1914 POPE BOARD TRACK RACER

This 1914 Pope is another bike coming up for auction on July 12 in Monterey, and is worth a second look. It's probably even more rare than the Cyclone, and possibly a unique machine.

The Pope Manufacturing Company (Hartford, Connecticut) made bicycles initially, and later moved into motorcycles and cars. Their first forays into motorcycle production (from 1901 onwards) used clip-on engines (the ubiquitous deDion Bouton and variants) on their bicycle frames, and were sold through the company's existing network of bicycle showrooms. In 1910 the company developed a wholly new motorcycle line, debuting in 1911 with a single-cylinder engine in a loop frame and leaf-spring front suspension. The engine appeared in both inlet-over-exhaust and overhead-valve configurations, both using a direct belt drive from the engine to rear wheel. On the 'deluxe' models (the Model K ohv), a clutch was added to the end of the crankshaft. These overhead-valve machines were among the first production models to use this new valve layout, and much like the 8-valve Indian which was produced in the same year, the valves are set vertically into a relatively flat combustion chamber. This layout was also used in the legendary JAP '90 bore' engine, although JAP had produced an ohv v-twin engine as early as 1906. Although the ohv layout had clear advantages in breathing and hence power production, the metallurgy of the early 1900's meant that broken valves were a common problem, with consequently disastrous results to the piston and cylinder head. Thus, many racing (and roadster) engines opted for the reliability of the sidevalve layout. The last bike with a sv engine to win at the Isle of Man TT was a Sunbeam in 1922, with Alec Bennett aboard - overhead valve machines were dominant until 193o, when Rudge was the last ohv machine to win the Senior. After that, the race was sole property of overhead-cam machines.
In 1912 Pope introduced a very advanced ohv v-twin of 998cc, with plunger rear suspension (which can be seen in two of the period racing pix), although still direct drive. In 1914, a two-speed countershaft gearbox was added to the twin, which became the ultimate configuration of the Pope, as production ceased in 1916, due to financial difficulties.

The machine coming up for auction has apparently no peers, for no other 'Board Track Racer' Pope models seem to have survived. The only photograph I've seen of a comparable machine is this one, with D.O. Kinnie aboard a Board Track Pope, at the Ascot speedway in Los Angeles, at a 100-mile race on Jan.31, 1915. The bottom two period racers are from 'stock class' events, where the machines were expected to be stripped standard roadsters, not purpose-built 'factory' racers. All three period photos show variations on handlebars, forks, and frame layout, although the front end of the auction bike looks very similar to the bike in the middle pic, with its unusual soldered-up 3-piece dropped handlebars. Clearly the lower two photos depict converted roadsters with fenders, rear stands, and brakes (!); such excess weight would never have appeared on the pared-down factory racers.

Stephen Wright in 'The American Motorcycle; 1869-1914' (Megden, 2001), mentions that the Popes did well in 'stock-class' racing. I haven't seen mention of how they did in Board Track racing, although they do figure among the runners.

More Pope information can be found here (Smithsonian exhibit), and here (How Stuff Works website).


I'm indebted to Stephen Wright's books 'The American Motorcycle' and 'American Racer; 1900-1940' for the period photos, and Jerry Hatfield's 'American Motorcycles' for info on the Pope factory. It's time for a reprint of the 'American Racer' books - they're fantastic, and on par with Joe Bayley's 'The Vintage Years at Brooklands' for my all-time favorites.

BOOK REVIEW: 'CONTINENTAL CIRCUS'

