our favorite pastime. Okay, maybe second favorite, but I mean motorcycles of course. Suddenly, Royal Enfields and other home-grown products (Rajdoot, anyone? How about an industrial diesel?) are viewed with new eyes, as the raw material for customization and personalization. The patterns of modification are inspired by English Café Racers and American Customs, both of which are now global currency thanks to television shows, books, and countless photoblogs.
A custom motorcycle taking shape in Mumbai. [Thierry Vincent]The first Custom builder in India (apparently), Akshai Varde uses mostly Indian powerplants in his specials, entirely hand-built in a small workshop, using the most basic hand tools. He begins with an idea -no sketches, no bucks, no CAD programs- and begins hammering steel sheets with to realize his desired shapes. The same working methodology is employed to build frames from scratch or modify existing chassis - a true garage artisan.
Chopper style on the Indian subcontinent, using a Royal Enfield Bullet as the raw material. [Thierry Vincent]The small capacity of his engines and obvious nods toward American Customs give an odd impression to eyes raised on Harley- or Triumph-powered creations. In this, they are reminiscent to late 50s/early 60s Japanese motorcycles, which blended Teutonic angularity with Sci-fi film props...at least to Western observers; they made perfect sense at home. Now of course, a Suzuki Colleda is simply the height of cool. Will this happen with nascent Indian creations? Time will tell.
Easy Rider Mumbai style. A classic chopper configuration with an unusual flat-twin two-stroke motor. [Thierry Vincent]Varde's customers are often Bollywood actors, looking for a little flash, perhaps some badass cred... the popular response to his art has afforded the purchase a new workshop, double the size of his previous garage (pictured above). The newly well-heeled are looking for a status symbol...and I say this with intention, as India has very strict laws against any kind of modifications to a motorcycle. Thus, all of the machines pictured here are completely illegal: café or chopper, they're literally outlaws.
How do you photograph empty streets in Mumbai? Shoot at 5am! Note the envious looks from the scooter boys. [Thierry Vincent]The prospect of riding an unregisterable machine is daunting to a degree, and all of the 'riding' photos are taken at the crack of dawn, when little attention will be drawn to the bikes; plus, there is less traffic than the usual sardine jam typical of urban Indian roadways, making a photograph possible. Ultimately, the solution to riding an illegal motorcycle is bribery, but I suspect the new owners are more interested in possessing a unique creation from a celebrated artisan, than feeling the diesel-choked breeze in their hair.
Ashkai Varda's mother is an accomplished painter, and applied a sutra about Hanuman to the tank of one of his customs. [Thierry Vincent]Speaking of diesels...in the 1960s and 80s a spate of industrial single-cylinder diesel engines were produced in India, which have become fodder for custom builders. These machines are quite slow (80kph tops) but return amazing fuel economy (200+mpg) and stone reliability. Concerning speed; with the country's incredible population density, there are virtually no roads on which one can ride over 50mph, so a huge, powerful engine is an exercise in futility. In this context, a chuff-chuff diesel has a kind of slow-motion elegance, especially housed in a 'Captain India' chopper frame! 'Jatu' has ridden this machine with sleeping bag strapped to the rear fender, all across the subcontinent, thousands of kilometers at a stretch, in true 'Easy Rider' style. Only, slow.
A way forward for a uniquely Indian form of decoration? We hope so. [Thierry Vincent]While all of Vincent's photos are interesting, what fascinates me is the seed of Indian-ness emerging from the adopted format of these bikes. In these last photos, Ashkai Varde's mother, a celebrated painter, has been commissioned to paint a sutra about Hanuman (the monkey god) on a tank for a Bollywood actor. These shots are a whisper of the Possible - what could be a genuinely native design aesthetic. Incorporating the incredibly rich visual language of India as source material for innovative motorcycle design is a very exciting prospect indeed.
Thierry Vincent in 2010. [Paul d'Orleans]Many thanks to Thierry Vincent for allowing the use of these lo-res images, my photos of his photos, on The Vintagent. His actual photographs are beautiful, technically very well done, and for sale!
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.
It takes quite a draw to lure me onto an airplane and cross the Atlantic for a ride on a motorcycle lasting only a few miles. But, oh what a motorcycle, and oh what a ride, were dangled before me last Spring, and it all suddenly made sense: yes, I'll make the trip to the second running of the Auerberg Klassik hillclimb. The motorcycle in question is an ex-factory racing Sunbeam, one of 5 built in 1925, Sunbeam's heyday, with an experimental overhead-camshaft valve operation. Four machines and one loose engine remain, which is remarkable given the bike was only used for one year, and not further developed by Sunbeam, who missed the boat to the Future by sticking to what it knew best: pushrod OHV single-cylinder motorcycles.
