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Those pics are sweet!!! love em
Actually fellas it didn't take long for them to start breaking the ton. Check this out: A 1911 500 single Indian capable of 85 mph, and a 1000cc 1914 twin (I believe the single is the one our very own Tim got to sit on and start) and I think the '14 top speed was over 100. Anyhow here em run here:
Don't forget that in 1903 (110 years ago) Glenn Curtiss rode his V8 airplane engined bike to a then absolute world's record of 136.27 mph at Daytona Beach.
Don't forget that in 1903 (110 years ago) Glenn Curtiss rode his V8 airplane engined bike to a then absolute world's record of 136.27 mph at Daytona Beach.
Years ago I had a friend that restored ancient (1920 or earlier) bikes. He had a 1920 Ruge Multi. 1000cc belt drive with a variable speed pulley (hence the "Multi"). It had a lever throttle. The front brake was a bicycle type and the rear a block of brake material that wedged into the belt pulley. The wind hitting our chest slowed you more than the brakes. But that thing would touch 80 mph. Very much like the Indian in the above photos. Wheelbarrow handlebars and handled about the same as a wheelbarrow. I got to ride it a few times. Fortunately he lived in a sparsely populated area. Stopping from 70 took about twice as long as it did to get to 70. But yeah 55 on one of those machines had to be a trip.
Interesting fact I read in CW many years ago. Between 1920 and 1985 the (dirt) mile lap record only dropped by 17 seconds. Says a lot about them old bikes and the men who rode them.
Just kidding. Great photos. 1) it's amazing what film can do, and 2) that guy would've had you arrested if you had told him that less than 100 years later his photos would be able to be seen by almost anyone anywhere at anytime.
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