Crockers

[c.o.]

I appear to be in a Crocker mood tonight and was surfin' around and found this stuff....

[redfred84]

Hey Cory,
You must do a lot of computer digging to find all this stuff? I don't know the fellas in the photos, but I do know Bob McCloud, and knew the late Dewey B. they speak of. Bob also had a Cyclone back in the day, and still frequents the local swap meets with some very rare & bizarre parts, up until maybe this last year. I hear that he's in a home now, as he must be 1000 years old. Dewey was a So.Cal guy who rode around on very custom verticle twin with a Sport Scout engine in it. He was also intramental with Indians of the pre-16 era.
These original Crockers look great. Our local gurus; the late, great Francis "Cliff" Clifford, Hap Jones, Bill Brownell, etc... always poo-pooed the Crockers for some reason; stating they were slow pigs. Bill (Triumph dealer up Sacramento way) was the last of the bunch to hold onto one, eventually selling it back when they commanded a record breaking $40K! Cliff sold his for $40 back in the day!
Of interest in this movie clip you show, is the use of the polished, cast alum. tool box. None of these bikes ever had one back in the day. It is only by the work of Rotten Richard Morris, who came across the original blue prints for the never-made-box, that he was able to have them produced!
There was a guy in So.Cal who had up to 7, if not 9 (including the single speedway models) Crockers at the same time! Gordy Clark even blasted one of his v-twin Crockers on the track at the Ventura Speedway with the rest of us. He busted something in the rear brake/hub area, which locked him up, and put him in the wall hard. Those were the days!
Sorry for rambling, RF.

[Dkgoz]

Hey Cory,

Cool videos! Its nice to see Crockers that haven't been restored.

The shots of the back of both bikes in the second video really opened my eyes to how short the fenders were straight from the factory. Compared to Indians and HDs of the period, they kinda have a bobber look to them.

Thanks for posting these.

Dave Goesling
AMCA 9757

[c.o.]

Glad you liked 'em Dave!

Red Fred, it's not that much digging really. It gives me something to do on those cold winter nights!!! Don't be sorry for rambling. The stories are sooooo good! I discovered Crockers as a teenager and thought... I'm gonna get me one of those.... Now that they are the "holy grail" I'll just have to appreciate sans ownership..... Funny you should mention "Rotten" Richard Morris..........

[redfred84]

Yep, Richard is a true character! He gave me an excellent pen & ink drawing of his dad in that early P51 that he did. He's also quite the artist!

Thanks for all this, RF.

[Chris Haynes]

Sadly it appears that three of these bikes were stolen from Richard last night.

[c.o.]

Man...that really sucks!!! Let's hope he gets them back and that the thief gets what's coming to him!!!

[c.o.]

Here's some Crocker reading... http://www.crockermotorcycleco.com/

O.K. it takes you to the main page but if you click on the History tab and then find Rumors there's some interesting stuff....

[Tom Lovejoy]

Very cool thanks for posting Cory. Just got off the phone with Richard, hopefully his machines will show up!

[c.o.]

My fingers are crossed Tom. I can just imagine the stress that it's put on the man. Whether your a big collector or only have a bike or two, losing them to scum bags looking for a quick buck sucks!!!