This is in response to a Challenge by @tattoodjay to take photographs of things on a walk. Things you don’t normally see. I really like the challenge and the challenger so here I am again.
This particular walk was at the Meecham Vehicle Auction that happened recently in Phoenix. It is a big deal in a big venue, State Farm Stadium (where the Cardinals play) that had over 1500 sales entries.
There were a stunning number of historically significant motorcycles, bikes that moved the needle in the time line of the trade.
Not the least of which is this one. It is a 1910 Harley Davidson that is completely restored. It is the oldest HD (or motorcycle) that I have seen live and in person. Note that it has no headlight, and that it was driven by leather belts. Primary and secondary. It started like a moped, you pedaled it fast enough to get it to fire. So far as I know all Harleys were painted this color until 1914.
This pair: A 1915 Excelsior Racer and a 1912 Indian Racer. Both are V Twin engines that very much moved the bar in the motorcycle world. The Excelsior was built in Chicago and the Indian in Springfield, Masachussets.
The Indian was a model built by the Hendee Manufacturing Company. The company wouldn't be known as Indian Motocycle until after WWI. Notice the lack of an 'r' in the name. This particular motorcycle used a chain to drive the rear wheel, a significant innovation.
The Excelsior not only had a chain drive, but a transmission with three speeds! They dominated motorcycle racing before WWI.
This is a great example of a 1915 Excelsior Road Bike fitted with a Goulding Sidecar. Lights, horn, front suspension, and fenders marked the very capable road warrior. Goulding was a significant player in the SideCar market until after WWII.
Look at the detail in this photograph. This sort of attention was typical of the American motorcycle manufacturers prior to WWII. Fantastic paint and touches were the norm, not the exception.
We'll close this portion of the walk with a 1916 Harley Davidson Peashooter, Racer edition. A single cylinder motor with no suspension and even worse, no brakes. They were built to go fast and only sissys needed brakes anyway.
Note the paint and finish even on a racing grade motorcycle. They really did build them well.
That brings us up to WWI. Do you think there might be some more motorcycles in my photo collection? I'll be back with more. That is the end of this Wednesday Walk, I hope you enjoyed it near as much as I did.
All Words and Photographs in this post are mine, for better or worse.
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