One of the greatest victories in motorcycle racing. The image of Shrimp after the race- sun in his hair, victor's smile across his face, his hand resting gently on his steed, with his right arm still covered in bandages from his earlier hospital visit, and reinforced with a strap of leather he wound around to keep it all in place- is one of the most timeless of all racing. That he died only months later, right in front of his fiancee who had come to help celebrate his birthday, is tragic. But all men die- very few have a true moment in the sun. Shrimp did. RIP Shrimp.
This is the first documentary I have seen. where Henderson motorcycles were mentioned. I'm impressed with the research and actual film footage shown in this Documentary. great work indeed. I wish it would have been a little longer. but being as actual footage is pretty rare that would be hard to accomplish.
Happy you enjoyed it, Henderson is a hot topic in the last few videos so I think I will put together a history soon as they weren’t really a track racing brand but one of my favorites.
,@@ArchiveMoto Even though the company went out of business. they were innovators for modern motorcycles with their multi cylinder designs. they were a sorta small company and weren't as heavily involved in racing. but their bikes weren't slow. Henderson motorcycles more relied on high quality motorcycles that were more popular outside of racing but it didn't mean some riders didn't try their luck racing them.
Awesome show, I was lucky enough to meet Jim Davis at Daytona on Tuesday eve at (old) AHRMA dinner awards party he was the guest speaker. What a guy! we all loved his stories and was all grins! Wonderful man.... He would have talked all night! Sad he's gone...
The boards were nailed from the sides so as to to protrude onto the surface, which may be the only reasonable consideration. The boards were rough sewn and unquestionably uneven, soaked with oil from the total loss and ported bikes, and rapidly weathered from being exposed to the elements. Tire failure was the most common fault for crashes, but the brass one had to have to even give it a go is wild in the first place.
Manly men pushing the boundries. Great vid. No computers, electronics, or digital anything. Just mechanics and pure power and grit. What a time! Love those old bikes. 👍🇺🇸❤️
Incredible channel, the music, the photos, the motorcycles, the legit history, the narration…your channel deserves WAY more views. I thank you and please continue this great work👍🏻🥂
And again a superb account of the board track racing history. The footage you have found is mind blowing considering the era of filmography. I truly love your endeavor.
You can see a collection of board track racers from pristine to patina at the wheels though time museum in Maggie Valley north Carolina . Worth a trip on two wheels. They can be seen on the track at Wauseon Ohio. At the vintage motorcycle meet. Goggle that. 😊
Thank You for creating this video and sharing it with the public. Well written and narrated. I actually made a video of the Playa Del Rey Motordrome about 10 or so years ago for RUclips. It is the very first effort of mine trying to create a video using sill photos and producing a slide show with amateur graphics and only music no narration. I made the video because I grew up in Westchester/Playa Del Rey, born in 1965 and have always been curious about the history of that area and how it used to be oil fields and the mansions built for movie stars and directors of films, with Culver City being next door and it being the actual film capital of the world as much or more so than Hollywood. Also with the incredible history of airplane manufacturing and air shows and the automobile racing industries all within the same neighborhoods in about a 4 mile radius. I then discovered that there was a board track at one time off Culver Blvd just as you were in the Ballona Wetlands and entering Playa Del Rey and its hidden gem of a beach town. It is so strange that there is absolutely no indication that there ever was a world class board track that held the world championships of motorcycle racing and car racing as well as air shows and racing that drew thousands of spectators between 1909 and 1912 when it burned down. There also seems to be some kind of need to supress the racing history of Los Angeles and the neighboring cities . There were so many race tracks as this video mentions, somewhere around 22 tracks in the 1910s thru 1930s or '40s then they mostly all disappeared. Again, thank you for providing this history of racing in L.A. My very terrible video is still on my channel here on RUclips. Check it out and hit the like button
Thank you Ken for the kind words as well as your contribution to keeping this history alive. I watched your video when I was beginning my interest in the history and thanks to folks like you taking the time to compile information and preserve it here my fire was stoked. From my vantage point, LA has always been the epicenter for the gas and oil set in America, despite manufacturing being elsewhere, you Californians really injected the culture and heritage into motoring. The area is a wealth of history, and I hope to dive in a bit deeper in the future to do my part to help preserve it for those to come. Thanks again and take care.
