They Rode the Suicide Saucers

THEY RODE THE SUICIDE SAUCERS

J.L. BEARDSLEY

THE FAST, HIGH BANKED board auto tracks that boomed from 1915 to the middle of the "Roaring 20's" were dream tracks for the four-wheelers and the two-wheelers alike. Gunning their thin-tired, 61 cubic inch racing motors around the rim of these 1½ and 2-mile plank saucers at over 100 miles an hour, the iron-horse jockeys from the Indian, Harley-Davidson, Excelsior and other racing camps, rivaled the four-wheel speedsters in wheel-to-wheel duels of spectacular speed and unforgettable thrills for those lucky enough to have been there.

Both Indian and Harley had perfected their 8-valve racing motors, and Excelsior countered with the "Bix X," carrying whopping 2½ inch valves. With hardriding crews of pro riders on their pay rolls, the big three had the men and machines for sensational fireworks as they brought their rivalries from the dirt track and road race wars to the big auto tracks, and the crowds loved it.

The board track era was auto racing's Golden Age and it was just as rewarding for the exponents of thunder-bike speed - the riders, the race-minded manufac turers, and the public, for it was the pro fessional racing sport at its spine-tingling best.

The board track sport got a rolling start with the biggest motorcycle race ever run on the boards, a gigantic 300-mile Derby on the big two-mile Maywood Speedway in Chicago, on September 12, 1915. This was the hometown of the fa mous Excelsior machines, which were active in racing on all fronts, and 1915 was the year they introduced their mighty "Big Valve," 61-inch twin. The pocket-valves were. 2¼ inches in diameter, and this mill was packed into a short wheelbase frame

that was really "all motor" as the boys used to say.

One of these new jobs was ridden by their ace Carl Goudy, 100-mile world record holder, against 25 of the nation's top pros and factory riders, including Earle Armstrong, the Indian star who had won a 300-miler on the Tacoma, washing ton auto speedway as recently as August 15th, over Harley's big gun, Otto Walker.

After a pace lap led by J. M. Donovan, head of F.A.M., the 26 speed demons blasted into the first lap with a roar that drowned out the full military band and everything else for a mile around in a thundering volley, and for the first time the kings of two-wheeled speed were a bigtime sports spectacular on a million dollar speedway. Excelsior riders McNeil and Bruggerman pulled away from the pack in the early laps. Bob Perry, popular Chicago Excel sior rider and the crowd's favorite, was cheered as his pit men changed a plug for him in the 10th mile and put him back in again in 40 seconds. The terrific pace told on men and machines. "Curley" }?red~ ericks blew a rear tire on his Indian; the wheel locked and he skidded 200 yards before spilling, but he was only bruised and pulled his bike off the track at once. Interestingly, this was one of only four tire failures in the entire race, as the Goodyear Blue Streak racing tires, used exclusively, stood up well.

As the pace settled down for the long pull, Ray Weishaar, H-D, tore into the top spot at the 22nd mile. A few had gone out with mechanical trouble, broken chains, and other failures, when Otto Walk er came from behind to take over at the 75 mile post. He completed the first 100 at an even 90 mile per hour average speed for a new competition record, though Bert Bruggerman, Excelsior, was only inches behind him.

Pacing himself like a smart jockey, Carl Goudy made his move soon after the halfway mark. He suddenly showed up in third at 160 miles and coming fast; and at 170 miles he passed Walker. By 200 miles Goudy had a full lap on the field and could afford a fuel stop. After that he was never threatened as he reeled off the fastest 300 miles ever made by motor cycles up to then in 3:29.51 or 85.71 mph for a world record, and a top purse for that day of $1000.

Teddy Carroll, Indian, who was one of the top qualifiers at 92 mph, came in 2nd; Ray Weishaar, H-D, 3rd; Bill Brier, H-D, 4th; Bert Bruggerman, Ex., 5th; and Earle Armstrong, Indian, 6th.

Ray Seymour, Indian; Red Parkhurst, H-D; George Lockner, Fred Whittier, Lee Taylor, and W. R. Kemp were still pound ing the planks and were flagged to end the race.

The second temple of auto speed was built the same year in Brooklyn, New York; this was the beautiful two-mile Sheepshead Bay board track that saw the auto greats and the thunderbike jockeys in all-out duels of heroic speed. In 1916 the Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson team cleaned house at the first big motor cycle meet on this plank saucer, with their star Leslie "Red" Parkhurst out-running a good field in the two-mile Championship dash at 91.15 mph.

Bill Brier, Curley Fredericks and Bill Barclay ran one-two-three on Harleys in the 10-mile open professional event; but the 100-mile feature was even more con clusive. This was won by Red Parkhurst at 89 mph, with Brier, Fredericks, and Barclay taking the next three positions, in a finish that had the crowd on its feet, cheering the tremendous speed and daring riding on the high banks.

