See three Crocker for sale!

[KNUCK]

At the upcoming Mecum auction in Las Vegas they have 3 Crocker listed and one is at no reserve. Don't recall seeing that many at once, sometimes one but three! Mecum.com

[JoJo357]

Yes indeed Terry~a real fine line~up of Motorcycles, including a 1915 Cyclone & a 1932 James 'Grey Ghost'.


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*M.A.D.*

[micmac]

Works of Art, Thanks for posting JoJo357.
Pete

[exeric]

Personally, I think Crockers are 1 of the 3 (your pick) most over-rated vintage motorcycles. I'm not talking about monetary value because that is up to the people who really want them and rarity is certainly in their favor. Essentially the Crocker is an Indian Sport Scout with a big, and better looking motor, and if Indian had developed an OHV and put it in the SS it would have been a better looking motorcycle than the Crocker, (i.m.o.) and with full Indian dealership service. I've never liked Crocker's spaghetti tubing, the lousy Indian Scout type coil spring seat, and I suspect they could possibly be a handful to ride being so short-coupled. I've never ridden one, and never heard one running even though I've seen quite a few over the years (there were 2 Crockers here in Florida). Also, I have to believe there were many well blessed Knuckleheads running around in Southern California back in the day that could eat a Crocker for lunch. . . . . Otherwise, Crockers look pretty good I'm thick skinned so let me have it

[Steve Slocombe]

Interesting how different the three Crockers look. The Club must have a lot of problems when they are entered for judging. I've also heard that sixty were built of which a hundred survive? It was a soft market at the last Mecum Las Vegas auction, so it will be interesting to see how the rarities perform compared with the more ordinary machines.

[PRG]

Howdy chaps,

The rather obscure OHV conversion for Scouts was a nice compromise. 30 years ago when the Hampton at the track was the place to be during Bike Week - AMCA officers, racers, manufactures and TV crews - every year, Dale Waksler would show up with his posse from Illinois in a huge 5th wheel and camp in the parking lot. This was during a stretch prior to global warming, cold and humid. Rocky’s Tuesday night parties were then held at his condo on the beach, more breezy and cold. Dale always had something cool to ride and we blasted around to all the happenings, for a couple years he brought his OHV Scout, it had a crack to the exhaust that, like his first Race Of The Century machine at Barber that hinted of more than just gas in the tank. With jodpers, gauntlets and a huge stogie he cut a dashing figure on that machine, light and agile, that could easily hang with my 80ci hotrod Chief up to about 50 or so. I’d be hunkered down and shivering while he rode bolt upright, high wide and handsome. Love Crockers, but I’d take that Scout if for nothing more than sentimentality.

[Rubone]

I rode Dale's Crocker in Maggie Valley once. My wife and I had ridden out to a big BMW Rally in Asheville and took a ride over to see Dale for the day. We rode into the parking lot of WTT which was a sea of Modern H-Ds and leather, she on her bright red Honda VFR 800 and me on my bright red Ducati ST2 both in textile riding gear. As we pulled in and parked Dale was just coming out the front doors on his Crocker. He saw us and rode over to where we were parked, bailed off and we exchanged hugs all around and he said to me, "wanna ride the Crocker?". After my positive response and a quick question as to whether his was set up Indian style or H-D style controls, I hopped on and rode away to the curious looks of the Harley boys as Dale and Tamara visited. Just a quick ride up and down main street and around a parking lot or two. Other than the novelty aspect of it being a Crocker it was just a rattly loose old bike not unlike many others, I certainly didn't notice anything special in that short time on it. . But it was a fun experience even though at the time Matt was unhappy about it since he had never been allowed to ride it! None of the "bikers" ever figured out why I got to ride it!

[JoJo357]

I take it Eric’s 3 overrated vintage motorcycles are… Crocker, Brough & Vincent? Anyway, like Robbie, I had the opportunity to ride my friend Bill Driest’s Crocker at Wauseon many m()()ns ago. I did manage to sneak it out of the east gate and onto Hwy. 108 to get a little blast of her so~called WiCkEd status. It was definitely a potent motorcycle for the 1930’s, that’s for sure! But, after racing sPeEdWaY motorcycles for many years, it’s always been hard to impress me with comparison in regard to the sPeEdWaY’s cookoo acceleration. And like Rubone stated, the Crocker was the proverbial... 'Sh-t~Shaker'.
Without getting the podium or Crocker bandwagon out, i’d have to say given the resources Albert, Bigsby and associates had, the Crocker is an amazing achievment in motorcycle history. Anytime Harley-Davidson contacts Kelsey Hayes and threatens to stop ordering rims unless they drop Crocker from their buying list, is reason alone to simply admire the efforts of the Crocker machine. I believe I read that Albert Crocker had a long standing deal with his customers. If they were beat by a Harley or Indian, he would refund their money. No one ever took Albert up on his offer, so I imagine the Crocker was undefeated? Sure, a hopped~up Indian or Harley could have done in the the Crocker, but the key is…Modified. The stock Crocker had 40% more HP than anything during that period. Without a doubt, it had to have had the prestigios award of being the very first super bike! And, being built in a Los Angeles Garage notwithstanding!!! Considering Crocker only popped out somewhere around 70 or so big twins, the age old rule of collectability is definitely in full force! Not like any of that matters to me, because it’s always been about the Motorcycle and not the so~called Guru’s that try and set the precedent for all the uneducated masses to follow in line with.
All in all, I like the Crocker motorcycle completely, and the overrated comments and status given to it by the trendy hipsters only exemplifies my opinions of the Crocker magnification.
Also, a very large majority of those parts were hand made, and who of the Motorcycle Manufactures didn't outsource parts & experiment until they established themselves?