Thanks for the post, what a treat. must have been thrilling over a century ago to see these lads go at 100mph, the sights, smells & noise absolute class!! UK
Excellent, professional and rare archive board track presentation. Always was awestruck by these pilots and their simple but advanced bikes from 100 years ago 🍻 cheers
I was unaware of this sport till I saw a painting by Robert Williams, a friend of Von Dutch and that whole genre of creators.. Look it up, it's an epic depiction of the sport.
The photograph at about 3:12 is the most incredible capture of speed, motion, and concentration from this era I've ever seen. Great channel, keep up the amazing work!
Thank you, happy you enjoyed it. At the time, wood was the best option for such a scale, along with the desire for steep banking to hold the speeds. It was a carry over from cycle racing, but also large tracks at that moment in history were still a new idea, and surface materials were still in the experimental phase. Concrete and later asphalt wouldn’t come into common use for a while after the motordrome and board track speedway era.
Pretty wild to imagine, speeds are obviously higher in the sport today, but the engineering and safety protocols are equally higher too. 90 mph on a modern bike is a thrill, but back then it must have been something all its own.
Its a shame too to think how short such a structure lasted as well. Who knows, I'm sure a lot of those boards are still around out there though, hiuding behind walls and holding up porches.
I agree, the thing I here the most is how cool it would be for folks to see this in person again. My neighbor Billy Lane has his Sons of Speed for the wild ones that like to run the heavies, and some fine folks in Germany get together from time to time on an old velodrome I believe. I actually looked into trying it myself in Atlanta but the velodrome there is just too small, even for lightweight replica bikes. Great fun indeed.
Back in the 70's I watch a bicycle race on TV and they where on a board track only it was indoors. One guy was hauling it on what looked like a 10 speed or what used to be call an English racer, anyway he went into that banked turn and his front wheel folded on him and he did a face plant into the banked turn instead, I thought it killed him, but nope he didn't die, can't remember exactly but I think he actually walked off the track carrying his broken bike! Haven't seen one of those races since but I'd sure like to. I believe it mayhave been on the Wide World of Sports a show that used to come on saturdays back then.🤠👍
Think of all the lumber that went into that track venue. I wonder how many carpenters wer working at one time. All those hammers banging! I'm a carpenter, hence my wonder.
Quite an endeavor for sure, tons on tons of materials, shame they didn’t last longer than they did but some of those old boards were repurposed and remain apart of buildings in America today.
Paul Brodie has hand built an Excelsior Replica completely from scratch. He found a set of case lowers at a swap meet. Excelsior famously ended their racing program as Mr.Schwinn was horribly upset over the tragic death of their rider. The Excelsior was a superior bike to the others in my ways. Its a shame they killed off their interest. Brodie fabricated his replica entirely from using old photos of the very rare three or four bikes that were actually raced. ruclips.net/video/J1xaPjJK8WU/видео.htmlsi=HM4drGvfuGVPZOSF
Paul and I were actually supposed to get together at the Sons of Speed races a few years ago, the same one I made a short video from, but unfortunately he had a crash and we weren't able to connect. He has done an incredible job with that though, I'm happy that he recovered and look forward to meeting up with him down the road sometime.
I ride a motorcycle and of course never want to think of an accident , but i couldn't imagine wiping out going 100 mph on a wooden track that's been nailed down . I could only guess like a wooden deck at your home the nails have a tendency to pop back up . YIKES you would be torn up from that as well as friction burns
They were nuts pure nuts. But back then used the hopefully the best they could get. But 100 mph on much more than remade bike tires on wood with nails. Think about that and what could go wrong.
The night races were lit with arc lights, with exposed wiring on wooden posts which led to one of the nastiest incidents ever on a motordrome at the Ludlow track in 1913. Odin Johnson’s bike hit one during a crash, clipping the wire and igniting his fuel throwing flames onto the crowd. Very grim stuff.