By Dennis Quinlan
In a letter from Ivan Rhodes (in the Australian Velocette Owner's Club magazine - FTDU #319), reference was made to Ted Mellors; he is considered to be the 'forgotten man' of motorcycle racing, having died tragically by asphyxiation while working on his car in a closed garage (there's a lesson for us all...).
As well as a good racer, he was a dab hand with the pen and had written a manuscript about his exploits racing as part of the 'Continental Circus', a group of mostly British and Commonwealth riders, who followed the GP races around Europe. Mellors was part of this gang from 1929 until 1939, riding Nortons, New Imperials, Benellis, and Velocettes, to name some. He became a factory Velocette rider in 1936 and raced them all over the continent at numerous events, until 1939.
On Mellors' death, his manuscript was unfinished, but in 1949 Geoff Davison (publisher of the TT Special - devoted to the races during TT week), took on the project, and added some stories from earlier times, publishing 'Continental Circus' as part of the 'TT Special' series of books on motorcycle racing. The series includes 'The Story of the TT', 'The Story of the Manx', The Story of the Ulster', 'Racing Reminiscences', and 'The TT Races - Behind the Scenes'. Long out of print, these books can be found on ebay or via British dealers for around £25 each, and the 160 pages are nicely illustrated with period photos.



Pictured - Ted Mellors at the start of the 1936 Junior TT; he finished 4th on the new dohc works Velocette.

Back to Ivan's letter; reference was made to Mellor's grave site, which remained unknown to motorcycle historians until recently. Its discovery came about by an unusual chain of events. My business, KTT Services, restored and sold motorcycle instruments and my shop was filled with memorabilia, posters, etc.
A chap came in one day, unknown to me, but I found he was a member of the Australian Velo O/C, and spying a poster on the wall, (one well known to Velo folk - 'For Learner and Expert' - see small pic), he said, "Do you know who they are?"... "Franz Binder, the Austrian Velo racer, and Ted Mellors, the Velo factory rider", I replied...."Mellors is related to me", said Derek Deacon who had introduced himself by then. I was a little skeptical of these facts, but didn't show it. Derek returned soon after with a trophy of Mellors' and further expanded on his relationship; seems his mother was a cousin, relatives were still alive in Birmingham, and yes Ted's burial site was known. I related this to Ivan Rhodes, who quickly followed it up and took the photo shown below which is in the Robin Hood Cemetery, in Birmingham, England.
In 'Continental Circus', both Mellors and Davidson paint a fascinating tale of the effort needed to compete in racing events of the day. In 1929 (the year he started), the Great Depression had taken hold; jobs and money were hard to come by, and travel to the continent usually entailed taking trains, wheeling your racing bike (with a tool kit, leathers, and a clothes bag, all balanced on the seat), onto the guard's van on the train, and repeating the exercise at the other end, often pushing the bike and kit miles to the circuit or nearby hotel.
(second photo; Mellors receives the Lightweight TT trophy for 1st place on a 250cc Benelli. The presentation took place in the Villa Marina, Douglas, IoM)
The races were usually of at least 100 miles length, although the TT was usually 6 laps (over 220 miles), as was the Ulster GP. Fuel and accessories were often supplied by the trade 'barons' and so were available at the circuit. Riders were usually much older than today when they began their careers; some in their late 20's, most in their mid 30's. A youth of those days simply didn't have the money, nor could his family help out due to financial hardship. This meant that only relatively well-off people succeeded in getting a ride on a good machine.
Motor homes as we know them were nonexistent. However, if you made it to the top, you could make a good living. Take Stanley Woods for example; in the '38 TT, after winning the Junior TT and coming 2nd in the Senior, prize money plus trade bonuses netted him £940 for 2 weeks' work. If you consider that a new MkVII KTT cost £105, he did pretty well; at a guess, around $200,000 in today's money.

[What I find best about these books is their anecdotal style - they offer a first-hand account of the racing personalities you have read about (Woods, Serafini, Meier, etc), their handlers and mechanics, the strange encounters with hotel managers and the police, the machines from factories in England, Germany, France, and Italy, and how they are developed over the years, etc. Good stuff! - Pd'O]

1914 CYCLONE FOR SALE

I spoke today with Ron Christenson of MidAmerica Auctions, as a flyer for their July 12 auction in Monterey hit my mailbox. Rather discreetly advertised is a 1914 Cyclone Board Track Racer; I don't think I've ever seen one come up publicly for sale, much less at auction, although I hear rumors of them changing hands.
This machine was shown at the 2006 Legend of the Motorcycle concours, and I mentioned then that the Cyclone has to rank in the top 10 most interesting and historically important motorcycles.
Made by the Joerns Motor Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, the engine features a shaft-and-bevel driven overhead cams as its most obvious and, for the time, radical feature. The engine presaged modern practice in other ways, including a near-hemispherical combustion chamber, proper caged ball and roller bearings throughout the (when other bikes used uncaged rollers or plain bushes), and recessed mating faces on crankcase halves, barrels, and cylinder heads, for a secure fit. Even with a modest 5.5:1 compression ratio, the estimated output from the engine is 45hp - which is simply astounding for a brakeless bicycle.

