Motorcycle board track racing was the deadliest form of racing in the history of motorsports. Hundreds of lives were lost, both racers and spectators, during the relatively short-lived era of the boards. Yet in spite of, or perhaps partly because of, the dangers, motorcycle board track racing in the 1910s was one of the most popular spectator sports in America. Races attracted crowds of up to 10,000 fans. Young riders knew of the dangers, but chose to ignore them because the payoffs were so lucrative. Top racers could make $20,000 per year racing the board tracks, nearly a half-million dollars in today’s currency. From America's Historical Newspapers. The reasons for the lethal nature of motorcycle board track racing were easy to understand. Motorcycles, even in the 1910s, the heyday of the board track era, were capable of speeds approaching 100 miles per hour. The boards were oil soaked and slick due to the engines being of “total loss” design, meaning oil pumped by the riders to lubricate exposed valves and springs sprayed freely into the air behind the speeding bikes. Riders raced with just inches between them, sometimes even touching as riders jockeyed for position. The machines had no brakes, and spectators were separated from the speeding machines by just couple of 2×4 boards nailed between fragile posts.
The first decade of the 20th century, with the advent of automobiles and motorcycles, saw an explosion of race track construction. The mention of motordromes in newspapers began as early as 1901. In the July 18, 1901 edition of the Kansas City Star there was news from Europe of government officials threatening to exclude automobile racing from all public roads and that motordromes could be the solution.
“Automobile News from Paris,” Kansas City Star, (07-18-1901), 7. America’s Historical Newspapers.
Motorcycle racing in America during the early 1900s was primarily confined to city-to-city runs and races on bicycle velodromes. But as engines became more powerful it was clear that the small bicycle tracks were not large enough to showcase the capabilities of motorcycles.
In 1910 the Los Angeles Motordrome, built in the resort of Playa Del Ray, was the first large board track built in America. The Salt Lake Telegram reported on April 9, 1910, that world records were broken in auto races on the new board track. The Albuquerque Journal on the previous day gave some of the specs of the new track. It reported the track “a perfect circle, a mile in circumference, banked one foot in three. The grand stands are placed above the forty-five feet of the inclined track. The surface consists of two by four planks laid to make a four-inch floor and laminated to give great strength. About 3,000,000 feet of lumber and sixteen tons of nails were used in the construction of the ‘pie-pan,’ as it has been dubbed.”
“World’s Records Are Broken On New Board Track,” Salt Lake Telegram, (04-09-1910), 23. America’s Historical Newspapers.
Jack Prince, the builder of the Los Angeles track, traveled the country proposing board tracks to city fathers and motor clubs. The Salt Lake Telegram reported on April 26, 1910, that Prince planned to build a half-mile motordrome in Salt Lake City at a cost of $100,000. The paper later reported, on June 18, 1910, that the new board track at Wandamere Park in Salt Lake City was constructed in less than two weeks.
Soon motordromes were being built across the country. And the races drew large crowds. The Salt Lake Telegram on July 4, 1910, reported a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 on the grand opening night of the Wandamere Motordrome. The race featured Jake De Rosier, the great Indian Motorcycle factory rider, as the main attraction.
The Philadelphia Inquirer on June 15, 1912, reported the grand opening of Philadelphia’s Pointe Breeze Park Motordrome. Pointe Breeze would become one of the most successful board tracks with a regular weekly program. Two of the leading motorcyclists of the era Morty Graves and Eddie Hasha were the featured riders that opening night at Pointe Breeze.
“Motorcycle Races New Motordrome at Point Breeze Opened Today,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, (06-15-1912), 11. America’s Historical Newspapers.
The safety failings of board track racing became all too obvious not long after the facilities were built. The Salt Lake Telegram on July 5, 1912, reported a serious accident in which a rider named Harry Davis was killed and seven spectators injured when Davis’s motorcycle crashed into and snapped a light pole. Throughout that summer a week rarely went by without reports of a rider or spectators being killed at the motordromes.
