Harley-Davidson's Wrecking Crew

[ArchiveMoto]

When you look at what happened in Dodge City 1915,it would be easy to call them "The Wrecking Crew" after this race.I still haven't found the pic.


Indan riders in 1920 were still not riding the "Superior" sidevalve

Is there any instances from the period of Harley-Davidson themselves using the term "wrecking Crew" to describe their own team in the press? It may have been picked up by the marketing department years later.

On a separate but related point, I would love to get in touch with Bill Tuman or Bobby Hill while we still can and ask them the origin story behind Indian co-opting the name in the 40's, which is now being recaptured by the mighty Indian/Polaris marketing department. I like to think that it was a deliberate jab at Indian's long time rivals but that may just be the romantic in me.

[HarleyCreation]

A lot of good stuff to dig into here already as far as HD on the boards.

As for the opening races at Riverview, they were held July 7-8, 1911. W. Conley took 2nd place in Saturday's 3 mile open on an HD, and a man named Schadt took 3rd on an HD during the same event Sunday. Riders listed as running HD at Riverview over the coming weeks Include Joe Wolters, Schadt, Born, Willie Walsh, and George Johnson.

First, do you mean "boards" or "drome"? There's a critical difference. Boards means any board track. H-D raced the boards: Maywood in 1915, etc. Dromes were the steeply-banked Jack Prince slaughterhouse saucer-tracks that H-D deplored and refused to ride. They were also a type of boardtrack, but the two weren't equal. Not to sound schoolmarmish, but these track types are easily confused. They confused me!

Except for wolters those racer names are obscure. Were they local lights? Hometown heroes? Most likely somebody was sponsoring them. Dealers probably. But who? Lang? Others? A rich friend? When it comes to H-D on the drome circuit these are important questions. Because officially H-D shunned all murderdrome racing.

[HarleyCreation]

Hi Herb, I found that avatar in an old motorcycle magazine from around 1912. I can't remember the exact issue but it was in an ad and I had to photo shop the text
out of the picture. I always thought of it as the Grim Reaper but the Checkered Demon makes a lot of sense too. I always believed the image was motor drome inspired too. I'm gonna check my files and see if I have anymore images relating to motor drome's and the "Wrecking Crew".

The date I referred to in my original post was 1871 for the "wrecking crew" for the boats. It should have been 1841. That term has been around a long time.

later

In the 19th century shipwreck salvage was a big deal. Very much here on the Great Lakes by the 1830s-40s. Before railroads came lake shipping was the main means of moving goods. Lots of wrecks. As a kid in Racine I remember shipwreck remains along the lake shore. My cousin Louie Wynhoff found a human bone there. I still have it.

The OP still stands. Did H-D adopt "The Wrecking Crew" as a proper name/title in the post-WW1 Enthusiast or was it a generic term? I want to say they did. There needs to be a full run of that publication online. Now modern Indian has shrewdly adopted it. Sneaky! This question reminds me of certain claims about the nickname "hog" also originating on the 1920s racetrack. It pays to go back and check original sources to separate fact from fable. This one is still on the fence.

Interesting that your cool demon logo came from a 1912 ad. The Hasha holocaust also happened in 1912. His bike cut cut through the drome crowd like a scythe. The modern Checkered Demon is a fat-ass underground comic ogre in checkered pants who tortures the Hog Riding Fools and steals their drugs, women, and motorcycles. Funny stuff. (Wish I knew how to post this image).

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-czPFGn7mw4...1600/demon.PNG

It occurred to me that Checkered Demon also fits these motordrome grim reapers from the early mags and newspapers dropping the checkered flag at these fatal races. Yours is perfect. Of course I get carried away with this stuff, but don't we all? The biker-skull-deaths-head motif has carried right on through. It's another very old tradition--not post-WW2 gang inspired like most history books suggest. Probably as old as time itself.

Hog ridin' fools sample>>>

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_9JflqApjS...OOLS+PG+1..jpg

[ArchiveMoto]

First, do you mean "boards" or "drome"? There's a critical difference. Boards means any board track. H-D raced the boards: Maywood in 1915, etc. Dromes were the steeply-banked Jack Prince slaughterhouse saucer-tracks that H-D deplored and refused to ride. Not to sound schoolmarmish, but these track types are easily confused. They confused me!