The factory experimental Grand Prix racing 1925 Sunbeam 500cc overhead camshaft 'Crocodile' [Hockenheim Museum Archive]The experimental OHC Sunbeam was given the memorable title of 'Crocodile' by factory staff, supposedly because it went 'tick tock' like the crocodile in 'Peter Pan'. That croc had swallowed a clock, and unnerved Captain Hook whenever he could hear it ticking. Having ridden its namesake, I can't understand where the reputation for noise arose, as the Sunbeam's cam drive neither ticks nor tocks nor even rattles: it is as all Sunbeams are, mechanically quiet and civilized. Well, slightly less civilized than my 1928 Model TT90, but that's another story: the path Sunbeam took instead of developing the Crocodile. The Model 90 is genteel in its approach, and can be left in third gear most of the time, relying on its heavy flywheels to hurtle its slight 250lb mass from a jogging pace to a terrifying actual 90mph-ish. The Crocodile, by contrast, felt like a real Grand Prix machine, and responded best to a wide open throttle to wind the engine out in the gears: to paraphrase TE Lawrence, it's 'a slightly skittish creature, with a touch of blood in it.'
The engine's the thing. With new crankcases, tower shaft, and cambox, the Crocodile has a distinctive design that compares favorably with the Velocette K series that appeared the year prior. Some consider the magneto chaincase to be unlovely, but I think the whole design is lovely and purposeful. Note the forward extension of the crankcase, which on close inspection has been welded up to create a wet sump engine. Note also oil - evidence of hard use! [Paul d'Orléans]Despite the difference in its valve operation from every other pre-War Sunbeam, the Crocodile is remarkably orthodox. Everything but the motor is identical to the overhead-valve Model 9 of 1925, and even that is familiar. The Crocodile shares its cylinder barrel and head with the pushrod job (the dual pushrod cutaways in the cast-iron barrel and head are still there) with suitable modifications for a tower shaft cam drive, and a cambox bolted atop the iron cylinder head. As well, a wet sump was welded onto the crankcases, which is unusual, because the crankcases are unique to the Crocodile, or at least the timing side is, of necessity. Whether the sump was an afterthought or it was simply expedient to gas-weld an extension, I don't know, but it does hold oil, which is circulated with the usual Sunbeam mechanical oil pump. Doubly unusual for a dry-sump motor is a typical Sunbeam oil tank bolted to the saddle tube! Apparently the external tank was only used in long-distance events like the Isle of Man TT, when more oil for the total-loss lubrication system was needed to finish a race.
The Sunbeam Crocodile was in use for one year only apparently, and saw its greatest victories in Italy, as noted here with Piero Ghersi (and Italian Sunbeam agent Ernesto Vailati) in the Sept 30-October 7, 1925 issue of Motociclismo: "The machine that serves the valiant Genovese to achieve a beautiful victory." [Hockenheim Museum Archive]There wasn't much lacking in 1925 with the Sunbeam chassis, as compared with every other make available, and Sunbeam relied on light weight, good balance, and a moderate steering head angle for excellent handling. There's very little in the way of suspension, with the back end rigid, and the Druid side-spring front forks boasting perhaps 2" of travel, with André friction dampers attached to moderates even that limited movement. Thus, with beaded-edge tires inflated to 40lbs, one feels every pebble in the road, and the extra light weight of the whole machine means it's easy to get the whole plot airborne over bumps...but it's also easy to keep the thing in line, as it weighs nothing. Thus it would be wisest to pick smooth roads for a road test, or any other hot ride, but my Crocodile's test track had plenty of bumps and corners, giving a full feedback on how the animal tracks over undulations and corners, and combinations of both.
My test ride was taken over a timed series of sprints just outside the village of Bernbueren, deep in Bavaria, for the second running of the Auerberg Klassik hillclimb. As the hillclimb track was lined with a mere 10,000 people watching, cheering, and wanting entertainment, one might say this road test was conducted under unusual circumstances, and just a little pressure. It's fair to say I was determined that the crowd's entertainments would not include watching a priceless factory racer skittering sideways across the blacktop. A few facts conspired against me: the Crocodile has, typical with most 1920s machines, very poor brakes, but also possesses stirring acceleration and a top speed in the 90mph range. And, as it handles beautifully, as Sunbeams do, I found it joyful to move swiftly under full throttle, and had to keep reminding myself the gorgeous creature between my legs was not mine.