Two accidents in particular permanently tainted the reputation of the motordromes and eventually led motorcycle racing’s governing body to no longer sanction board track races. The first was a tragic accident at the motordrome in Newark, New Jersey, on September 8. 1912. The Lexington Herald on Sept. 9, 1912, reported that two racers (Eddie Hasha and Johnny Albright) died when they crashed into the outside rail. Four spectators were killed in the incident as well and 19 others suffered injuries. The story of this accident ran in newspapers across the country.
“Eddie Hasha and Five Others Are Killed Outright. Thirteen More Are Badly Injured in Frightful Motorcycle Accident at Newark Motordrome,” Lexington Herald, (09-09-1912), 1. America’s Historical Newspapers.
The following summer, on July 20, 1913, a freak accident at a board track across the river from Cincinnati in Ludlow, Kentucky, caused more outrage. A racer named Odin Johnson crashed; his motorcycle hit a light pole, kicking off a tragic domino effect. The motorcycle’s gas tank exploded. An exposed electrical wire from the light pole then sparked the fuel, spreading flames into the crowd. The ultimate death toll was eight as reported by the Salt Lake Telegram on August 1, 1913. Afterwards the widow of Johnson vowed to devote her life to ending races on board tracks.
The headline of an editorial in the August 1, 1913, edition of The Evening Press (Grand Rapids, Mich.) put it succinctly—“Thrills and Funerals.” The board tracks were referred to as “Murderdromes.”
“Thrills and Funerals,” Grand Rapids Press, (August 1, 1913), 6. America’s Historical Newspapers.
A Salt Lake Telegram article on August 22, 1914, tracked the rise and fall of the motordromes, citing the numerous deaths as well as revelations of fixed races as the causes of the decline of motorcycle board track racing.
By the end of the 1910s the board track era was largely a thing of the past. Besides the dangers of racing the boards, the tracks rapidly deteriorated and many burned down. A thrilling but deadly chapter in American motorsports came to a close.
Floyd Clymer played a big roll in the History of the Indian Motorcycle – Here is a brief history of the Man:
Here at the Library, it’s hard to scan the shelves without coming across the name of Floyd Clymer. From 1944 through the 1970s, his publishing company stood at the forefront of automotive books. At the Library, we have more than fifty of these books on-hand for reference, covering everything from history to racing! While Clymer’s books have remained his biggest claim to fame, they are but only one piece of this legendary man’s life story.
Since he was a lifelong fan of automobiles, it seems fitting Floyd Clymer was born in Indianapolis, home of the famed 500, in 1895. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Berthoud, Colorado. In 1902, Clymer’s father (a physician) introduced his son to the world of cars with the purchase of the family’s first vehicle, a one cylinder Curved Dash Oldsmobile.
Floyd Clymer didn’t have what you would call a typical childhood. At just seven years old, he learned how to drive his dad’s Olds. Later, Clymer and his younger brother participated in the 1904 Reliability Run from Denver to Spokane. Behind the wheel of a Flanders 20, several breakdowns thwarted successful completion of the trip.
If racing was in Clymer’s blood, so too was the entrepreneurial spirit. While most ten year olds boys found fun playing baseball, Clymer got his kicks from selling cars. With faith in young Floyd’s dream, Clymer’s father allowed his son to set up shop in a room within his practice. In what was formerly a dentist’s office, Berthound Auto Co. was founded, specializing in REO, Maxwell and Cadillac. In two years, the wonder kid managed to sell at least twenty six vehicles.
For trade publications of the day, the story of a young auto dealer was too good to pass up. Motor Field ran an article on Clymer (then 11), “the Kid Agent,” in their February 1907 issue. Salesmanship in his blood, the article doubled as an ad for Clymer who claimed, “[I] can supply your wants in repairs and supplies, and can save you money.” Later in life, Clymer reprinted and sold this same issue for just a dollar.
Eventually, Clymer grew interested in motorcycles. His first bikes were a California-built Yale and Thomas Auto-Bi. Ever the showman, Clymer discovered how to ride backwards by the time he was fourteen and, in 1912, he won his first amateur bike race in Boulder, Colorado.