Except for wolters those racer names are obscure. Were they local lights? Hometown heroes? Most likely somebody was sponsoring them. Dealers probably. But who? Lang? Others? A rich friend? When it comes to H-D on the drome circuit these are important questions. Because officially H-D shunned all murderdrome racing.

Sorry, creative language use getting the better of me there, I was referring to Motordromes specifically. The difference is quite important to me as well as my initial understanding of "board track racing" mirrored that of most people's with a general interest and has since sparked a great personal inquiry. A view which lumped in everything from motordromes to speedways, and the occasional carnival act only to create and perpetuate a largely false narrative. For quite some time now I have been working on an extensive documentation of each individual motordrome track in America between 1908 and 1914, the era that HD had nothing to do with and the period that I believe most wax poetic about, but generally misunderstand and include the later speedway days from 1915 through the late 20's. I wanted a more clear, bigger picture understanding for myself so I've dug in deep into the smallest details that I can find and have learned so much along the way, a side project from my work on the Van Order collection which has all but taken over.

As for the handful of "Riverview Privateers" I believe your theory of them being hometown boys is accurate, which again raises the question of Lang's involvement and the construction/specifications of the machines themselves. Im still trying to find the mention of Wolters at Tulleries in Denver on an HD, it may be my own mixup but for some reason I seem to recall that combination being reported in Denver just before Wolters left for Chicago.

[pem]

[QUOTE=ArchiveMoto;158589]For quite some time now I have been working on an extensive documentation of each individual motordrome track in America between 1908 and 1914, the era that HD had nothing to do with and the period that I believe most wax poetic about, but generally misunderstand and include the later speedway days from 1915 through the late 20's.

This is off topic but might be of interest to you. The first banked race track used for motorcycle racing that I know of was the cement velodrome track at Garfield Park in Chicago. This is just from memory but if you want more info I can make copies of my research. I believe it was built in 1899 and torn down in 1906. First motorcycle race was I think 1902. The 1905 race was Walter Davidson's first race on a banked track. Send me a PM if interested.

Dick

[Steve Slocombe]

Check out Thomas Bund's book 'Murderdrome' before we get too definitive on what was first. In France, bicycle racing at the velodromes was very popular in the late 19th Century, and after the first production motorcycle in 1894 we see pacer motorcycles used at the velodromes to set the speed for cyclists or tow shields to reduce wind resistance for them. As soon as you had two of these pacer bikes, it was inevitable they would be raced on the early French velodromes. Probably some of those late 19th Century De Dion Bouton trikes as well...

[HarleyCreation]

Sorry, creative language use getting the better of me there, I was referring to Motordromes specifically. The difference is quite important to me as well as my initial understanding of "board track racing" mirrored that of most people's with a general interest and has since sparked a great personal inquiry. A view which lumped in everything from motordromes to speedways, and the occasional carnival act only to create and perpetuate a largely false narrative. For quite some time now I have been working on an extensive documentation of each individual motordrome track in America between 1908 and 1914, the era that HD had nothing to do with and the period that I believe most wax poetic about, but generally misunderstand and include the later speedway days from 1915 through the late 20's. I wanted a more clear, bigger picture understanding for myself so I've dug in deep into the smallest details that I can find and have learned so much along the way, a side project from my work on the Van Order collection which has all but taken over.

As for the handful of "Riverview Privateers" I believe your theory of them being hometown boys is accurate, which again raises the question of Lang's involvement and the construction/specifications of the machines themselves. Im still trying to find the mention of Wolters at Tulleries in Denver on an HD, it may be my own mixup but for some reason I seem to recall that combination being reported in Denver just before Wolters left for Chicago.

I figured that, but wanted to clarify.

Put another way, while all motordromes were board tracks, not all board tracks were motordromes. As a kid at the Wisconsin State Fair I remember a "Wall of Death" motorcycle carnival show. Old Indian Scouts were on display. Last remnant of the original motordrome days.

Lang's record as a race sponsor is very sketchy after around 1910 or so. Not clear how active he was. But there were plenty of other H-D dealers in the Chicago region who may have been tempted to back some local hero. The Midwestern dromes in relation to H-D branded bikes would be a great study because it seems to be so rare.

Steve: I've gotta check out that "Murderdrome" book. The title tells all.