My Grandmother told me of kids hiding out under the track and sticking their heads out of holes in the poorly maintained tracks. Long Island and Coney were the nearest tracks to her. She called them "Murder Dromes".
Thanks. Leather was definitely in use, but only rarely do you see a racer in a full suit, and even then I don’t think Ive come across a one piece like what we are used to today. Advertising was also a factor as the sport matured in its early days, so I’m sure the dollars and cents played a role in wearing branded sweaters. Still, by the time they were racing on these big speedways the events were long-distance endurance affairs and I imagine temperature control and comfort played a role as well.
I heard the track officials had a bucket full of disinfectant that would be poured on riders who went down, it hurt moe than the splinters, and riders would try to run away so they wouldn't be doused!
It's too bad history didn't go a different direction and we would have had something besides the V-Twin company of h d we could have had technologically advanced engines that would have been American made.. I rode every brand new Harley-Davidson from the 1980s through the mid-1990s when they came out I rode the V-Rod and made call Manson recommendations on test rides of the V-Rod. As well as xb12 Orr bikes destined for Sebring and Laguna . But I certainly would never have owned a vtwin.
You mean to tell me you aren't itching for a $60,000 CVO ;) Still though, I personally don't have any business going fast and have a soft spot for the feeling of a torquey Milwaukee v-twin
Thankfully yes, a handful of which have been preserved in a largely original state as well. Several museum around the US have one or more old board track racers, Wheels Through Time, Barber Motorsports, and Motorcyclepedia just to name a few.
@@TheFowler99 The Wall of Death thrill shows tend to use Indian Scouts from the 1920s at the oldest. The motordrome machines were very spartan and raw, ranging from 1909-1914 typically. That specific genre was dominated by Indian, but other brands common on the motordrome were Thor, Merkel, and Excelsior.
Quite a few, many went on to work in the oil and gas industry, others in automotive. These early 1920s races brought about a changing of the guard as well, with many if the remaining pioneers bowing out of the game
They did, but I imagine the cost and level of refinement if the materials paled in comparison of wood at the time for the scale and banking involved. Asphalt eventually provided the answer, but in comparison to some of the first track surface experiments at places like Indy or Savannah, wood may have been preferred by the racers as well.
3:48 "... 275 acres of land." BTW - 1 Square mile = 640 acres 275/640 = 0.4296875 1 mile X 0.43 miles = 275 acres BTW BTW Roadway banking is called superelevation. A bicycle or motorcycle straight up perpendicular to 60 degree banking would be experiencing 2 G of downforce. You standing on sidewalk experience 1 G of downforce. 165 Lbs on sidewalk is 330 Lbs on 60 degree banking at speed matched to bank.
Thankfully the boards were nailed from the sides instead of the tops… but the tires were way worse than we can imagine and the track surface and even rough mess. Tire failure was the leading cause of incidents at the time.
One of the greatest victories in motorcycle racing. The image of Shrimp after the race- sun in his hair, victor's smile across his face, his hand resting gently on his steed, with his right arm still covered in bandages from his earlier hospital visit, and reinforced with a strap of leather he wound around to keep it all in place- is one of the most timeless of all racing. That he died only months later, right in front of his fiancee who had come to help celebrate his birthday, is tragic. But all men die- very few have a true moment in the sun. Shrimp did. RIP Shrimp.
Well said, I only wish we had such footage of all the pioneers
Shrimp was a real dare-devil. So young when his life was cut short.
Bless his soul.
This is the first documentary I have seen. where Henderson motorcycles were mentioned. I'm impressed with the research and actual film footage shown in this Documentary. great work indeed. I wish it would have been a little longer. but being as actual footage is pretty rare that would be hard to accomplish.
Happy you enjoyed it, Henderson is a hot topic in the last few videos so I think I will put together a history soon as they weren’t really a track racing brand but one of my favorites.
,@@ArchiveMoto
Even though the company went out of business. they were innovators for modern motorcycles with their multi cylinder designs. they were a sorta small company and weren't as heavily involved in racing. but their bikes weren't slow. Henderson motorcycles more relied on high quality motorcycles that were more popular outside of racing but it didn't mean some riders didn't try their luck racing them.
