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A little peek at the future, me hearties!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1920s...item3f012e047c
The late Lou Lichva would be in heaven! (if he wasn't there already)
I think this may be what I've been waiting to see! A rideable replica. The Ace is just about THE refined early American motorcycle, by my reckoning. Designed by Wm. Henderson after he sold his interest in the "Henderson" Four to Ignatz Schwinn in the 'teens, he went all out to design and build the ultimate gentleman's Four, and this was it.
All repop? I don't care! It looks like an Ace, it would sound like an Ace ( that is, like a well-oiled sewing machine) and handle like an Ace.
Lou Lichva of New York almost single-handedly renewed interest in the Ace in the Antique Motorcycle Club in the 1960s, and all he set out to do was to construct a replica of the original Ace he rode as a boy in the 1920s. Then, he wrote up the whole story in The Antique Motorcycle and sparked interest in the forgotten Ace all over the world.
He found a frame here, forks there, and an engine from an early Indian Four (which were identical, after Indian bought Ace, except for improved splash oiling and 5-main bearings, instead of the three mains used in the original Ace motors). Any early four-cylinder Indian motor is a bolt-in.
"Thrummmmm!" is the sound they make, and the hand-clutch, hand-shift three speed transmission is just another system to master. Push the clutch lever forward, let go of it and move the shift lever to engage your gear, then reach back to the clutch lever and pull it back to engage it, while holding on to the bike with the conventional r.h. throttle! I seemsthat the English used that system a lot in those days, too.
I love this! I am truly glad that someone has completely repopped the Ace! There's still hope that I may one day own one. And if there's to be an Antique Motorcycle Club in the days to come, this may be it. They're not building Ace frames in NE Philly anymore.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1920s...item3f012e047c
The late Lou Lichva would be in heaven! (if he wasn't there already)
I think this may be what I've been waiting to see! A rideable replica. The Ace is just about THE refined early American motorcycle, by my reckoning. Designed by Wm. Henderson after he sold his interest in the "Henderson" Four to Ignatz Schwinn in the 'teens, he went all out to design and build the ultimate gentleman's Four, and this was it.
All repop? I don't care! It looks like an Ace, it would sound like an Ace ( that is, like a well-oiled sewing machine) and handle like an Ace.
Lou Lichva of New York almost single-handedly renewed interest in the Ace in the Antique Motorcycle Club in the 1960s, and all he set out to do was to construct a replica of the original Ace he rode as a boy in the 1920s. Then, he wrote up the whole story in The Antique Motorcycle and sparked interest in the forgotten Ace all over the world.
He found a frame here, forks there, and an engine from an early Indian Four (which were identical, after Indian bought Ace, except for improved splash oiling and 5-main bearings, instead of the three mains used in the original Ace motors). Any early four-cylinder Indian motor is a bolt-in.
"Thrummmmm!" is the sound they make, and the hand-clutch, hand-shift three speed transmission is just another system to master. Push the clutch lever forward, let go of it and move the shift lever to engage your gear, then reach back to the clutch lever and pull it back to engage it, while holding on to the bike with the conventional r.h. throttle! I seemsthat the English used that system a lot in those days, too.
I love this! I am truly glad that someone has completely repopped the Ace! There's still hope that I may one day own one. And if there's to be an Antique Motorcycle Club in the days to come, this may be it. They're not building Ace frames in NE Philly anymore.
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