[HarleyCreation]

Here's a take on the boards from a recent critique on the H&D Discovery Channel flick borrowed from another thread. In this quote the writer fails to see the difference between boards and dromes. In that respect, the miniseries got it right--more or less. Harley-D did oppose motordrome racing and did emphasize long distance dirt track and road racing after 1913. But at the same time H-D never opposed board track speedway racing. Therefore, quite reasonably, the miniseries could have Harley swear off the murderdrome but continue to race the boards because they were never the same in the first place. The writer below confuses/misses that important distinction in his critique. It's easy to do.

"Episode one of the series ends with the board track era and the death of Eddie Hasha. This time the producers decided to downplay the horrific board track crash that ended his life and that of fellow racer Johnny Albright and six spectators, including three young boys. The series shows Harley-Davidson withdrawing from board track racing after Hasha’s death and focusing on flat track racing, but the reality is that Hasha’s accident happened in 1912 and the Harley-Davidson continued racing and winning board track races into the mid-1910s and beyond."

http://www.cyclenews.com/2016/09/art...ley-davidsons/

[bobbyt]

Im still trying to find the mention of Wolters at Tulleries in Denver on an HD, it may be my own mixup but for some reason I seem to recall that combination being reported in Denver just before Wolters left for Chicago.

Wolters rode for the Denver Excelsior dealer and competed at both the Denver tracks. Joe generally rode Excelsiors and worked fro the factory for many years. In 1911 he was instrumental in the development of the Excelsior 7 racer. He did ride a Harley in the 1915 Venice race. That was actually a road race, but they used several of the board track corners left from Playa del Rey ... so it was sorta a combination.

-------------- Bob Turek

[ArchiveMoto]

[QUOTE=pem;158592]

For quite some time now I have been working on an extensive documentation of each individual motordrome track in America between 1908 and 1914, the era that HD had nothing to do with and the period that I believe most wax poetic about, but generally misunderstand and include the later speedway days from 1915 through the late 20's.

This is off topic but might be of interest to you. The first banked race track used for motorcycle racing that I know of was the cement velodrome track at Garfield Park in Chicago. This is just from memory but if you want more info I can make copies of my research. I believe it was built in 1899 and torn down in 1906. First motorcycle race was I think 1902. The 1905 race was Walter Davidson's first race on a banked track. Send me a PM if interested.

Dick

I'd love to know what you've found on that one Dick, my email is Chris@GeorgiaMotorcycleHistory.com. From what I've come to understand the evolution of the sport saw a number of spits and sputters before the first true, circular motordrome popped up in Springfield in July 1909, so I'm sure there are a few events at Velodrome tracks that have fallen through the cracks of time and I'd love to know about them. Granted there were the pacing machine races and exhibitions, but those events were a far cry from what motordrome racing became. I have my notes that the first true exclusively motorcycle event to take place on a velodrome track was at the Charles River Park Velodrome in Boston, August 1905. Next would have been in '08 at Prince's Clifton Stadium Veldrome in what was then Patterson NJ. It was the first banked wooden track constructed larger than normal by Prince specifically with the idea of accommodating motorcycle races. As such it is also where you see some of the first stars of the sport emerge, the first generation of board track bikes introduced, and the first records of that type made. The LA Coliseum was technically the first motordrome, but with its oval shape and noncontinuous banking it hadn'tt yet evolved into what I think most would consider a motordrome. The design hadn't really been worked out until later that summer when Prince built the Stadium at Springfield on land leased by Hendee himself. And even then the tracks built in that period, from 1908-1911 really shows Prince experimenting with and locking down the idea, the track design, and the profitability of the sport. Even including the oddball tracks, which deviated from the typical design we consider today to be motordromes, only 10 tracks were built in those 3 years, 7 more were built in 1912 alone, and another 8 motordromes completed in 1913, each of a very similar design.

... BUT I DIGRESS. Sorry. back to the Wrecking Crew

[ArchiveMoto]

Wolters rode for the Denver Excelsior dealer and competed at both the Denver tracks. Joe generally rode Excelsiors and worked fro the factory for many years. In 1911 he was instrumental in the development of the Excelsior 7 racer. He did ride a Harley in the 1915 Venice race. That was actually a road race, but they used several of the board track corners left from Playa del Rey ... so it was sorta a combination.

-------------- Bob Turek

I think that I have mashed a few tidbits together in my brain on Wolters in Denver on an HD, I have several pictures of him there with Excelsiors so I must be thinking of the Chicago event he ran an HD at.