A spectacular venue for a road test: the Auerberg Inn at the top of the hillclimb, with shade for a lovely Autumn day. [Paul d'Orléans]The Auerberg course proved a perfect test track, in a way, being fairly steep, and very winding, with straight stretches on which to build speed. A light motorcycle has advantages on such a course, and I was on a greyhound of a racer. Which, as it proved, bore racing #1 for being the oldest machine of 200+ racing motorcycles competing over 3 timed runs on the weekend. Thus I rode the Crocodile both first and last: first up the hill, last down, and downhill proved more worrying than the fast bits: there were moments when I Fred Flinstone'd the tarmac to avoid other riders, who had the audacity to stop mid-course for an orderly lineup back to the starting gate: how perfectly Germanic, but not much fun for a man with no brakes. Oh yes, that happened too: on the second downhill run, the antediluvian rear brake material simply gave up, and began flaking off in smoky bits! Yabba dabba doo!
The 'Beam getting love from its handlers, Gernot Schuh and Michael Paula, in an attempt to restore some semblance of braking. [Paul d'Orléans]But that wasn't a problem going uphill, because brakes only slow you down. Keeping up momentum around corners is the key to riding an old motorcycle quickly, so apex braking was out of the question anyway: I simply eased off the twistgrip throttle (a very early one at that, although I'm not sure if it's an original piece - my TT90 has a lever throttle, which is typical pre-1930). The short wheelbase and easy handling meant course corrections mid-corner were easy, and the throttle could be applied as early as one dared towards the corner exit.
"All else is waiting." Although in truth it was not long, and the scenery was gorgeous. [Uwe Rattay]The Crocodile, like my TT90, is remarkably easy to start: tickle the carb, knock the ignition timing lever back 1/8", push the tank-side gear lever into first, roll the whole machine back onto the compression stroke, squeeze the clutch lever, then paddle (in the saddle) forward three paces, drop the clutch, and voila, 9 times out of 10 you're bonking away merrily. No run-and-bump is necessary, as the compression isn't high, and the flywheels heavy enough to keep momentum going over the second and third compression cycles, to ensure an easy start. On a road run, I would simply have driven off gently after that, to warm up the engine for a mile or three, before winding up the revs to explore speed, but there was to be no touring on my test ride. I rhythmically revved the engine to warm it up, treating the other riders behind me, and the crowd, to a glorious bark from the Crocodile's twin exhaust pipes. (As one can see in the video above)
And he's off! The Auerberg Klassik has a fantastic atmosphere, and was a delightful place to test such a fine machine. Period dress is encouraged at the event, and I did my best with contemporary leathers from Himel Bros. [Uwe Rattay]On being flagged off, the throttle was twisted all the way back, and I let the engine run through first gear, which on a 3-speed 'box is a surprisingly long time: the ratios are very close, and unlike a 4-speed, one actually uses first in a race in slow corners - it's very high-geared. The engine is remarkably smooth throughout the rev range, and despite the ultralight chassis, there's no harmonic vibration through footrests, saddle, or 'bars. Yes I could feel the engine, but somehow the Sunbeam engineers knew how to keep spinning iron smooth. I doubt I exceeded 5500rpm, while 6200rpm is the typical redline for a crowded-roller big end bearing, and I wan't going to lurk in that rev region anyway.
Ready to heel over for one of the many corners lined with soft crash barriers, which luckily I didn't meet. The slimness of the Sunbeam can be seen here: a real greyhound. [Uwe Rattay]Within 200 yards it was time to shift into middle gear, which was easy as the clutch worked cleanly, and the shift gate is positive in locating the long lever securely. That soon brought me to the first left-hand curve, followed by some left-rights as the road changed from field to trees, before straightening out for a steeper open uphill section of perhaps 1/2 mile, where it was possible to shift into third gear briefly. It was hardly worth the effort, though, as another series of bends of increasing complexity loomed, and second was the cog of choice almost the whole way up. I say almost, because just near the top, after emerging from a tunnel of forest, was a sharp right-hand turn followed 100 yards later by a hairpin and the steep final curve to the top of the hill.