Awesome show, I was lucky enough to meet Jim Davis at Daytona on Tuesday eve at (old) AHRMA dinner awards party he was the guest speaker. What a guy! we all loved his stories and was all grins! Wonderful man.... He would have talked all night! Sad he's gone...
He was a great one, and did a lot to preserve the history that he helped create, I would have loved to had a chance to meet him.
Don't EVER lose these historic videos!
Excellent video! Great job!
Thanks so much
those skinny tires running on wood planks that were probably nailed down, looks to be a nightmare
The boards were nailed from the sides so as to to protrude onto the surface, which may be the only reasonable consideration. The boards were rough sewn and unquestionably uneven, soaked with oil from the total loss and ported bikes, and rapidly weathered from being exposed to the elements. Tire failure was the most common fault for crashes, but the brass one had to have to even give it a go is wild in the first place.
These films are priceless.
Completely agree
Manly men pushing the boundries. Great vid. No computers, electronics, or digital anything. Just mechanics and pure power and grit. What a time! Love those old bikes. 👍🇺🇸❤️
You and me both, what a time that would have been to take in a night race
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻perfect vibes👍🏻
Thanks!
Incredible channel, the music, the photos, the motorcycles, the legit history, the narration…your channel deserves WAY more views. I thank you and please continue this great work👍🏻🥂
I appreciate it and am happy you enjoy the videos, I'm just getting things going and hope to build it up, the encouragement goes a long way so thanks.
And again a superb account of the board track racing history. The footage you have found is mind blowing considering the era of filmography. I truly love your endeavor.
Thanks so much Adam, the encouragement goes a long way
Man , this is pure gold !!!!!
What a sight to behold this racing would have been on those huge tracks, not to mention the sound!
It would have been quite a way to spend an afternoon for sure.
My great great grandfather is gene walker, and I really enjoyed this. Thank you for your hard work!
Wow, what a relative, Gene was a legend and I aim to do a feature video on him soon.
100 mph+ in 1921. Not too shabby.
Great film. Photography is awesome. Thankyou from Ireland.
Happy to hear you enjoyed it, thanks!
You can see a collection of board track racers from pristine to patina at the wheels though time museum in Maggie Valley north Carolina . Worth a trip on two wheels.
They can be seen on the track at Wauseon Ohio. At the vintage motorcycle meet. Goggle that. 😊
Thank You for creating this video and sharing it with the public.
Well written and narrated.
I actually made a video of the Playa Del Rey Motordrome about 10 or so years ago for RUclips. It is the very first effort of mine trying to create a video using sill photos and producing a slide show with amateur graphics and only music no narration.
I made the video because I grew up in Westchester/Playa Del Rey, born in 1965 and have always been curious about the history of that area and how it used to be oil fields and the mansions built for movie stars and directors of films, with Culver City being next door and it being the actual film capital of the world as much or more so than Hollywood.
Also with the incredible history of airplane manufacturing and air shows and the automobile racing industries all within the same neighborhoods in about a 4 mile radius. I then discovered that there was a board track at one time off Culver Blvd just as you were in the Ballona Wetlands and entering Playa Del Rey and its hidden gem of a beach town. It is so strange that there is absolutely no indication that there ever was a world class board track that held the world championships of motorcycle racing and car racing as well as air shows and racing that drew thousands of spectators between 1909 and 1912 when it burned down.
There also seems to be some kind of need to supress the racing history of Los Angeles and the neighboring cities . There were so many race tracks as this video mentions, somewhere around 22 tracks in the 1910s thru 1930s or '40s then they mostly all disappeared.
Again, thank you for providing this history of racing in L.A.
My very terrible video is still on my channel here on RUclips. Check it out and hit the like button
Thank you Ken for the kind words as well as your contribution to keeping this history alive. I watched your video when I was beginning my interest in the history and thanks to folks like you taking the time to compile information and preserve it here my fire was stoked. From my vantage point, LA has always been the epicenter for the gas and oil set in America, despite manufacturing being elsewhere, you Californians really injected the culture and heritage into motoring. The area is a wealth of history, and I hope to dive in a bit deeper in the future to do my part to help preserve it for those to come.