Perhaps a dozen of these Board Track Racers were made in the 18 months of the Cyclone's life - the engine, although very successful on shorter tracks, needed further development (especially with lubrication, and the undeveloped metallurgy of the day), and was troublesome on long-distance races. It was already very expensive to build, and the factory didn't have the resources to revamp the engine, so by 1915 the Cyclone passed into legend.

The motorcycle at auction was formerly the property of 'Shorty' Tompkins, is one of 6 known in the world, and one of two which are mostly correct (as the others are heavily remanufactured). The rear section of this frame has been rebuilt; otherwise it's claimed that the bike is original Minnesota metal.

How much can one expect to pay these days for one of the rarest and most desirable motorcycles in the world? I recall speculation at the Legends two years ago - some said the Cyclone Board Track might be the first 'million dollar motorcycle'. I think the owner would be happy with half that, but ultimately, we'll know on July 12th! Stay tuned...

HOW YOU FIND THEM # 8

This one kills me; I knew about this 1915 Indian sitting in a garage, stuffed underneath a lot of boxes and furniture, which had been in one family since 1925. Dan P. got there first, since I dallied, but Dan's a good guy and has other interesting Indians, so it went to a good home.

You can't beat an original paint machine which is nearly 100 years old! This is the last year of the old style motor with inlet-over-exhaust layout and skinny cylinders. Indian produced very advanced motorcycles in the early days, with rear suspension and full electric lighting, including an electric starter (which didn't work all that well, but it was still a first). Leaf springs front and rear provided a comfortable ride over the dirt roads which were the rule back then, and a 3 speed gearbox and good clutch made riding far easier than contemporary clutchless direct belt drives still common throughout the industry until the early 1920's.

This machine has some deluxe touches, like the Corbin speedo driven from the rear wheel, and a Klaxon horn on the handlebars. It's not one of the 'electrified' models, but has an acetylene headlamp. If you look closely at the petrol and oil tanks, you'll see they used tiny filler caps - no current gas pump will fit - and pouring was usually done from a can and funnel. Long distance travel was very unusual, and gasoline was available in 1 gal. cans from your local 'dry goods' merchant - the gallon taking you perhaps 80 miles, if you were careful (and there weren't many opportunities for full-throttle work anyway). Filling stations didn't become common in the US until the late 'teens - the very first 'Filling Station' arriving on the scene in 1905. By 1914, Standard Oil had 34 stations in California, with employees wearing uniforms, and attending to the needs of motorists, filling up tanks from Bowser pumps (invented by Sylvanus Bowser in 1905).

The craziest part has to be the original 1925 title; note the lovely 'old west' script on this official paperwork. Even the State government had a bit of style back then - our titles are simple computer printouts nowadays.


On the photo below, the long lever controls the clutch, the short one the 3-speed gearbox. The clutch wasn't simply an in-out device, but the arcuate slot has little ridges at which the lever could rest, giving a desired amount of slippage from the all-metal multi-plate clutch. Hard to imagine now, but at the time the powerful engine might cause sideslip in mud or dust or gravel, if the power was applied fully.

The Indian was a quality machine, using rods and links to control the carburetor and magneto timing, rather than Bowden cables. It's all very mechanical, complicated, and a bit fussy to maintain when those linkages begin to wear out, when the paste of road dirt and lubricating oil takes its toll.

Maybe Dan will let me have a ride on the Indian after he cleans it up; then I can commit Hara-kiri. Doh!