In 1916, Clymer made motorcycle history by winning the very first Pike’s Peak Hill Climb. Contrary to popular opinion of the time, his Excelsior proved motorcycles were capable of more arduous trips, having ascended 4,958 ft in only twelve miles. Thanks to such victories, Clymer attracted the attention of Harley Davidson and became a member of their factory racing team in 1916.
Though an accomplished rider, Clymer never abandoned the world of salesmanship. In 1914, he moved to Greeley, Colorado and opened up a motorcycle shop, selling Excelsior bikes and, eventually, the Harleys he was known for racing. Clymer promoted his dealerships by setting long distance records between cities on his bikes.
After his stint in Greeley, Clymer set up Floyd Clymer, Inc. in Denver, becoming a major distributor of Indian, Excelsior and Henderson bikes for the western part of the country. In a 1929 brochure, Clymer touted he was the “largest motorcycle dealer in the west” and that he had “…sold motorcycles and shipped them into practically every state in the union.” In addition to new and used bikes, Clymer sold parts and accessories.
By the 1930s, he made the move to Los Angeles, taking over Al Crocker’s West Coast Indian distributorship and managing a profitable venture in the mail order parts business. Taking full advantage of his close proximity to Hollywood, Clymer gave Indian bikes to celebrities as gifts or loaned them in return for advertisement-worthy publicity shots. Consequently, Indians were well-represented on the silver screen back then!
During World War II, Clymer began collecting automotive sales literature and photographs, many of which wound up in his first book. Published in 1944, Floyd Clymer’s Historical Motor Scrapbook was a collection of reprinted advertisements and period articles, featuring two hundred fifty brass era vehicles. Reception of the book exceeded Clymer’s expectations, becoming an overnight success and receiving a glowing review from TIME.
From then on, Clymer established himself as the pre-eminent publisher of automotive books, having printed more than four hundred different titles by 1965. Among them were several more “scrapbooks,” including special editions devoted to steam powered cars and motorcycles. Clymer also localized foreign titles, published a long-running series of Indianapolis 500 yearbooks (the first in 1946), and reprinted entire works, including the National Automobile Chamber of Commerce’s Handbook of Automobiles series.
While a successful publisher, Clymer never turned his back on motorcycles. In the 1960s, he became a distributor of the high-end German-built Munch Mammoth IV, a $4,000 bike he labeled the “Ferrari of motorcycles.” Starting in 1963, he attempted to revive Indian (defunct since 1953), slapping the name on imported bikes decked out with engines from Royal Enfield and Velocette.
Although the closest one can get to a tangible tall-tale, Clymer was not immune to the world of medical misfortune, and he succumbed to a heart attack in 1970. In his short time on Earth, Clymer had accomplished what few could hope to achieve in five lifetimes, let alone one. Far from forgotten, his is but one of many stories awaiting your discovery here at the Library.
The 1906 Indian Camelback, one of the first ever two-wheeled motorized machines, is hugely desirable despite its rusty appearance and could fetch £50,000.
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This weekend Las Vegas will be hosting two prominent Vintage Motorcycle Auctions. Bonhams Auction on Thursday January 8th and Mecum’s Auctions on January 8-10, 2015. It will be an interesting weekend to see where prices go with our improving economy!
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It was owned by the du Pont family, which bought the ‘Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company’ that built it, and this cycle was last ridden in the Seventies.
Whoever buys the machine will probably use minimum efforts to restore it to a working condition, but complete restoration would see its value reduce.
The Indian cycles were the great rivals of Harley-Davidson, but the company eventually went bankrupt in 1953.
It had a rudimentary braking system and a hobnail boot on the ground would have been needed to help it stop.
The motorcycle is going under the hammer at Bonhams in Las Vegas, U.S., on January 12.
Ben Walker from Bonhams said: ‘This motorcycle is in such demand because of its condition and to restore it would actually take value off.
‘The motorcycle will probably be ‘oily-ragged’, which means wiping it down with oil to preserve it as it is.
‘It will probably be rebuilt mechanically but with as little change to its condition.
Experts believe that cleaning the bike or restoring it to a better condition could actually be detrimental to its value
‘India were the great rivals of Harley-Davidson and were at the forefront of motorcycles when they evolved from bicycles.