A 1000-year old church tops the Auerberg, which has been upgraded inside to 17th Century Baroque style, and is stunning. Not many competitors made the hike, but it was worth it. Note the typical Sunbeam cast-aluminum primary chaincase with clutch inspection cover: no clutch issues even with hot starts. [Paul d'Orléans]It was much quicker to sail around that hairpin in first gear, shifting back to second on exiting while heeled hard over to take the last broad hairpin up to the finish line, and the short finishing straight beneath the large outdoor dining area of the Auerberg Inn, where refreshments awaited. For me, there would be 199 other motorcycles to await as well, so there was plenty of time to observe other riders making their way speedily or slowly or firmly or wobbly on the last corners, with a few having minor mishaps usually caused by insufficient ground clearance! Luckily there was plenty of grass on the hillside at that spot. The view was amazing, and a stroll through the forest gave cool respite from the sun.
Not a bad place for a racetrack, in the Bavarian countryside. The first morning was misty, which kept the temperatures down, while the second day was sunny all the way, and gorgeous. [Paul d'Orleans]I was only able to complete two timed runs, with a difference of 1.3 seconds between them, which put me in 5th place of the 200 riders at that point, but travel demands meant I had to miss my third run. Still, the winner of the event, Jürgen Buschkönig on a 1933 Rudge 500GP, had a total difference of only .72 seconds between 3 runs! Now that's consistent. Winning wasn't my goal, riding the Crocodile was, and that was a very special experience indeed. It isn't every day one is invited to ride an ultra-rare and storied 90-year old Grand Prix racer, and the Crocodile proved delightful. It's a mystery why Sunbeam didn't push forward with overhead-camshaft development, although the Crocodile proved no faster than its pushrod stablemates. It took Eugene Goodman at Velocette to point a stroboscope at a running KSS engine in 1926, before the aha moment, and the realization that pushrod engines rely on valve float for good breathing, while an OHC motor needed a different cam shape to release the power potential inherent in better valve control. After that, Velocettes won 3 Isle of Man Junior TTs in a row, and a pushrod-engined motorcycle never again won that race, nor the Senior TT after 1930. It could have been Sunbeam in the mix too, as a worthy rival of Norton, but there you have it - we're left with a few beautiful examples of the Crocodile to appreciate the effort.
The glory of the Sunbeam Crocodile on the cover of the Sep.30-Oct.7 1925 issue of Motociclismo, with Achille and Anacieto Varzi, Petro Ghersi, Ernesto Vailati, and Angelo Varzi: the "raggio di sole", or boys of the sun! [Hockenheim Museum Archive]The Auerberg Klassik is a delightful event, with real history, having been originally run from 1967 to 1987. One of the event's 5 organizers, Hermann Köpf (of Brummm Chronicles - an excellent magazine of motorcycle photography), grew up in the nearby village - Bernbueren. Working with his team members, it took little convincing to bring the village back on board for such an event, and while the first Klassik event in 2017 was rainy, it still drew 5000 people to this tiny country village for the weekend. This year attendance was over 10,000, with festivities in the town square, and spectators lined up the mountain course, giving full-throated approval to the proceedings. It was the first time I've experienced such enthusiastic support of a vintage event from spectators, organizers, and locals, creating an extremely friendly vibe with small-town charm.
A fantastic event full of genuine charm and warmth, with a bit of vintage fun thrown in the mix. Thanks for the Auerberg Klassik for hosting me, and Sandra Retrocat for this great photo! [Uwe Rattay]For a 'local' vintage motorcycle hillclimb, the attendance at the Auerberg Klassik was enormous, and provided a much-needed injection of optimism for the old bike scene. It wasn't a hipster crowd, there was no ancillary skating or surfing contest, and the sponsors did not dominate the visual landscape. It was locals making cakes and pastries, serving beer, and making sure everyone was having a pleasant weekend, which gave the event a genuine feeling, and that seemed organic to the life of the village. Simply fantastic: I congratulate the organizers on their success, and long may it continue.
Rupert Karner on the Crocodile at the Montlhéry autodrome, where he and team-mate Jackson rode the 1925 French GP. [BNF - French National Library]Many thanks to the Hockenheim Museum collection for allowing this precious machine to be used as the maker intended. I was honored to be invited to twist its throttle, and share the unique sound of this machine with 10,000 people! And thanks to the gracious organizers of the Auerberg Klassik, especially Hermann Köpf for poking me to attend. I wish you all success in the future.
