See three Crocker for sale!

[Rubone]

Rubone, Daniel S. had the goods.

Yes he did!

[indian301]

I also rode Dale's Crocker. My impressions are the same as Robbie's. Just an old rattly motorcycle. Super cool to look at and fun to ride, but not worth all of the hype.

[exeric]

I had a similar experience like Robbie. On one of my visits to the museum I was standing by the Crocker when Dale walked by . He said " Want to ride it?" I said Sure!. He said "go out in front and I'll bring it out". He rode up and I handed him my camera and took a few laps around the property. When I got back he handed me my camera and put the bike away. Didn't know it until later when I was checking my pictures, Dale took several pictures of me riding the Crocker! Nice surprise from a nice guy.
Dave

Dave, where did Joe Damiano's Crocker go? I saw it years ago at an AMCA chapter meet in South Florida and talked to Joe for quite awhile. The overall finish was gorgeous and Joe did a beautiful job. As for accurate, well, are any 2 Crockers the same? And Daniel sure knew what to go after. His legitimate racing Excelsior Big Valve was my favorite.

[RichO]

Dale's black and red small tank Crocker was aquired from Rich Morris in SoCal and restored by Ernie Skelton. I have a photo of me riding if at the SoCal La Mirada AMC meet in 1975.Chuck Vernon and Ernie just lived a few blocks from the meet as did John Cameron. John and Lance Tidwell and they were always buzzing around on their cut down JDH's. The Clark Bros had a dozen Crockers and brought a couple plus Ekins had one along with McLeod's and Jack Gormley from Sacramento had a small and Large Tank and a speedway. For us young men they where a sight to behpld along with Lattin's, Plotner's,Wright's,and Gilbert's Cylones.Johnny Eagles and Dewy Bonkurd also lived close by.John was Dewey's apprentice at Judd Carriker's Indian dealership in Orange Dewey worked for Al Crocker before Al came to SoCal. Judd was in charge of all the Indian factory race bikes from board track to dirt track to hill;climb from the teens to thirties. He and Johnson Motors Indian dealership sold Crockers as per their letterhead I aquired.Those were the Golden days for us boys in the AMC in SoCal back then.

[frichie68]

Damn, and I thought I was special when I got to SIT ON Steve Klein's Crocker a few years ago . . . .

[JoJo357]

Man~Oh~Manischewitz, who would of thunk all this neat information would have unfolded by *KNUCK just posting the three Crockers being listed at Mecum? Oh, by the way, congratulations Robbie on your 35 years marriage, you sure don't see a whole lot of this in this day and age.

*P.s. Chris Haynes posted these at a recent AMCA Dixon meet~~Enjoy.
43879EC2-ADD6-4BB7-8EC8-A781FE263ABF.jpeg


*M.A.D.*

[Jdiesel25]

One of those three is listed on consignment here:

https://www.classicmotorcycleconsign...er-hemi-head-6

[RichO]

The Black and Orange big tank 1st in line was Jack Gormleys of Sacramento.

[grease monkey]

Dave, where did Joe Damiano's Crocker go? I saw it years ago at an AMCA chapter meet in South Florida and talked to Joe for quite awhile. The overall finish was gorgeous and Joe did a beautiful job. As for accurate, well, are any 2 Crockers the same? And Daniel sure knew what to go after. His legitimate racing Excelsior Big Valve was my favorite.

Damiano did not restore that blue Crocker. It was restored by Harrahs in Reno and then auctioned off when Bill Harrah passed and Holiday Inn bought the lot. The buyer was Ted Lester of custom wheel fame. He paid $25K for it . A little while later he advertised it in Hemmings for the same price he paid ! I called him but $25K was sadly too much for me. That's the story on the Damiano Crocker. I had the privilege of judging it at the Brookfield AMCA meet. It was near perfection and is a real one. No idea where it is now

[exeric]

That is interesting, and kind of funny, Barry. I guess Joe had the Crocker mixed up with another bike

[grease monkey]

That is interesting, and kind of funny, Barry. I guess Joe had the Crocker mixed up with another bike

Maybe he had more than one Crocker. Anyway that's the story on the Ted Lester one that Damiano bought and I judged at Brookfield.

[KNUCK]

So if you look at the results of the Vegas 2025 Mecum auction the Crocker results pretty much reflect the authenticity and condition of the 3 bikes offered this year. To add a footnote to the photo of the 12 Crocker's at the Dixon Meet, it was an amazing sight to see in person!!!

[RichO]

If it was in the Harrahs collection it was restored by Shorty Thompkins who was his head m/c restoration specialist. Shorty was close friends with Harrahs chief parts locator (picker) BudCatlett. both were founding members of our Fort Sutter chapter here in Sacramento. Bud was our road captain. Shorty was a NorCal flat track racer of much renown. He also restored one of the first Cyclones to go for tall dollars at auction.

[grease monkey]

If it was in the Harrahs collection it was restored by Shorty Thompkins who was his head m/c restoration specialist. Shorty was close friends with Harrahs chief parts locator (picker) BudCatlett. both were founding members of our Fort Sutter chapter here in Sacramento. Bud was our road captain. Shorty was a NorCal flat track racer of much renown. He also restored one of the first Cyclones to go for tall dollars at auction.

Great info Rich.Thanks very much .

[EricOlson]

If it was in the Harrahs collection it was restored by Shorty Thompkins who was his head m/c restoration specialist. Shorty was close friends with Harrahs chief parts locator (picker) BudCatlett. both were founding members of our Fort Sutter chapter here in Sacramento. Bud was our road captain. Shorty was a NorCal flat track racer of much renown. He also restored one of the first Cyclones to go for tall dollars at auction.

I wish I would've been older and could've talked to Bud Catlett or my Grandfather about finding items for the Harrah's collection. My Granddad, Bill Cowan, scouted and helped procure some of the cars that went into the Harrah's collection. He also found documents for the restoration library. Although he was more of a car guy, he rode bikes when he was younger for the CHP. Wish I could've grown up quicker to enjoy more time and dug into more details with these guys before they passed.

Grandpa Cowan Harrah's business card.jpg My Grandfathers business card when he worked for Bill Harrah

Dad on motorcyle in park.jpg Bill Cowan on his CHP motorcycle