Antique Bikes and Motorcycle History

  Malaunay, France, a small picturesque farming village of some 6,000, hugs the banks of the Cailly River some 12 kilometers north of Rouen. Situated in the Haute-Normandie region of the country, its economy is humbly described as one of “light industry” and no doubt that would include the more heavyweight activities that transpire behind […]

The motorcycling world loves a ‘barn find,’ an old, obscure machine wheeled out of the woodwork for the first time. And this is one of the biggest revelations of recent years. It’s a 1930 Henderson that was customized before WW2 by a fellow called O. Ray Courtney and fitted with ‘streamliner’ bodywork. One night in

Back when the Transcontinental Railroad’s golden spoke was still gleaming, the industrial East and the wild West linked by the locomotive, and a young United States still recovering from a bloody Civil War, two books brought relief, comfort and hope across the country. One would be the Bible, the other the Sears mail-order catalog. Founded

The arguably rare, at least to Western eyes, Hungarian Pannonia 250 had been perfectly matched to Duna “bullet nose” sidecar when found by its owner, an admitted “professional computer geek whilst at the 2009 Daytona Bike Week where she ambled into the motorcycle auction to find a bike suitable for AHRMA bike racing. “Unfortunately that

The steam-bike (wonder why it never caught on): Antique motorcycle expected to break world record price at auction It is a bike whose inventor was once arrested for riding it but later released when police couldn’t work out what crime he had committed. And with a record like that it’s not hard to see why

    1819 Pedal Power – Early Motorcycle Dreams The original “Wild Ones” tear up a dirt track in this 1819 painting of the “Hobby Horse” by French artist Maurice Rosseau.  At least you got plenty of exercise.   What Goes Around, Comes Around… A Little Motorcycle Pre-History The story of the “motor-cycle” begins back

Harry Sucher documented the inner workings of Indian History, and wrote the stellar archival book, The Iron Redskin. Harry started his research when the original Indian builders, designers, and executives were still around. In the back of The Iron Redskin, in the appendix on Crocker motorcycles Harry featured a close friend, the master Crocker builder

We were fortunate to stumble across two very rare Vintage Yale Motorcycles recently. One was a 1910 original paint single, one of three known to exist. The other is this sexy 1914 Yale twin. We decided after a heated debate to feature the ’14 because of its stylish art-deco appearance, detail and fit and finish.

Editor’s Note: We are very fortunate to have access to some of the rarest motorcycles on the planet, and have the opportunity to bring them to our Cantina Members. Our connection is Don Whalen, a long time friend and the owner of a small restoration shop in Pasadena, California, which is currently retired. But Don

DAYTONA BIKE WEEK HISTORY– Bikers and bike fans gathered at the World’s Most Famous Beach as early as 1903 for beach speed trials, but it wasn’t until 30 years later that Daytona Beach’s bike racing tradition, and Bike Week, gained traction.     The Daytona 200 took place on January 24, 1937. Bill France was

1937 Harley Davidson UL Flathead Engine no. 37UL6906 Editor’s Note: Here’s another chunk of H-D history captured from the recent Bonham’s Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction Catalog, augmented with Bob T. Collection vintage images. The bright red image, is an actual photo of the Auction bike. We will try to grab the actual sale price.–Wilburn Roach

Editor’s Note: This article was borrowed from the Bonham’s 2011 Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction Catalog, where this Vincent was up for sale. The sale bike is featured below. Throughout the article we augmented the piece with vintage shots from the Bob T. Collection.–Wilburn Roach Lot No: 228• 1952 Vincent 998cc Black Shadow Series C Frame

Although the economy is on shaky legs, two-wheels are apparently much more stable, especially when you’re considering investing in precious metals or keeping up to date on that bike gathering dust in your garage. Gold has jumped to over $1200 an ounce and there’s plenty of that to be found in “golden classics,” case in

The beginnings of the 1916 Cut-down! Great news from the Wheels Through Time restoration shop! The 1916 Harley-Davidson Cut-down project is finally finished. I have to admit, this has been one of the most fun, and most challenging builds that I've ever taken on. About 8 months ago, I dreamed up this project after taking

The New York City Police Department was established in 1844. At the time, New York City's population of 320,000 was served by an archaic force, consisting of one night watch, one hundred city marshals, thirty-one constables, and 51 municipal police officers. Peter Cooper, at request of the Common Council, drew up a proposal to create

Editor's Note: Here's an amazing find. I enjoy the flexibility Bandit and Bikernet afford us motorcycle nuts. We can bring you a feature containing a letter from the contributor, his motorcycle tale, an official vehicle appraisal, words from the restoration expert, and our Bikernet Extreme Tech Chart. How's that for a feature? In this case

It’s not always the model of bike being restored, but the restoration process that shines. That’s the case with this scooter. This 1921 two-stroke Cleveland wasn’t the fastest, rarest, or most unusual bike of its era. It was a slow utilitarian, base-model, but Jim Watson restored every element of this machine until it was awarded

In the case of this rare V-twin we stumble across a document written to motorcycle collector and boss of Sierra Madre Motorcycles, a restoration plant, Don Whalen. We were able to yank the soild document from his tight fist as we listened to his Merkel history lesson. The letter was written by former owner Doug

Here's a compelling story about a jewel of a motorcycle, a lifetime career of restorations, inheritance and the antique motorcycle blues. So where do I start? I discussed antique motorcycle collections with some restoration nut cases recently and they pointed to three recently discarded collections. Each collector's dream became only a dollar sign to family

Indian’s venture into three-wheeled territory began in the late 1920s with so-called “traffic cars,” commercial three-wheelers that over the ensuing years produced several variants. As the story goes the genesis for the Dispatch-Tow seen here occurred in 1939 when Indian and a local Springfield, MA Packard dealership teamed up to find a way to have

For immediate release. 15 September 2008 – San Francisco – Certain competitors, once in the saddle, put an indelible stamp on events and, similarly, there’s a select group of racers who create an affinity with a single brand. There is no finer example of this than the long-standing link between Marty Dickerson, Vincent and Bonneville.

In a not so hostile takeover, bicycle mogul Ignaz Schwinn acquired the vaunted Excelsior company in 1911 and then in 1917 acquired another “trophy” company in the form of the Henderson Motorcycle Co. purveyors of the now iconic Henderson Four seen here. Detroit-based Tom and William Henderson had started building their four cylinder machines in