Thanks again and take care.
I never new this form of racing existed
It is a fascinating moment in history, the auto side of the board track speedways as well.
I thought it was all short track indoor
Thanks for the post, what a treat. must have been thrilling over a century ago to see these lads go at 100mph, the sights, smells & noise absolute class!! UK
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it
@@ArchiveMoto I'm 57 & buzzing still after watching.
Great stuff
Thank you sharing it with my 27 year old son now I have been riding for 50 yrs
raced amateur motocross 75 to 78 love the history 🤙
Thanks for the kind words and I am happy to hear you are passing it along to the next generation.
Cool man. Very cool. 💪
Thanks so much
BOARD TRACKING WAS THE COOLEST ❤
I've read about board track racing. YIKES! Those guys we're a combination of badass and crazy.
That they were
Just Awesome...
Cheers from Southern California 🇺🇸
Hey, thanks!
Amazing
Excellent, professional and rare archive board track presentation. Always was awestruck by these pilots and their simple but advanced bikes from 100 years ago 🍻 cheers
I was unaware of this sport till I saw a painting by Robert Williams, a friend of Von Dutch and that whole genre of creators.. Look it up, it's an epic depiction of the sport.
Amazing, rare video of a time gone by in motorcycle history. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you, best film I've seen about Board Tracks
Thank you for the kind words, happy to hear you liked it.
My uncle David Castleman raced on the streets and roads of Avalon California.
Very cool
Great video. Editing, narration, the whole thing was very well done
Thank you so much, I truly appreciate the kind words.
I have seen many board track racers but never saw the beautiful video y’all have wonderful enjoyed every second. Thank you
Thanks so much
The photograph at about 3:12 is the most incredible capture of speed, motion, and concentration from this era I've ever seen. Great channel, keep up the amazing work!
I have a 10" tall tattoo of that photo on my back. It was really well done. The background is an overhead of the St. Louis Motordrome board track.
Very cool!
Glad I found this channel, some great history and movie of board racers Thank You
Thanks, I appreciate it
EXCELLENT PRESENTATION and great narration. Thank you for posting!
Much appreciated
@@ArchiveMoto You're welcome. Great work! If you want a cool story about an old Brough Superior - I have one for you!
wow this is truly informative and very cool!!
Thanks for the love #skate4life
It would be of some interest as to which machine(s) remain.
Oh they are out there, I’ve even heard tale of that wild Reading Standard is lurking
Outstanding film that is. Thankyou
I appreciate the kind words and am happy to hear you enjoyed it
Fascinating footage and commentary. Why use such an intricate and fragile wooden track, why not concrete?
Thank you, happy you enjoyed it. At the time, wood was the best option for such a scale, along with the desire for steep banking to hold the speeds. It was a carry over from cycle racing, but also large tracks at that moment in history were still a new idea, and surface materials were still in the experimental phase. Concrete and later asphalt wouldn’t come into common use for a while after the motordrome and board track speedway era.
Thanks for Sharing... I Love it!
Thanks for watching! I appreciate it
Awesome video ❤thankyou for sharing...😮
Thanks for watching!
Simply awesome. On basicly a bicycle. No throttle clutch or brakes.
Pretty wild to imagine, speeds are obviously higher in the sport today, but the engineering and safety protocols are equally higher too. 90 mph on a modern bike is a thrill, but back then it must have been something all its own.
That Reading Standard at 7:05 is a beautiful beast. Wow.
It was quite a machine
Perfect!
I've always wanted a bike like that.... early days. A heavyish bicycle, with a motor.
What’s amazing is how California has changed imagine a 1 mile and 1/4 track dam wood industry that built that design. The work to build that .
Its a shame too to think how short such a structure lasted as well. Who knows, I'm sure a lot of those boards are still around out there though, hiuding behind walls and holding up porches.
Just WOW what a film
Thanks so much, I appreciate it
Beverly Hills looked so much nicer then
Definately a faster crowd for sure, and so much racing.
Would love to see this sorta modernized concrete. But with the affordable replicas. ....would be great fun.