‘It would have been a quick machine with a fair turn of speed and no brakes on early motorcycles were much good – the were the same design as bicycle brakes.
‘This is an extremely rare thing and hs come from the du Pont family that owned the company.
‘It was a pedal assisted bike and it still has its original registration number on the rear mud guard.
‘These motorcycles have never really reduced in value – if I filled a whole sale with them they would all go for good prices.’
As it was: Only 1,698 Camel Backs were made in 1906
Many people ask us, how do we insure our Vintage Motorcycles. There are several companies that specialize in Vintage Insurance. When you insure with one of these companies you pay liability on a sliding scale. ie the more vehichles the less expensive you pay for liability, and then you set your comprehensive coverage. This makes for some reasonable rates on insurance. Condon & Skelly is one of the companies that specialize in this insurance market. Check them out for a quote.
The Indian Motorcycle Company, America’s first motorcycle company, was founded in 1901 by engineer Oscar Hedstrom and bicycle racer George Hendee. Hedstrom began affixing small engines on Hendee’s bicycles, and from there, they quickly honed their craft, creating some of the best motorcycles of that era. Just one year later, the first Indian Motorcycle that featured innovative chain drives and streamlined styling was sold to the public. Then in 1903, Hedstrom set the world motorcycle speed record, traveling at 56 mph.
The Indian brand rolled out production two years before Harley-Davidson, and these motorcycles quickly became a force to be reckoned with, introducing the first V-twin engine, the first two-speed transmission, the first adjustable front suspension, the first electric lights and starter, and many more innovations. Indian was clearly dominant in the marketplace in its beginnings, consistently setting and breaking speed records.
The motorcycle wasn’t always called such. When motorcycles began to appear in the late 19th century, there was uncertainty about what to call them. Some people called them “motocycles”. In 1923 The Hendee Manufacturing Company chose to use this term, changing their name to the Indian Motocycle Company. It was in the 1930’s that “motocycles” became known as motorcycles.
Following WWII, Indian Motorcycles struggled with re-entry into the public market and Indian was forced to halt production in 1953, despite the Indian Chief being re-introduced two years prior as a mighty 80-cubic-inch model. The following decades involved a complex web of trademark rights issues that foiled numerous attempts to revive the Indian name. But in 1998, several formerly competing companies merged to become the Indian Motorcycle Company.
It wasn’t until very recently that a new era of Indian Motorcycles was born. The Indian Thunder Stroke III engine was introduced at Daytona Bike Week in March of this year, and the 2014 Indian Chief was unveiled at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August. Many motorcycle enthusiasts agree though, nothing compares to the classic and antique Indian Motorcycles.
No matter what type of classic or vintage motorcycle you own, we can insure it at Condon Skelly. Your vehicle will fall into the antique category if it is completely original and at least 25 years old. We insure many different types of antique cars, trucks, and motorcycles so we’ll be able to craft the perfect policy for your vehicle. Please contact us today for more information. (866) 291-5694
If your Visiting South Bend Indiana anytime soon, here’s a museum that will be showcasing Indian Motorcycles for the next few months!
Get your motor runnin’ for a wind-in-your-hair parallel ride alongside this country’s history of the automobile
By JEFF HARRELL South Bend Tribune
There was only one way to top that first Harley-Davidson exhibit.
The Studebaker National Museum put Harley-Davidson alongside a vintage collection of all the American-made motorcycles — Harley-Davidson, Indian, Yale, Excelsior and Victory — on exhibit for the next six months for a wind-in-your-hair parallel ride alongside this country’s history of the automobile.
“We wanted to come up with (an) American-made motorcycle collection, so we came up with these,” Studebaker Museum facilities manager Don Filley says about the exhibit he designed.
“These” hit your eyes right at the doorway in the form of a gray 1910 Yale Single, which looks more like a sleek-old-style bicycle on oversized wheels with a postbox-shaped carrier case and a saddle leather seat.