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 Bonhams Stafford sale is always the biggest and most important motorcycle sale in Europe, held every Spring and Autumn during the Classic Motorcycle Mechanics Show at the Stafford fairgrounds. This month, over 450 lots will come under the hammer on October 19th and 20th, and the range of what's on offer is mind-bending: from rare photographic collections of British racers like Stanley Woods, to Mike Hailwood's gold Heuer chronograph wristwatch, to project bikes like Manx Nortons, and hundreds of amazing complete motorcycles from every era, from Veteran to modern, Broughs to Bimotas. Truly, something of great interest to everyone! Here are a few of our favorites:
The first of its kind: the Vincent Amanda personal watercraft [Bonhams]Not many know Philip Vincent, besides dreaming up the legendary singles and V-twins that etched his name in history, also invented the personal watercraft? Decades before the Sea-Doo, Vincent knew how to stimulate the yeehaw center in our brains, and dreamed up this fiberglass-hulled water scooter with a 75cc two-stroke engine. This is legend: you know you need one.
The furious (very) few: a 1982 Triumph TR65T Tiger Trail, one of half a dozen built, and in excellent condition. [Bonhams]Is this the ultimate Triumph dirtbike? Probably, as it was certainly the last from the old Meriden works, built by the Co-Op that took over production when an incompetent Board of Directors decided to shut the plant down in the strongest labor union era in British history. The 650cc Tiger Trail is rare as hen's teeth, and it's estimated perhaps only six were built! We love the color scheme and graphics, and the very vintage-ness of its configuration, a slightly clunky but fabulous and incredibly chic machine today. Don't take it to Dakar - ride it on the high street and be famous.
Wicked cool: a factory converted OHC Triumph triple engine, installed in an Egli chassis. [Bonhams]Go ahead, kick every other 3-cylinder Triumph or BSA into the dustbin: this is one of two factory OHC prototype motors ever built! Cobbled up at BSA's Kitts Green factory in 1974, it was Bill Crosby who took the engine and installed it in an Egli spine frame for racing. This is badass on a far deeper level than the average garage special, this is factory racing goodies put to work in the best chassis of the period. Put lights on it, and kick butt in the corners and at the Ace Cafe.
Rare and futuristic, the Art Deco 1930 Ascot-Pullin. [Bonhams]This is a simply awesome Vintage-era machine, bristling with innovative technology, with a lot of firsts when introduced in 1928. 'The New Wonder Motorcycle' used automotive ideas, like a pressed-steel monocoque chassis and hydraulic brakes. The OHV 500cc flat-single engine drove through helical gears, and the whole package is light and handled beautifully...and kept your trousers clean like a scooter. A real rarity too, as only 400 or so were built. For more info, check out The Vintagent's Road Test of an Ascot-Pullin here!
The reasonably priced, cruise-all-day Matchless Model X. [Bonhams]Matchless nailed it with the name: the Model X. Does it get any better? If you're put off by the cost of a Brough Superior, here's your huckleberry, as the engine is the same AMC-produced 1000cc V-twin as the late SS80 model, but the better-braked Model X is half the price. With a shorter wheelbase and lovely Art Deco styling, the Model X is a superstar in its own right, and a lovely thing to ride. How do we know? Check out our Vintagent Original film, 'Model X' by David Martinez, here!
Wild and wooly smoker: the TZ750F was the ultimate in brutal 1970s two-stroke production racers. [Bonhams]Beside the Yamaha TZ750, every other factory production racer pales. The 750cc two-stroke monster defined an era of wicked power delivery and affordable Grand Prix technology. It was the big-bore racer that brought up an era of incredibly braver riders who mastered the beast, and won races around the world. Less than 800 of the TZ750 series were built, and they pretty much define 'awesome'. Watching old film clips of these raced in the 1970s is inspirational, and of all the bikes at Bonhams this year, this is the ultimate living-room special, unless you have enormous huevos and want to campaign the thing.
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.
![A 1930 Majestic is a must in any exhibit combining 'art' and 'motorcycle'! Designed by Georges Roy in Paris, the hub-center steered machine is a landmark of radical design. [O. DeVaulx]](https://thevintagent.com/dev/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Motorcycle-Design-Art-Desire-QAGOMA-The-Vintagnent-Majestic350_1930_ODeVaulx_001-1024x683.jpg)