I agree, the thing I here the most is how cool it would be for folks to see this in person again. My neighbor Billy Lane has his Sons of Speed for the wild ones that like to run the heavies, and some fine folks in Germany get together from time to time on an old velodrome I believe. I actually looked into trying it myself in Atlanta but the velodrome there is just too small, even for lightweight replica bikes. Great fun indeed.
Great film
Thanks so much
Fantastic
Thank so much
Very well done documentary ✅✅
Much appreciated
Back in the 70's I watch a bicycle race on TV and they where on a board track only it was indoors. One guy was hauling it on what looked like a 10 speed or what used to be call an English racer, anyway he went into that banked turn and his front wheel folded on him and he did a face plant into the banked turn instead, I thought it killed him, but nope he didn't die, can't remember exactly but I think he actually walked off the track carrying his broken bike! Haven't seen one of those races since but I'd sure like to. I believe it mayhave been on the Wide World of Sports a show that used to come on saturdays back then.🤠👍
@user-is3bp6ii4n Plenty of track racing coming up in the Paris Olympics from the 5 Aug. Not quite so fast but...
Think of all the lumber that went into that track venue. I wonder how many carpenters wer working at one time. All those hammers banging! I'm a carpenter, hence my wonder.
Quite an endeavor for sure, tons on tons of materials, shame they didn’t last longer than they did but some of those old boards were repurposed and remain apart of buildings in America today.
👍 Thank you 👍
Paul Brodie has hand built an Excelsior Replica completely from scratch. He found a set of case lowers at a swap meet. Excelsior famously ended their racing program as Mr.Schwinn was horribly upset over the tragic death of their rider. The Excelsior was a superior bike to the others in my ways. Its a shame they killed off their interest. Brodie fabricated his replica entirely from using old photos of the very rare three or four bikes that were actually raced.
ruclips.net/video/J1xaPjJK8WU/видео.htmlsi=HM4drGvfuGVPZOSF
Paul and I were actually supposed to get together at the Sons of Speed races a few years ago, the same one I made a short video from, but unfortunately he had a crash and we weren't able to connect. He has done an incredible job with that though, I'm happy that he recovered and look forward to meeting up with him down the road sometime.
I ride a motorcycle and of course never want to think of an accident , but i couldn't imagine wiping out going 100 mph on a wooden track that's been nailed down . I could only guess like a wooden deck at your home the nails have a tendency to pop back up . YIKES you would be torn up from that as well as friction burns
They were nuts pure nuts. But back then used the hopefully the best they could get. But 100 mph on much more than remade bike tires on wood with nails. Think about that and what could go wrong.
Definitely took a different type person
Just the amount of wood blows me away
It is staggering for sure
show close ups of the ENGINES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW they are unreal !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I will do a video looking at the brands, bikes, and engines of the board track era and can definately pull some more techincal images.
0:48, that's insane....
Heroes...
Shrimp Burns rules!
Right on!
At 10:20 3 oil derricks in the background. Been a long time since I lived and visited but are "donkeys" still pumping there?
The site is in the heart of Beverly Hills, so no derricks but Im sure a few donkeys can be found ;)
Don't know if they held night races, that would be a site to behold. Screaming cycles with flame shooting out of
barely if any exhaust pipes.
The night races were lit with arc lights, with exposed wiring on wooden posts which led to one of the nastiest incidents ever on a motordrome at the Ludlow track in 1913. Odin Johnson’s bike hit one during a crash, clipping the wire and igniting his fuel throwing flames onto the crowd. Very grim stuff.
@@ArchiveMoto I'm going to research.
Thanks.
My Grandmother told me of kids hiding out under the track and sticking their heads out of holes in the poorly maintained tracks. Long Island and Coney were the nearest tracks to her. She called them "Murder Dromes".
Safety was certainly not the primary concern back then
Cincinnati had a board track intense racing
Geez, fantastic, but leathers weren’t a thing back then?
Thanks. Leather was definitely in use, but only rarely do you see a racer in a full suit, and even then I don’t think Ive come across a one piece like what we are used to today. Advertising was also a factor as the sport matured in its early days, so I’m sure the dollars and cents played a role in wearing branded sweaters. Still, by the time they were racing on these big speedways the events were long-distance endurance affairs and I imagine temperature control and comfort played a role as well.
