Pennington

[Pete Gagan]

Greetings friends:
There is a Pennington motorcycle being re-created in the Gagan garage, thanks to drawings and information located in England, to where the colorful Mr. Pennington escaped from Racine Wisconsin, where he developed his motorcycle in 1894/5. His first trip down Grand Ave. in Milwaukee is documented in the excellent book by Herb Wagner, "At The Creation".
There were articles written about this demonstration ride in the Racine and Milwaukee papers of the time. I was wondering if anyone in the area would be willing to visit the archives and secure copies for me.
The Pennington was never commercially successful, but it did run, both in the USA and abroad. With a weight of approx 125 pounds, and a displacement of just over 1000ccs, he certainly had power to weight ratios in mind! Pennington coined the word "motorcycle", built the first gasoline powered machine on roads in both the USA and in England, and was the first to use spark ignition in the form of his peculiar "long mingling spark" system. He was also a con man, so history has perhaps been less kind to his invention than it deserved. Hopefully, I'll have it at Davenport this fall for a blast around the track.
The Prez

[Dkgoz]

Pete,

Perhaps Herb Wagner has some info you could use, or maybe he could refer you to a source. Pennington was mentioned in the "1903 Rumor" thread in the Parking Lot Chatter forum. Look on the 3rd or 4th pages (its a looong thread).

Is the info you found in England extensive? Are there prints for the motor and frame? Were you specifically looking for this, or just find it by a stroke of luck?

Best of luck - I hope to see it at Davenport.

Dave

[AdminGuy]

This bike Pete? Maybe some modern materials to aid cooling?

http://www.ozebook.com/azk/kane-pennington.htm

[Pete Gagan]

The Pennington I'm building is the solo, with the solid rear wheel.
The info I have gathered from England is indeed extensive, and does include not only a copy of the original working drawings, but all details on "Solidworks", so that if I had a C&C machine, I could make the parts automatically. This was done by an engineering prof. at Oxford as a class project. I've done it all the old fashioned way, though. There is also an interesting writeup by Pennington's "test pilot", a well known and respected English cyclist of the time written in 1931, describing his adventures with the machine. According to him, there were no overheating problems. That is likely due to the fact that the crank-case is totally open, so air can blow on the bottom of the pistons, and the valves are in pods remote from the cylinders. The problem was the ignition system, as the springs on the spark plugs lost tension as a result of heat, and had to be replaced frequently. Its on these plugs where I will use some modern materials. Pennington's "raft", his three wheeled automobile, built later than the bike, used these as well, so they obviously worked. The chassis of the Raft is at the Bieulieu museum, and a friend of mine who works there extracted a plug from it and sent me a photo. The best run on the bike was ten miles non-stop at the Coventry bicycle track in England. Evidently it was difficult to control the mixture with the needle valve feed, so there was a lot of misfiring, giving it an average speed of about 35 mph. On occasion when all was well, it would approach 60 mph and beyond. There was no throttle valve. Another problem was keeping the front wheel on the ground during start up, and loss of traction. Pennington also pioneered "Wheelies".

[AdminGuy]

Heee-hee-heee..... that's great Pete. I'll have to get some more pictures as it progresses.

Here are some shots for everyone from Pete. You saw it here first! Check it out!!!

[AdminGuy]

Period photo.

[AdminGuy]

The replica!

[c.o.]

It looks like an absolute blast!!! Good on ya Pete!!!

[HarleyCreation]

Wow!

This is the BEST news I have heard in ages! I read the Prez' message in the new issue of the club mag and now Earl alerted me to this new Topic on Pennington.

I've been hoping for YEARS that somebody would build the "Motor Cycle" as invented and patented by the warped genius Edward Joel "Airship" Pennington. In fact, a few years ago I wrote a letter in the "Antique Motorcycle" and asked what guys thought about Pennington's engine and if it would actually run or not.

It looks like we may find out thanks to Pete Gagan!

When I first heard of Pennington years ago, I assumed he was an Englishman due to his name and publicity from England. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he was an American and the scene of some of his exploits took place in my hometown of Racine, Wisconsin! That sort of inspired me to find out more. Later I put two and two together and realized that Pennington displayed the Motor Cycle in Milwaukee just a few blocks from where 14 year old Bill Harley and Arty Davidson lived.