The 1910 Yale Single sits with two other Yale models and a 1916 Reading Standard, an old, two-wheeled bicycle-design model powered by a V Twin side valve 72-cubic-inch engine that is showing its age with some rust on the wheels. Reading Standard was among the pioneers of motorcycle manufacturing, beginning operations in 1903.
Then there’s the 1927 Indian Scout 45, which made its debut on the road in 1920 with a 37-cubic-inch engine, and introduces the Indian motorcycle manufacturer to the exhibit alongside its brother model, a sparkling, beige and turquoise two-toned 1941 Indian Chief and its bullet-shaped sidecar.
“We really wanted to kind of look back at the early history,” Studebaker Museum archivist Andy Beckman says. “At first, they looked like bicycles, but you see the evolution of body style here.”
The atmosphere of a vintage collection hovers over the relationship between Harley-Davidson and Indian during the early years. The motorcycle icons faced head-to-head battles throughout the 1930s and ’40s, with both companies offering a wide product line.
Indian put out motorcycles with both twin and four-cylinder models, while Harley-Davidson featured smaller, single-cylinder bikes along with its twin-engine models. The color spectrum also expanded during this era, and both companies matched each other with mechanical modernizations that improved reliability and comfort, such as the Indian Chief line featuring a plunger rear suspension system that greatly improved ride quality.
And both companies transitioned to military production to make rides for soldiers during World War II — American and foreign. Harley-Davidson produced nearly 90,000 bikes for the U.S. Army, while Indian built more than 40,000 bikes, with most being shipped to the Russian army.
But while Harley-Davidson grew during the post-war years by opening new plants and introducing new models, Indian experienced a bad run of quality issues and sales plummeted. Indian ceased production of its traditional models in 1953 and continued selling its line of Bath motorcycles through the 1960s.
“It’s just interesting to see how the technologies advanced,” Beckman says. “Harley was getting the overhead valve knucklehead engine, and Indian was perfectly happy with the flathead. But Indians were much easier to ride with the softer tail, the rear suspension, where Harley kept the hard tail until the ’50s.”
Each U.S. motorcycle manufacturer in history is represented — Harley-Davidson, Indian, Excelsior, Victory and Yale — in vintage bikes all loaned to the Studebaker exhibit by local collectors.
“Just collectors around the area,” Filley says.
One of those, says Beckman, was talking about how he defied age and still took his vintage collection bikes out for a spin when Studebaker hosted the Harley exhibit in 2009 that drew “a great turnout” and prompted the current expanded sequel — which runs through May 10.
“The gentleman who loaned some of the early bikes, he still rides,” Beckman says of Bruce Lindsay. “The last time we did the Harley show, somebody approached him and asked if he still rode any of the old bikes, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, I still go out and ride my 1900s-era bikes.’
Three motorcycles owned by actor Steve McQueen will go under the hammer on January 8, once more threatening auction records. This article chronicles the history of cars and bikes formerly owned by…
Unlike many screen heroes whose world-beating antics were entirely restricted to celluloid, McQueen was the real deal. Congruence and authenticity list high among his brand values. As a motorcycle rider, he represented America in the International Six Day Trial (now ISDE – the world’s oldest international off-road competition) and he was an international class racing car driver.McQueen had genuine speed, something that cannot be learned or purchased. He also performed all his own stunts when the film studios allowed it and his premature death from cancer at the height of his popularity seems to have frozen his brand attributes in time, something that those idols that live on cannot hope to emulate. As a race driver, he won’t get slower. As a heart-throb, he will not grow old and wrinkly.Unlike Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, John Lennon and a handful of other public figures who continue earning more than US$10 million a year after their death, McQueen’s star quality can also be measured by the multiplication of value he has bestowed upon anything that he has touched.
If any living creature really has had something resembling the legendaryMidas touch which Dionysus bestowed on the King of Phrygia (enabling him to turn whatever he touched into gold), then it’s Terrence Stephen McQueen.McQueen’s star quality means that the many cars and motorcycles he collected generally fetch far in excess of their book value when they reach auction. Here are a few examples:
The Porsche 911S which he drove through the French countryside at ballistic speed for the first three minutes of the same film makes number six on the same top 10 movie car list, having sold for US$1.37 million at a Pebble Beach auction by RM Auctions in 2011. That’s about ten times what you’d pay for an identical car.