Hail the algorithm!
😊
Long live our benevolent overlords!
You needed big cajones to race board tracks. On a bike or in a car.
100 mph on a motorcycle with no transmission and no brakes. How cool is that?
Wild no doubt
How did they measure the speed of the bikes?
Stopwatches and timing devices for the record events
I heard the track officials had a bucket full of disinfectant that would be poured on riders who went down, it hurt moe than the splinters, and riders would try to run away so they wouldn't be doused!
Crashing a motorbike is one thing, but SPLINTERS!!!! imagine, I'd rather not...
Unpleasant. Glen ‘Slivers’ Boyd would certainly agree given his nickname as well
It's too bad history didn't go a different direction and we would have had something besides the V-Twin company of h d we could have had technologically advanced engines that would have been American made.. I rode every brand new Harley-Davidson from the 1980s through the mid-1990s when they came out I rode the V-Rod and made call Manson recommendations on test rides of the V-Rod. As well as xb12 Orr bikes destined for Sebring and Laguna . But I certainly would never have owned a vtwin.
You mean to tell me you aren't itching for a $60,000 CVO ;) Still though, I personally don't have any business going fast and have a soft spot for the feeling of a torquey Milwaukee v-twin
Have any of these bikes survived in to preservation?
Thankfully yes, a handful of which have been preserved in a largely original state as well. Several museum around the US have one or more old board track racers, Wheels Through Time, Barber Motorsports, and Motorcyclepedia just to name a few.
@@ArchiveMoto are these the same type of bike that you see in the wall of death show you some time see at the local show ?
@@TheFowler99 The Wall of Death thrill shows tend to use Indian Scouts from the 1920s at the oldest. The motordrome machines were very spartan and raw, ranging from 1909-1914 typically. That specific genre was dominated by Indian, but other brands common on the motordrome were Thor, Merkel, and Excelsior.
Then both racers and spectators started getting killed,and the sport started getting banned in some places
😮
How many of them live to see 30 years old?
Quite a few, many went on to work in the oil and gas industry, others in automotive. These early 1920s races brought about a changing of the guard as well, with many if the remaining pioneers bowing out of the game
This makes no sense on so many levels. Why build something like this when bulldozers and concrete existed at the time.. It's crazy.
They did, but I imagine the cost and level of refinement if the materials paled in comparison of wood at the time for the scale and banking involved. Asphalt eventually provided the answer, but in comparison to some of the first track surface experiments at places like Indy or Savannah, wood may have been preferred by the racers as well.
How in god's name is there a tree left standing in this country?!?
Now just try to imagine how many nails ;)
Really, look at all the houses in the U.S.
It was very dangerous
That it was!
3:48 "... 275 acres of land."
BTW - 1 Square mile = 640 acres
275/640 = 0.4296875
1 mile X 0.43 miles = 275 acres
BTW BTW
Roadway banking is called superelevation. A bicycle or motorcycle straight up perpendicular to 60 degree banking would be experiencing 2 G of downforce. You standing on sidewalk experience 1 G of downforce. 165 Lbs on sidewalk is 330 Lbs on 60 degree banking at speed matched to bank.
imagine getting dumped at 100 sliding down the track on some highnail heads!
Thankfully the boards were nailed from the side not the top, but even still, it was a really bad day to dump it on a board track.
Motor drome with high powered electric bikes.would be a sight.
I shudder to think of those primitive tires and nail construction of the track mixed together. Yikes.
Thankfully the boards were nailed from the sides instead of the tops… but the tires were way worse than we can imagine and the track surface and even rough mess. Tire failure was the leading cause of incidents at the time.
Yeesh....wiping out on wood....splinters and nails.... scary stuff.
L'époque change, l'exploit reste, une banalité me direz-vous, exact !!!
VROOM RACING, Sud Gironde, France encore Libre et pour L'ETERNITE
Harde stock of riders
Without question
Imagine how many trees died for this
its not rarer as you make out seen it several times before!
A lot of blokes got killed doing this back in the day.