*P.s. By the way, Albert Crocker reminds me a whole helluva like...'Preston Tucker'.

*M.A.D.*

[grease monkey]

I have had a few original Crocker twins and a couple of Crocker speedway bikes. Wish I could have afforded to keep them all ! I corresponded at length with a retired engineer, Homer Wood who bought the very first twin sold to the public, serial number 4. I wrote an article about Homer's exploits that was published in the British magazine "The Classic Motorcycle" Homer rode that bike across the US from his home in California to do his masters degree at MIT. A Crocker single engine was used in his dissertation ! On his journey the valve seats fell out in Idaho but Al Crocker machined up a set of heads incorporating the seats and all went fine after that. Homer raced #4 at Muroc after riding there from LA. The speed and performance of these bikes has been grossly exaggerated . The old Crocker man Ernie Skelton claimed he had a speeding ticket for 130 mph ! Just a big pile of BS. Some of my most interesting correspondences were with the legendary John Cameron, Harley 2 cam man and participant in many "outlaw" races back in the day. He knew Al Crocker well and had a Crocker which had the propensity to break shifter forks regularly. You see Crocker made the twin frame with an integral gearbox casting, good in theory but not properly developed. After all almost every machine with such a low production run was an experiment ! Homer told me Al regretted this when he took a close look at the positive stop foot change Burman British boxes that came into use in the late 1930's. Anyway getting back to John Cameron. Al ran out of shifter forks . At the same time someone had ordered a 90 inch twin engine for a midget race car and the deal had fell through so John bought that engine and put it in a JD frame ! He told me the handling was superb and he could slide the bike around the corners with both feet on the footboards ! The fly in the ointment was the frame weak point , the saddle frame downtube I know this was a problem on some big twin Harleys as well breaking just above the gearbox.
John's letter inspired me to build my idea of an "improved" ( sacrilege?) Crocker twin. I used various original Crocker parts I had kicking around including the first engine made in 1938. I put it in a modified VL frame, with a Sport Scout fork. I could write a book about all this so I won't bore you anymore except to say that I am overly pleased with the result. The bike not only pulls like a freight train but handles beautifully. A lot of BS luck ! I love Crockers of any ilk. IMG_7913.jpg

[PRG]

Simply stunning Barry!

[duffeycycles]

I've never owned or ridden a Crocker but always enjoyed seeing them at Davenport. When Indian 4s went thru the roof in price I pointed the comparatively low price for a Crocker to Dale Walksler. Crocker's had been around 30-40K when you could buy a running riding OP Indian 4 for $ 2,500. 4s were hitting 60K. I told Dale that 100K for a nice Crocker sounded like a deal & explained my reasoning. Soon after Dale had 2 Crockers !

[Rubone]

An old acquaintance who lived in the Santa-Fe area at one time had a great collection of very rare stuff at his home, a couple of Cyclones, Brough SS100, Vincent A-series, eight valve H-Ds and Indians, and a couple of Crockers! Very fun stuff to get to see in an informal setting.

[ammorest]

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

[jcrawford]

Here's my 2 cents worth of a Crocker experience. Years ago in the late '80s, I travelled with friends on a flight from Vancouver to LA (via a stop-over for a flight change at Las Vegas airport - my first and only time in Vegas and just at the airport only, which in itself was a memorable people-watching expeience!) I think it was our second time at the La Mirada Meet (in the shopping mall parking lot?)
Here we were thrilled to meet and visit with Johnny Eagles, Dewey Bonkrud, Chuck Vernon, Ernie Skelton and more. Ernie saw me ogling back and forth between his 600 Panther sloper and his two-tone caramel brown and tan-orange Crocker. It was probably the first Crocker I could get an all-around close look at and was excited (but not so much by the colours!) He approached and said "Which one do ya like best? " I said both! Then after a pause, he said "Well, which one would you like to ride?" Being the chance of a life-time, it didn't take me long to say "your Crocker, if you are sure it's OK? I ride a Chief, and have ridden a Harley a few times, so I know how to use a foot clutch and hand-shift." He said "it's ok, if you don't go far" So, I carefully took off on a jaunt around the perimeter a couple times (and didn't get past 2nd gear!) I did get a feel for it's peppy torque though, and returned with an ear-to-ear grin, thinkin' now I can say I've ridden a Crocker! I 'll never forget this experience due to an offer from what I remember as a tall, lanky, soft-spoken and kind gentlemen with a flat-top haircut.

There is one in progress here locally and another I have seen not far across the line, as well as others not far away that have been in the magazine at the Oley Meet (a couple years ago?)

[RichO]

Rubone, Daniel S. had the goods.