Digitals Discovery

“I picked this up yesterday,” Don Whalen, of Sierra Madre Motorcycles, said. “It’s a 1902 Mitchell. It was made in Milwaukee at the same time those other guys were starting up. I wonder if they knew each other? Can you imagine that conversation.” We ran to the Bikernet Library and flipped through the Encyclopedia of […]

Bandit, Attached are a few shots of the 1946 Flanders Company catalog if you need some stuff to add to your Antique Bikes and Motorcycle History section. Flanders has not make the Dog Bone risers for years, but still is making handlebars. Just let riders know that there are lots of China Cheap imitation new

More content from my trove of old magazines. here's a review of the new Harley-Davidson Topper scooter from the June, 1959, edition of Popular Science. –Charles Plueddeman Oshkosh, WI

This summer I came into possession of a treasure-trove of vintage magazines — Popular Mechanics, Pop Science, Mechanics Illustrated and others — dating from 1939 to the early 1970s. I've got about eight big banana boxes full of them. Tonight I was flipping through a bunch and found this great story from the August, 1950

We're running shots of classic Brough Superior motorcycles with this attitude adjustment article. English motorcycles built from 1920 to 1940, they were the best of the best, hand crafted for the upscale rider. MOTOR CYCLE magazine once described them as the “Rolls Royce of motorcycles.” Don Whalen, antique motorcycle broker, confirmed that Lawrence of Arabia

This is the Parilla formula one racing iron used by the countess Maria Bandini “Mama” when she won the 1953 Italian speed ironing championship at Rome. The countess vanquished all her opponents with her tremendous, on the edge, display of blistering speed and amazing control over a track of both linen and silk, becoming a

This is an account of a 100,000 mile test of Vincent Black Shadow in 1951-3. The motor was given to VOC Chairman Tim Kirker, reportedly for testing purposes. Back in 1951, Tony Rose set out to put 100,000 miles on his new Black Shadow and achieved this aim with relatively little in the way of

Here's the strangest find of the year. This is an original custom from the '70s in an original Denver Frame. The owner recently died and his wife is escaping memories, in bad health, while trying to find peace in the desert. It breaks her heart, but she's selling everything. “I told my husband I will

In the late 1930s this one-of-a-kind Helicron was placed in a barn and forgotten. More than six decades later this odd lost little gem was rediscovered, rebuilt, and reintroduced to the world. Although the manufacturer is unknown, it's believed that this car was built in France 1932. Following the first World War it was not

In 1935 a group of five German engineers named Killinger and Freund from Munich started to design a more streamlined and modified version of the German Megola front-wheel drive motorcycle that had won many motorcycle races in the 1920s. An original Megola. The work took three years to complete but the result was impressive. The

I've got a little story to tell you that I think you will find interesting. I am a retired airline pilot (for the time being) who met a pilot for Air France at the Harley dealer in Salt Lake City in the summer of 2005. Since we both flew the B-777 we had an instant

Curator's Note: The following story is an excerpt from the handwritten 1901 Summer Journal of Edward I. Horsman, Jr., age 27, the son of a prominent New York toy manufacturer. Edward spent his summers, as did many high society members, in Europe and rubbed elbows with the elite of the Old World. Edwin Lemare and

Minnie and Homer. MY GRANNIE WAS A BIKER SINCE BEFORE MY POP WAS BORN, SHE RODE BESIDE MY GRANDPA ON MANY A SHINING MORN’. SHE WOULDNT TOUCH A HONDA OR RICE SMOKE BELCHIN'SHIT, BUT I'VE HEARD FOLKS SAY THAT HER MODEL “K” WAS AS CLEAN AS YOU COULD GET. GRANDPA HAD A KNUCKLEHEAD AND TOGETHER

No one really knows when the first motorcycle sidecar was created. The history books mention a wicker chair sold by a British concern, Mills and Fulford, in 1902. But maybe a couple kids tied a barrel to their bicycle and bolted on an extra wheel. If you think about maybe even the ancient Sumerians (or

Charlie Williams and his '78 Parlin Orendorff? Budget bobber or a maniacal fabricator's tribute to his redneck Swedish heritage? Rare PO discovered in a Florida gas station. Charlie Williams is a fabricator/body man extraordinaire. Having known him for around 20 years I’ve seen custom paint jobs on pickups, big rigs, motorcycles, and who knows what

We’re searching for information about this ring from Hollister. A Bikernet reader sent us images of this Hollister ring and we’re researching it’s origin. Hey, I live in Melbourne Australia, I have just got my hands on this ring. It says its Hollister 4.6.47. Has the 1% on the front, but would love to know

Joe's record breaking run took place March 13th, 1937–Bike Week in Daytona.

TWO VON DUTCH ITEMS FOR SALE– A framed display of the last pinstriping brush used by VON DUTCH with a picture of VON DUTCH at his easel in his shop at Santa Paula in Dec. 1987, after leaving the '87 RATFINK meet where the brush (a RAPHAEL sword #00)was purchased. He used this brush, his

Illustration by Dick Allen. This is one of only 30 Black Lightnings ever made and was the first one in the USA. This bike held the 1-mile world speed record (unsupercharged) in 1953 and then held the American record of 182 mph supercharged. This is probably the meanest pre-1950 bike you will ever see. This

Something strange happened at the Bikernet Headquarters about a year ago. We got a call from a odd homeless San Pedro bird. He was one of those guys who drifted in and out of our lives. As a young man his life went to shit behind drugs and alcohol, until he had a son and

An ad for one of the very first swingarm big twins. It musta been a pre ’64 Panhead. We busted into Bob T’s garage recently while he was lost in a bottle of Jack Daniels, but not that gone. We just barely roamed into one of his antique collection drawers and he came to life,

Here’s a trophy from 1947, worth thousands now. We needed something cool and rare for the Cantina Digital Discovery area, so I was told to hauled ass to 17 Palms, Califa, a dusty berg in the Mojave Desert. A buddy of mine, Bob T. lives out there in the sand. In the shell of a

This is a steam trike sitting for sale about 2 blocks from my place, had to grab my camera,” said Gene Koch of Drag Specialties. “It’s a one-off that somebody built and I've never seen anything like it. Needs a lot of work, the owner had no idea who built it or when. Wants $7,000.

Classic biker cartoons from the 1920s from the Bob T. collection. “We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation has many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas