50 States National Motorcycle Museum Day 3

Special Feature, Day 3

 

Not only was the 1916 Thor a high quality bike, this restoration rocked!

Excellent workmanship, then and now. Thor competed with Harley, Indian, Mercel and others, but like so many manufacturers, ceased production after WWI.

 

I considered this 1914 Yale Twin to be the best restored bike of the bunch. The paint looks like you could scoop it out like melted ice cream. Beautiful bike.

 

Back in the day, Sears sold stuff through its catalogs. And besides the

catalog’s alternate use-in the outhouse-they used it to dominate the retail world. And they sold bikes through the catalogs. From 1912 until the late sixties, Sears sold bikes from other manufacturers (Allstate, Puch, Vespa...).

This is a 1913 Sears DeLuxe Dreadnaught Twin.

 

You could always tell a guy who rode a 1927 Brough Superior 100 Pendine. First, his pants were burned through on his right leg. Second, he sported third degree burns on same. Look at the exhaust pipe. Ouch.

This 998cc V-Twin was built for speed.

In 1928, George Brough recorded a speed of 130.6, the fastest speed in the world for a solo motorcycle.

For $275, you could buy a 1906 Curtiss V-Twin. I should have taken a straight on shot, but if you look carefully, the bike is quite slender. Amazing. Coaster brakes, and for speed, its record was one mile in 53.25 seconds. And built for two.

 

They don't talk much about the 'constant loss' lubrication systems on the old

bikes. Because it had no oil pump, the rider would open a valve to drop oil into the engine and dump old oil out the bottom. It worked, and helped keep dust down on the dirt roads.  The Harley looked less like a moped and more like a motorcycle. And this model, 1928, featured a front brake. Eighteen and a half horsepower.

 

Another batch done, more tomorrow. We'll see a real live 'Road Hog', Steve

McQueen's favorite bike, an Ed Roth original, and the bike that got this '50

States' thing going. You'll see a similarity. See you then

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