BMW FACTORY, 1923

A lovely shot of the vast interior of the BMW factory in Munich, with the very first true BMW motorcycles on the production line. The interior space is fairly new, and was actually built in 1917 to make airplanes, as the company started life as BFW - Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Airplane Works). As history notes, the Versailles treaty which ended WW1 included a ban on all airplane manufacture in Germany, and the company sought other uses for their space. The workforce dropped from 3500 to a mere handful (as shown), as first they built the M2B15 engine, which was a Douglas flat-twin built under license, and was sold as an engine only to other motorcycle makers (including Helios, Victoria, Corona, Heller, Schneid, Henninger, SMW, and Bison from Austria).
Karl Popp (managing director of BMW) pressed Max Fritz (chief design engineer) to design a better engine, and although Fritz much preferred airplanes (and had ignored the ban to create one last BFW biplane, which flew to a record 32,000' in 1919 - and really pissed off the Allies!), he turned the Douglas engine through 90 degrees to bring the cylinders out to the sides and into the airstream, helping the engine run cooler, but making the cylinders a bit more vulnerable to damage (as I can attest, having ripped a jug off an R69S after a 'conversation' with a truck...).

The engine was 'square' at 68mm x 68mm, and of a sturdy but not powerful sidevalve design. (I've never ridden one, but have heard they are moped slow), and from the start used a clean shaft drive, and Metzeler tires (still original equipment on BMW's). The little bike weighed 264 lb, and with 8.5hp on tap, was good for around 60mph (by comparison, the 1920 ABC boxer 400cc twin would do around 74mph, and was raced at Brooklands), with an expected 80mpg fuel consumption (oh, where is such frugality today?). In 1924, the front wheel gained a brake, as shown in the second image (top pix have none, dating the photo as '23). Even with a low top speed, the R32 was reliable enough to win races from its inception, and was the harbinger of great things to come.

MODS VS ROCKERS RIDE, 2008

Well, Mods AND Rockers would be a better description, as the animosity between these groups got left behind somewhere in the 1960's, and an awful lot of classic bike owners have scooters in their garage! I've been guilty as well, with Lambretta, Vespa, and Velocette scooters having sat alongside the motorcycles.
The setup is simple; Mods meet at one end of the Embarcadero (Red's Java Hut) in San Francisco, the Rockers meet at Pier 23, we mill around until it's time to GO, then we pretty much have traffic our own way for the next couple of hours...




Then it's off to the beach; not Brighton but Ocean, and as this is the Pacific ocean, there's just a lot of chatter in the parking lot, before we light off again through town, ending up at a big party inside the SFMC clubhouse.











Mike, Joe, and Pete.

















Mike Shiro and his '64 Norton Atlas 750cc twin - the precursor to the Commando, with a proper Featherbed frame. The Commando has a rubber-mounted engine to deal with the vibration of this big twin engine - on the Atlas, the rider must deal with the vibration.... I was riding one as well (from 1965).

















Jeff Wu with his nicely restored 1937 BMW R6 sv, which he showed at the Legends this year.


















Sweet 1954 Triumph Tiger 100 500cc, one of my favorite Triumphs, with the all-alloy engine, and fine-pitch fins on the cylinder barrel and head. This bike was originally
taken from England to Indonesia by it's pilot owner, and eventually restored there, before being imported to CA in the 1980's. It sat for quite a while before being resuscitated by it's current owner.














Several motorcycle clubs were flying colors; the SFMC and the Vampires were the most numerous, pictured here in front of a BMW R69S.












I hadn't seen Danny's Triton before,
which is built from a unit Bonneville engine in a Slimline Featherbed frame. Some interesting contemporary features include the plastic rear fender (front from a Ducati?) and Harleyesque headlamp. Sounded great.





No excuses for this photograph...


















Baby Kawasakis grow up to be big Kawis eventually....

















When he was a lad, he used to fit into his father Geoff's sidecar; now Niles wrenches on Paris-Dakar racers, among others
(although this year he was stranded in Spain when they called off the race...next year it will be run in South America).



















On to the tunnel of love... Joe looks like he's enjoying himself! Smiles all around
.
















Another tiny bike!






















To the beach... my Norton Atlas with another silver two wheeler, a Lambretta Li175. Enough talk - enjoy the photos...