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Broadslidin'

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  • Broadslidin'

    I just can't get enough of this stuff...... Don Johns was known for his "hell bent for election" riding style and this pic shows the dust he could throw up on a dirt track. It was taken at the Rose City Track in Portland, Oregon circa 1914. It really is quite impressive on how he approached a race.......... wide open all the way around! Other racers would cut the ignition coming into the turn and then crank it up coming out. Not Johns! He held it to the pin from start to finish or until the machine disintegrated, whichever came first! It was against the rules to put your feet down so he pulled off slides purely by wrestling the machine around the turn! I can't think of a more exciting time in motorcycle history. Boardtracks had their challenges, but riding on the dusty dirt tracks was a whole 'nother ball game!





    Here's a quote submitted by Jim Earp from the Winter '91 issue of the Antique Motorcycle on Johns. It references his last race and the kind of character that Johns was. I figured I'd share it with those that may not have read "The Fabulous Johns" article.

    "But Johns wasn't quite through with racing. In July of 1918 a Red Cross meet was staged in Grand Island, Nebraska. The town was the greatest horse and mule market of the United States, so it boomed during the war and the crowd at the meet was huge. The Hendee Company asked Johns to ride for them and he accepted.

    At the track they unpacked two machines -No. 50 and No. 78- that had been stored since January 1, 1917. Things generally went a little wrong at the start. Hillard, a rider on the Excelsior team, had a nasty fall; his goggles broke and filled his face with glass and his foot got caught under the crankcase of the sliding machine and ground his ankle to the bone. In addition, Johns was coasting into the pits on the morning of the race, going very slowly, when suddenly the machine just slid out from under him. He was very surprised to find himself on the ground. He wasn't hurt much at the time but later his knee started swelling badly.

    A gas line on No. 78 broke before the 25-mile event, so Johns never did get onto it. They sent a man into town for a new gas line and ran all the automobile events and played the band to hold the crowd until the machine could be repaired. Johns was so embarrassed that he asked them to start the race without him. They would not consider it.

    Finally the race started and Johns assumed the lead immediately. But the tires had been stored so long, he was afraid of them. He raced very carefully and had no trouble until, at about 75 miles, a very good rider on an eight-valve Harley began to challenge. "He was very persistent. I don't know his name, but I remember he had a marvelous mustache. Well, I wasn't going to lose that race because of old rubber, so I got this fellow in the back stretch with a couple of good hooks and sent him picking corn. He never was closer than a quarter of a mile from then on.

    "I continued then driving as carefully as I could and watching the fabric start to show through those tires. I probably used my head more that day than I ever did before in my life. Then at 99 miles I began running low on gas. With about a pint of gas sloshing around the flat bottom of that four-gallon tank, the engine started missing. That guy with the mustache would have won for sure, only right then he broke a rocker arm and I took the event... I even went an extra lap after the flag to cinch it... I was glad to see that one end. I was out of shape and my hands were so blistered that I couldn't sleep that night and had to call a doctor."

    Boy, I'm glad I've got a place to share my ramblings. Nobody else in my house gets too excited when I get to blabbering about old races, old race bikes and the colorful characters that rode them.
    Cory Othen
    Membership#10953

  • #2
    Very cool picture. I can almost hear the roaring motors and start choking on the dust.
    Just one small comment--- it looks like he put his left foot down. Hard to tell, it's on the other side of the motorcycle, but it just looks that way to me.
    Thanks for the great pics.

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    • #3
      Oh the good old days.

      You can bring your blabbering around here any time you feel like it Cory. I spent much of my adolescent years muscling sport bikes around dirt tracks and I never get tired of hearing old racing stories. If the story is about racing, hill climbing or women, you’ve got my attention.
      ------------
      Steve
      AMCA #7300

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      • #4
        This is why I luv Wauseon ! Paps

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        • #5
          Glad you fellas enjoyed the thread!

          Rooster, I first wondered the same thing when I saw the picture, then I studied it a little better and lined up John's boots and they seem close and he is leaned over pretty good. But then again, I may just be choosing to believe it because it sounds cooler!
          Cory Othen
          Membership#10953

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          • #6
            Geeze kids.
            Have ya never heard of a "Hot Shoe"? Riders used to build a slipon steel sole for their left shoe so they could steady themselves in the cornors.
            KIDS!! What am I gonna do with them?
            Be sure to visit;
            http://www.vintageamericanmotorcycles.com/main.php
            Be sure to register at the site so you can see large images.
            Also be sure to visit http://www.caimag.com/forum/

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Chris Haynes View Post
              Geeze kids.
              Have ya never heard of a "Hot Shoe"? Riders used to build a slipon steel sole for their left shoe so they could steady themselves in the cornors.
              KIDS!! What am I gonna do with them?
              It's got nothin' to do with us bein' kids Chris. From what I understand in the "early" days they didn't put their feet down. The steel shoe came a little later young feller.....
              Cory Othen
              Membership#10953

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              • #8
                I've never heard of early racers using steel shoes. I don't think the pre WW1 bikes went fast enough on the horse tracks to need that aid. Even in the picture that Cory posted shows a less than extreme corner maneuver. Now boardtracks were a different story and the bikes were very fast there, but not even the craziest rider would voluntarily put his foot down on a boardtrack.
                Eric Smith
                AMCA #886

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                • #9
                  Thanks for the insight Eric.... for a minute there I was doubting my words....
                  Cory Othen
                  Membership#10953

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                  • #10
                    I think the steel shoe was developed with the popularity of Class C racing, and Speedway racing. Racing went from the big horse tracks to more numerous small tracks with shorter coarses and tight turns.
                    Eric Smith
                    AMCA #886

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by exeric View Post
                      I think the steel shoe was developed with the popularity of Class C racing, and Speedway racing. Racing went from the big horse tracks to more numerous small tracks with shorter coarses and tight turns.
                      That makes sense. I have to admit I don't know a whole lot about the later racing. I haven't finished studying the early stuff yet! I study it and study it.........gotta find some new info! Exciting times they were!
                      Cory Othen
                      Membership#10953

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                      • #12
                        I have that very photo in my garage, what I have read was it was pre feet draging rules at that time. What I was really amazed at, was how they said they used to fist fight while racing ! Said Don Johns was about the best, but I could not imagine fighting while racing down the track at speed, my gosh - unbeliev'able. I took that very photo, out of the AMCA mag and blew it up. Liked it alot, cool stuff.

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                        • #13
                          No kidding about scrappin' while hurtling around the track. Johns was pulling off 90 plus mph speeds, although I'm sure a duke out session slowed things down momentarily! It was the Phoenix race in 1916 that Johns was pinned between Ray Creviston and Dave Kinney. They figured on teaming up against Don. Well, he back handed Kinney and fired a few hooks at Creviston. It worked well enough to keep Kinney back a quarter lap the rest of the race. It took Johns to make another lap to find Creviston leaning against the fence with glassy eyes! It was a wild time just barely past the old west days and modern times hadn't quite taken over yet. Man this stuff is awesome!!!
                          Cory Othen
                          Membership#10953

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                          • #14
                            Cory, I assume you have Stephen Wright's book, 'American Racer 1900-1939'. That is best book ever written on the subject of motorcycle racing. Almost every picture is worthy of a whole book by itself.
                            Eric Smith
                            AMCA #886

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                            • #15
                              Yes Eric, I do have that book. I try to make sure I have spare time to look at it though, as I can get lost in it! Your right about the stories behind those pictures. I just wish they were written down!
                              Cory Othen
                              Membership#10953

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