Perhaps the best example of this is a 1970 Kawasaki G31M Centurian given to Steve McQueen by the Japanese manufacturer to be used as a paddock bike during the filming of Le Mans. Sold at any other auction without McQueen’s ownership in its resume, the 44 year-old 100cc motorcycle would not fetch US$1000 yet , it fetched US$55,575 at auction in 2007.McQueen owned seven of the top 100 motorcycles ever sold at auction and he has two bikes just outside the top 100. Check our analysis of the most collectible marques and you will see that only three manufacturers (Brough Superior, Vincent-HRD and Harley-Davidson) have more bikes in the top 100.Crocker, the American manufacturer of pre-WWII superbikes has the same number of bikes as McQueen in this hyper-elite listing. Behind McQueen’s seven, BMW has six bikes, Indian has five and Ducati has four. What’s more, if it weren’t for McQueen’s influence, Indian would not have nearly that many bikes in the top 100 sales.
The first to sell will be lot 124, a 1936 Indian Chief, (pictured above) which was part of the original McQueen Estate Auction in 1984 and comes with the certificate of authenticity and a Bonhams’ estimate of US$ 80,000 to US$100,000 on its anticipated sale price.McQueen’s Indian Chief will probably sell for more than that figure, probably a lot more, and here’s why. Firstly, we noted in our analysis of the top 100 motorcycles that Indian was McQueen’s favourite marque.In the book McQueen’s Machines: The Cars and Bikes of a Hollywood Iconby Matt Stone, McQueen biographer William Nolan conveys that in the fall of 1951, a pre-fame McQueen had saved enough money to buy a battered cycle with a sidecar (removed at an unstated time), which he proudly tooled around the (Greenwich) Village. “It was my first bike and I loved it,” admitted Steve. “But I was going with a girl who began to hate the cycle – just hated riding in the bumpy sidecar. She told me, ‘Either the cycle goes or I go!’ Well, there was no contest. She went.” That battered cycle was the 1946 Indian Chief pictured below.
In 2013, Auctions America sold the 1946 Indian Chief for US$146,750 at a sale in Los Angeles.There’s more McQueen history with Indian motorcycles at auction, and it all suggests that this bike (lot 124) will enter the top 100 most expensive motorcycles ever sold at auction.
At the same 2006 Bonhams’ sale, a 1000cc 1920 Indian Powerplus “Daytona” Racer (pictured above) formerly owned by McQueen sold for US$150,000.
At Bonhams’ 2014 Las Vegas Auction, a first-year 1923 Indian Big Chief, complete with an original Indian Princess sidecar (pictured above) sold for US$126,000. The bike was beautifully restored by McQueen’s great mate Kenny Howard, aka “Von Dutch”, adding to its celebrity status, but without McQueen’s name it would have sold for considerably less.Which brings us to lot 124. It’s not a restored motorcycle. In fact, it’s very original and in exactly the same state that it was when McQueen last rode it.
By comparison, you can have a fully restored Indian Chief for a fraction of the price if the McQueen name is not important to you. Just down the road in Vegas, Mecum is auctioning no less than eight Indian Chiefs within a day or two of the Bonhams auction of the McQueen Indian Chief.
The bike above, from the Kenny Price Collection, is a beautifully restored 1923 Indian Chief which Mecum expects will fetch between US$40,000 and US$44,000. The other Indian Chiefs on offer are all expected to fetch less than US$25,000 with some lower estimates reaching US$15,000 (use thesearch function on Mecum’s site to find them all). Some people believe McQueen’s unrestored model may reach ten times that amount.Bonhams also has a pair of Indian Chiefs beyond McQueen’s at its auction, being a 1947 model (US$20,000 to US$24,000) and a 1948 model(US$32,000 to US$36,000).