In one of the last events at Sheepshead Bay before the entry of America in the first World War, Red Parkhurst emulated the autos, riding solo on a Harley-David son in a 24-hour marathon and setting up a record of 1452¾ miles; this despite a total of 3¾ hours lost through rain storms. In 1919 racing boomed to new heights of popularity with the return of all the motorcycle fraternity from their war service.

The National Pro Championships were run at Sheepshead Bay, on October 11, 1919, in the first big post-war meet on the boards. Again Harley-Davidson riders triumphed over their rivals in the Indian camp, winning four against the Springfield speedsters' three. The great Otto Walker began to carve his name in the motorcycle racing hail of fame by shaking off the fastest field of pro riders in the business in the 2-mile dash to win at 96.5 miles an hour. This broke all records for motor cycle competition. In the 10-mile event, Gene Walker scored for Indian; and the 25-mile Sidecar National went to Indian's side-hack specialist, Teddy Carroll, at 20:36 4/5 for a new American record; Gene Walker took second here. But Ray Weishaar carried off honors in the 50-mile National Pro title race and set a world's record for the distance of 32:57 2/5, for Harley.

Albert Burns dashed off with the 100mile National on his Harley-Davidson, and before the motor cooled off he captured the 20-mile event in 14:00 2/5 over Gene Walker, Indian, and Maldwyn Jones, Excelsior. Sam Riddle set a 10-mile record in a sidecar race that kept the Indian name on the books for years at this distance; it was 8:15 3/5.

The Harley victory was not as big as it sounds, for all finishes were close, and the 2-mile dash was a triple-photo finish which Otto Walker won by just one-fifth second over Indian's star, Gene Walker; and in third place was Teddy Carroll, Indian, by just one more fifth of a second!

With the building of board tracks in California in the early 1920's the twowheel speed demons went West to burn their Goodyear and Firestone treads into these pine thrill-dromes.

The one-mile bowl at Fresno became the country's fastest motorcycle track on Feb. 22, 1921, when Otto Walker, the Harley all-time great, rocketed through a lap in 33 2/5 seconds for a new world record of 107.78 mph. He cleaned up in the 10-mile heat at a record 5:48; the 15-mile race went to him in 8:37 2/5; and the 50-mile San Joaquin Valley Championship was his in 29:34 3/5, a mark it is claimed was never beaten by motorcycles. AÍ Burns, Indian, salvaged the 2-mile dash, and his time of 1:09 4/5 was another record.

This spectacular orgy of roaring speed was repeated on April 24, 1921, over the beautiful 1 VA mile Beverly Hills Speedway in Los Angeles, and a crowd of 11,000 was on hand to see the pros perform on the banks. The opening Miss & Out event went to AÍ Burns, on a side-valve Indian, but Otto Walker fired up his fast Harley in the 25-mile Sweepstakes and blew off the opposition with a sizzling world record of 14:21 4/5 giving him all the world certificates from one to fifty miles.

Another bike immortal, the great Jim Davis, riding a Harley, won the feature 50-mile Los Angeles Speedway Championship in 30:49 4/5. In the 15-mile consolation, Indian's star, AÍ Burns brought the crowd to its feet with a spectacular spill; uninjured, he hopped into the saddle again and proceeded to pass everybody on the track to win to the tune of 102 mph. Cotati, in Sonoma County, California had a 1 V\ mile board saucer, too, and 6500 fans saw the motorcycle pro stars perform on August 28, that year.

Ralph Hepburn, another of Harley's space annihilators, sped to a terrific onelap time trial in 42 3/5 seconds, and won both the Miss & Out race and the 25-mile feature, while Otto Walker romped off with the 10-mile heat.

Back at Fresno for the last big meet of 1921, on November 24, Hepburn again collected top money for the Miss & Out event, and both the 10-mile Scramble and 15-mile Sweepstakes; while Freddie Ludlow won the 25-mile feature in 15:18 3/5, and Jim Davis the 10-mile consolation in 6:00 1/5 for a clean sweep by the Harley crew of record-wreckers. Six world's records fell on one day at the opening Beverly Hills meet on January 23, 1922, when Otto Walker went on a record-setting spree. This was a special race against time, scheduled for 300 miles if conditions were favorable at 100 miles. His goal was "100 In An Hour" if possible.

Walker's Harley-Davidson special was in top tune and official scorers from the M.A. & A.T.A. were in charge. Walker's first mile was in 32.94 seconds for a record 109.29 mph, and he roared on to 5 miles in 2:48.62; 10 miles in 5:38.18; 25 miles in 14:08.32, all new records. But a 94 second stop for a new plug in the 37th lap robbed him of a 50-mile mark, and also his "100 In An Hour," though his 98.60 mph average for the hundred was a new record.

