Antique Bikes and Motorcycle History

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 […]

This could be a 1919 Single H-D model the precursor to the first Peashooter in '26. Photo from the Bob T. collection. Hill Climbing like jazz is an American invention. The idea is to get to the top of a very steep hill faster than the next rider. And you and the bike must arrive

Everybody knows him as the ultimate stuntman who achieved the famous motorcycle jump (and that on a Triumph made to appear like a German bike) in Steve McQueen’s “The Great Escape.” Others remember him as a daring-do racer. In addition, Bud Ekins also enjoyed tinkering with time machines. Case in point this totally stock, “original

What’s a rare 1930s vintage German BMW doing in a 21st century Boss Hoss dealership in Harbor City, CA? That’s the question we asked Victor Vert owner of California Boss Hoss Motorsports. “I had gone up to Don Whalen’s place to look at an Indian Four he had restored and had up on eBay. I

Canonball Bakers and crew. Whenever one writes anything about Australia, it should begin with a song, probably the country’s most famous. I first heard it as a kid watching a movie made in 1959 called “On the Beach.” Gregory Peck played a submarine commander heading for Australia hoping to find some survivors from a nuclear

Sometimes in life, there are things that happen that take you to another place. Trust me, you rarely will realize this as it is happening, but after the fact, reflecting on the way the events unfolded, you’ll know this was a special time. That was the case when I met Gerald Jessup, the owner of

My maiden name was Marthy Cannary. I was born in Princeton, Missourri, May 1st, 1852. Father and mother were natives of Ohio. I had two brothers and three sisters, I being the oldest of the children. As a child I always had a fondness for adventure and out-door exercise and especial fondness for horses which

The Battle of the Sexes has entered every category one can think of…there have been female Pharaohs, a female Pope (oh, yeah) and female astronauts so the idea that motorcycling is a man’s domain. Well, that old bit of chauvinism went out the door decades ago minus a few countries where women are still not

If you haven’t noticed, the prices recently garnered by vintage, classic and antique motorcycles have gone through the roof…and blasted past Saturn and beyond. Case in point the recent Otis Chandler Museum and Steve McQueen auctions where several motorcycles passed the $100,000 mark, make that the $200,000 mark! Ounce per ounce vintage iron is definitely

Original ads and shots from the Bob T. collection. Here's the bike Rick Krost scored from an antique bike collection auction. Deals come along from time to time, if you keep a briefcase fulla cash under the mattress. Excerpt from “The Art of the Motorcycle” Guggenheim Museum “The Ner-a-Car was an oddity in the field

For those of you who think this is just another article by a guy who loves some old bikes most people have never heard of, let me fill you in. I didn’t know much about Crockers myself, until a few days ago. Bandit gave me the assignment to write an article about these bikes and

There she sits, one of 50-factory race Indian 648s built in 1948, with a chromed frame. That frame bothered me. Who would restore a factory racer and chrome the frame, reminiscent of Captain America glitz? Researching the history of this rare, race-winning flathead I asked and read about the model and its history, but kept

Yo Bandit, Since you guys decided to get my account fixed, I felt compelled to share some family pics with the Cantina, in appreciation for your dedicated staff's diligence. Attached you'll find three pics from my grandfather’s Indian shop, in New Rochelle, N.Y. He was the first dealer in the country to sell a bike

Indianfor1927 In a rare find we broke into the Bob T. collection to discover a complete flier on the 1927 Indian new model rundown. Follow this brochure to find out all the benefits of owning the ultimate motorcycle in 1927.

Three simple expressions but they represent perhaps the most powerful fusion, not only in yesterday’s rock n’ roll era, but also in today’s. The Ace Cafe was built in 1938 as a roadside cafe to cater for traffic using the then new North Circular Road. In World War II, the building was badly damaged and

This rare Crocker sold for an all-time high dollar amount of $275,000 in November of 2006. The broker was Don Whalen of Sierra Madra Motorcycles, (626) 358-9696. If anyone can find a bike or a buyer, Don can. There's a constant controversy regarding Crockers. Many of the bikes available today were never complete bikes, but

Actual Vintage Triumph ad from Bob T. Collection. Change it is inevitable and it is constant, be it a change in scenery around the house or the changes in noises you make as you get up off the floor from working on your bike…things change. I recently made a change on the job front and

“The Sun Never Sets on the British Empire” was a popular truism of the 18th-mid 20th centuries. The vast island nation’s colonial “properties” around the world, extended from the “Raj” of the teeming Indian subcontinent to the rubber and oil riches of Southeast Asia. There was another saying, “Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen Go Out

If you didn’t like high school algebra and doing your taxes makes your head spin, maybe you shouldn’t read the following. We get into some deep waters as we try to fathom the often bizarre world of Harley-Davidson’s “secret codes” employed since the dawn of the company’s existence. But if you’re into old bikes, like

History is what the winners say happened. In this case, the winner was Harley-Davidson. The Milwaukee Marvel alone survived the Hundred Years War, a century of innovation and most often extinction. Scattered across the scrap yard battlefields of the first few decades of the 20th Century you could count the rusting steel bones of around

Article and photos courtesy of Dave Blackwell, member of the New Zealand Racing 'Team Indian' , founder of IORNZ (Indian Owners Register of New Zealand). “This is a tribute to H.J Munro, a.k.a 'Burt' Munro.” Here’s the story behind the World’s Fastest Indian Movie starring Anthony Hopkins. In 1920 a 21 year old Southlander stood

Here’s a strange one. First it starts out with a strange connection, Jim Murillo, of Jim’s Cycle Painting, in Gardenia, California. He’s a recovering something or other, who roams the streets of Los Angeles doing, I don’t know what? If you call his shop the answering machine always picks up. “This is Jim’s Custom, err,

Fans of the original Indian motorcycle often like to remind their Harley buddies that their Springfield splendor preceded production of the Milwaukee marvel by two years…Indian appearing in 1901, Harley-Davidson in 1903. Truth be told, both Indian and Harley were upstaged in the history books (generally unread it appears), by a Massachusetts bicycle concern called

Got an award from W. S. Harley for something designed for early Sportsters. Good Friend past back in November, 2005, Don 'Snuffy' Smith. One on the best Harley mechanic's around. He was a flat tracker back in the '40s and '50s. Everyone up in the Hi Desert went to him for lower end work. But