1912 Harley-Davidson X8E Big Twin
Harley-Davidson offered both a single or twin-cylinder model in 1912, with the X8E being Harley’s top of the range model, costing $10 more than the standard 6.5hp twin’s $310.Late-1912 8hp Harley twins are rare, as mid-year the engine capacity was increased from 49 cubic inches to a full 61 cubic inches to create the first Big Twin. This ex-McQueen matching-numbers 1912 Harley-Davidson X8E Big Twin was purchased at the 1984 Steve McQueen estate auction and comes with a certificate of authenticity. It is believed that McQueen rode this Harley in at least one Pre-1916 event.
The bike comes with a distinctive paint scheme. Legend has it that McQueen and his buddy Von Dutch rattle-can painted the bike red during a late-night drinking session. That unconfirmed legend alone is probably worth an extra US$10,000 to the price, and virtually guarantees the bike will forever retain its impromptu paint job with what appears to be the original factory paint beneath. This Big Twin is in full running condition, and Bonhams estimates it will fetch between US$120,000 and US$140,000. Multiply the rarity by the McQueen factor and you could get a lot more than that. Bonhams gets these bikes to sell because it is the most respected auctioneer of extremely rare motorcycles. More than half of the bikes on our top 100 list have been auctioned by Bonhams.
1971 250cc Husqvarna Cross
Further compelling evidence of the McQueen-effect can be seen whenever a two-stroke motorcycle bearing his provenance reaches auction. Two-strokes are generally not the stuff of collectors – older two-strokes live in a white cloud of unburnt hydrocarbons and burned oil and don’t sound like bikes worth coveting. Despite the fact they could induce lifelong tinitus, you have to have been there and held the throttle when the expansion chambers heralded the coming of genuine power to truly appreciate a two-stroke. They may have sounded like a tin can full of ball bearings, but they went MUCH faster than the agricultural four-strokes of the day.While McQueen obviously had an appreciation of the wonderfully rich heritage of American motorcycling, he was also very practical, was a big fan of “what works” and when it came to competition riding, he liked to be competitive.When McQueen was part of the very first American ISDE Vase team that competed in the gruelling six day event in September 1964, he rode a Triumph TR6 750. It was state-of-the-art at the time, but within a few years the two-stroke engine offered a much lighter bike with a far more usable power spread and McQueen became an immediate fan.
A terrific article on the first American Vase Team in the 1964 ISDE can be found in this official FIM magazine. That’s McQueen on the Triumph at left, and his international competition licence in the centre of the right hand page.
In the legendary motorcycle film On Any Sunday, McQueen rode a Husqvarna 400 and the success of that film and the subsequent appearance of McQueen riding a Husqvarna on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine, was one of the principal reasons for the acceptance of the Swedish brand in the American marketplace.
There are only two two-stroke bikes on our top 100 list and McQueen is responsible for both of them. The first is a Husqvarana 400 dirt bike. It’s not the bike McQueen rode in the film, but without McQueen’s ownership in its resume, the US$144,500 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross (above) would be worth closer to one hundredth of that value.
The other two-stroke on the list is a Scott Flying Squirrel (above), which was restored by his buddy Von Dutch, and achieved many multiples of the price of similar Scotts.
Which brings us to the third and final bike with a McQueen pedigree to be sold by Bonhams this coming January 8 (2015). Its a 250cc Husqvarna Cross that McQueen purchased through his Hollywood production company, Solar Productions, in 1971. That’s it directly above.Bonhams estimates the bike will sell for between US$70,000 and US$90,000, though it is close to identical to the aforementioned 400cc version which sold for US$144,000, so clearly there’s a lot of wiggle room in the estimate.One final reflection on the potency of the McQueen name is the coincidental auction in Paris in early February of a 1970 Husqvarna 405cc cross that is again near identical to the McQueen bike which sold for US$144,000 at Quail Lodge in 2011.
This particular Husqvarna was campaigned by Swedish ace Bengt Åberg during the ten-race 1970 InterAm Series in America in which he finished second. This was a time when factory Grand Prix riders rode exactly the same bike that was sold in the showroom.Åberg rode a near identical machine to the 500cc World Motocross championship in 1969 and 1970, and was part of the Swedish team that won the Trophée des Nations in 1968 and the Motocross des Nations in 1970, 1971 and 1974.Åberg was a motorcycle legend before coming out of retirement to win the Swedish ice speedway championship in 1995 at 51 years of age, which sealed the deal for a second time. You don’t heal as quickly once your age passes 30, and winning a title in a (ridiculously) dangerous and demanding sport like ice racing is … the stuff of legend.This bike won’t sell for anywhere near $144,000 though. Even with a history that includes being campaigned by one of the greatest riders in history, it will probably achieve around ten percent of that price because it was not owned by Steve McQueen.The provenance is just as tangible though. If it’s the provenance you are buying at auction when you purchase a world class machine of yesteryear which has been campaigned by one of the greats, then this bike’s wonderful history has been discounted 90 percent compared to the McQueen machine and in the grand scheme of things, it represents extraordinary bang per buck. Anyone who wishes to chime in with an opinion as to why this bike is worth only ten percent of the price of an identical bike that has been ridden by a movie star is welcome to use the comments section.Bonhams is only expecting between €15,000 and €18,000 (US$18,000 to US$22,000) for this bike. Bourgeois quality at a proletarian price.
In Summary
McQueen’s legend is fixed and three decades after his death, it isn’t going to change. He raced cars and bikes, he smoked and drank and he was the real deal as far as adrenalin fans are concerned. He is and will always be the “king of cool.”There are a limited number of motorcycles which McQueen owned, and that number will not get any bigger. Supply is fixed.The amount of money being diverted from traditional instruments of wealth creation to “investments of passion” is growing, and the number of High Net Worth Individuals on Planet Earth grows at around 9 percent per annum. Demand for “investments of passion” is growing steadily and relentlessly.You don’t need to be a Rhodes Scholar to calculate the fairly logical conclusion. Therefore, based on the laws of supply and demand, whatever these bikes sell for, I think it’s pretty obvious that they will continue to appreciate in value.One of our more contentious office debaters argues that petrol heads are dinosaurs and will follow them into extinction in the next fifty years, causing the collectible car and motorcycle markets to tank. It’s the first plausible theory I have heard that threatens the possibility that rare cars and motorcycles will appreciate in value forever.I think we’re safe for a lifetime or two though. My recommendation: BUY!
Ready for some Indian Hill Climber history? Join Dale Walksler from Wheels Through Time Museum as he talks about a couple of his motorcycles.
A dramatic start to the video enthralls the viewer with the sight and sounds of the Hill climbing Indians.
1928 and 1939 Indian Motorcycles are discussed in detail. Dale Walksler takes the viewer through salient points of the alcohol fuelled Serial Number A61-1 machine as the camera zooms and pans over the detail of the patina. The history of the bike is covered along with photograph of the rider racing the hill climber.
Dale describes the mechanical attributes of the motor and explains why it is so special!
His attention is then taken to the 1939 B Scout hill climber…only 18 if the bikes were ever built. The motorcycle is in exceptional condition which stands as testament to the racers skill. The condition is also original, right down to the tyres. The serial FCI 18 determines the motorcycles correctness as a factory hill climber… one of the best surviving Indian hill climber in America.
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Here is a link to the Video I made in 2010 about the Great Indian V Harley Race in Australia. After going on this race I decided to start sponsoring this event in the US. So far we have had 3 events in the states and our next event will be Spring 2016
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The Great Race 2010 Indian Vs Harley – 120 motorcycles competing in Australia’s Snowy River for bragging rights. I was invited to the event by Peter Arundel, who loaned me his 53 Chief to ride on the event. I had a great time, meeting and riding with the other participants. It was a real fun weekend of riding! This was my first trip to Australia, and in my 5 days of staying in the country I spent everyday riding, and we rode over 1,000 miles! How can you beat a trip like that! Riding antique bikes every day!
I had so much fun at this event, that I decided we needed to have an event like this in the states. “The Great Indian v Harley Race” is coming to Yosemite CA. May 12-14 2011 – sign up today and see you on the road!
For details on the 2011 event see our website at:
www.IndianvHarley.com