Was that just coincidence considering their later careers? I don't think so!

I've collected a BIG file on Pennington's wanderings and monkey-shines and indeed it is a wonderful story much stranger than anybody could dream up -- yet all true. It makes a great tale that explains a LOT about the origin of the gasoline motorcycle in America and it would make a great movie too!

Try running it at Davenport, eh?

Will that be the VERY first attempt?

This is absolutely great news!

[HarleyCreation]

Fraud or Believer?

I'm working right now an 1851 translation of a canoe voyage across northern Wisconsin and this phrase popped out at me. It could well be applied to the many lingering questions about Pennington's Motor Cycle and Pennington himself that Pete's project may well answer at Davenport:

"This is also how the modern plagiarist [Plagiator] ultimately bamboozles himself into believing the truth and wisdom of his doctrine. Furthermore, it is not fully determined where the border of credulity [Leichtglaeubigkeit] ends and fraud begins."

In the early to mid-1890s nobody yet knew the future of the gasoline engine and what form it would ultimately take and how adaptable it would be -- esp. the crazy notion of fitting a gasoline engine to a bicycle!

Therefore, people were willing to believe just about anything and Pennington was there to fulfill their dreams and at the same time to empty their wallets!

There is something very Wizard of Oz like in Pennington's preambulations across several U.S. states and during his sojurn in England. He even had the freaking balloon that gave him the "Airship" Pennington name and darned if he didn't add the name "motorcycle" to the English language in its modern definition on two different continents.

[HarleyCreation]

How's the Motor Cycle project coming along?

Think it will beat its 1895 Milwaukee record of "58 mph" when run at Davenport?

Will there be a river jumping event with it?

Why not put wings on it?

What then? What then? (Pennington asked).

[Pete Gagan]

Hi Herb:
I am expecting my nickel plating back early next week, and should be able to reassemble it all in pretty short order, as the painted bits are all done. I still need to make the con rods, and find some rings for the 1927 Erskine pistons that I am using which are identical to Mr. Pennington's. Jerry Ottaway has sent me a pair of coils and plugs from gasoline powered pogo sticks that his father invented in the sixties. Interestingly, the pogo stick used the same "long mingling spark" system Pennington invented. It works- I have one. In case of failure of the LMS system, disaster plans call for model T coils and regular spark plugs, but that isn't quite eccentric enough.
As to jumping across rivers and exceding 58 mph, limitations may be due to the bravery of its elderly rider, yours truly. I would be delighted to let you have a go, however.
Pete Gagan

[HarleyCreation]

Pete:

Don't feel bad about backing out of the river jumping event. I'm backing out too!

However, that is perfectly in keeping with the Pennington tradition. Make all sorts of wild promises and claims (not that you did) and then find ways to not follow thru with any of them!

With the Mississippi River right there at Davenport, I'm sure Mr. Pennington would have devised some wonderful feat to perform, advertised and placed a large sum of money on it, and then somehow back out of it at the very last minute. (Oh, the chain broke! Oh, I fell and cut my leg! Oh, I don't want to upstage everyone else! Oh, I have an important engagement elsewhere! Oh, the police are after me for speeding in Milwaukee!)

Just testing the Motor Cycle to see how well that engine and machine operates will be a GREAT feat in itself and will finally answer a question of many many years standing.

Gasoline-powered pogo sticks? Talk about the Pennington tradition! That almost beats his gasoline-powered baby buggy!

The knowledge and fore-thought you guys are putting into the re-created Motor Cycle is downright amazing. I really hope to see it in action!

[AdminGuy]

I'll get my butt over to Petes and take some pictures for you all.

I'll also suit up in some hockey/skateboard gear and try my best, too seriously hurt myself on the pogo stick. I think a jumping height measurement will need to be taken.

I've wanted to try the Ottaway "spark plug" pogo for years.

[Earl]

Is there any possibility of posting some Pennington project progress pictures? Even if posted here on the club website, this reproduction project would make for a great article for the club magazine.

Thanks, and looking forward to seeing the project roar to life at Davenport !!!!