In 1922 the Indian Company snared both Jim Davis and Ralph Hepburn from the Harley camp, and Davis proceeded to attack Otto Walker's new records at Beverly Hills on April 25th. He shaved the one-mile figure to 32.53 seconds, while Hepburn also bettered the old mark with 32.64.

Then, on a pocket-valve Indian, Davis set new class records from 1 to 100 miles.

Ralph Hepburn, the one-time Los Angeles delivery boy who had gone up through the amateurs to become a motordrome rider for Indian and Excelsior before the war, and after his hitch in the Air Force rode both Harleys and Indians to many dirt track records, took charge of a motorcycle meet on the San Carlos \VA mile speedway, in the San Francisco Bay region on May 14, 1922. He beat Ray Weishaar, H-D, in the 25-mile in 14:49.40, with Jim Davis, his Indian teammate third. Hepburn chalked up a win in the Miss & Out race, and took the 50mile feature, all at over 100 mph, for an Indian massacre on the boards.

Excelsior had bought the Henderson four-cylinder firm and went after some records to prove its reliability, this year. Wells Bennett took a strictly stock Henderson Four on the Tacoma, Washington board track, for a 24-hour record attempt on May 30-31, 1922, and after an ordeal of grit and gameness fell exhausted into the arms of his friends after putting 1562.54 miles under his spinning wheels for a new record. His 1000-mile time of 14:27.12 trimmed an hour and fortyseven minutes off the old mark! He averaged 63 mph, and proved conclusively that the rear cylinder in a "V"-twin air-cooled motor didn't overheat - a fact the com pany was quick to advertise.

Something of a jolt hit the pro ranks when the companies agreed to abandon direct factory support of their racing teams in 1922. Harley-Davidson was the first to announce the suspension of their salaried race team, but still encouraged racing.

Otto Walker immediately bought his specially-tuned Harley race job, and Fred Ludlow, Ray Weishaar, and Jim Davis followed suit. Now on their own, riders depended on winning more than ever, which sharpened competition to new heights; and in the big-time motorcycle sport purses were worthy of their best -even rivaling those offered the auto stars.

At a championship meet on the Kansas City Speedway, September 3, 1923, the winner of a Pursuit Race was paid $3000, a 10-mile heat was good for $900; and the 100-mile championship offered what was probably an all-time record purse of $8000. At those rates the bike stars would share in the most fabulous era in sports history - the "Booming 20's."

The spotlight swung eastward in 1925 and the speed barometer had some vigor ous boosts. At the Altoona, Pa. 1¼ mile board bowl, Joe Petrali heated up his Harley-Davidson for a 100-mile National Championship win at a sizzling record time of 59:47 1/5, so Harley finally achieved their "100 In An Hour" goal.

On Labor Day that year, Laurel, Mary land's 1½ mile saucer saw a Harley field day of record smashing when Jim Davis set a new 5-mile mark of 2:41 2/5 and Joe Petrali took the 10-mile in a record 5:23 4/5; the 25-mile in 14:08 2/5; and won the SO-mile but didn't break Otto Walker's record made in 1921. This gave Petrali the National titles at 10, 25, 50 and 100 miles for the year. At the same Laurel, Maryland meet, Red Wolverton rode one of the new Super X Excelsiors to three 45-50 cu. in. class records: 1 mile in 37 3/5 secs.; 5 miles in 3:14 1/5; and 10 in 6:35 2/5. The racing version of the 1925 Excelsior Super Sport Speed Model was a hairy number with high compres sion, high-crown pistons, and special fea tures that would turn as high as 4900 rpm.

Joe Petrali was on one of these hot 45's at the Altoona meet in 1926. During the qualifying time trials on July 2nd for the championship events on July 9th, Joe snared three world's records: a mile in 33.44 for 107 mph, clipping Wolverton's mark at Laurel by 12 miles an hour; the 5-mile test took him only 2:57.7; and the 10-mile run, on a new machine not well broken in, was still a record of 5:57.5 and over 101 mph.

Jim Davis, now riding an Indian, stole the show on this date with a screaming lap of the mile-and-a-quarter oval in 39 4/5 seconds, or 113 mph. Johnny Krieger, Curley Fredericks, Johnny Sey mour, Bill Stratton, Stoddard, Rawley, Getchell, and Saki, the Japanese rider, also qualified Indian mounts.

At the big meet on July 9th the fans were treated to some of the most spec tacular riding ever seen anywhere. Joe Petrali, on the Super X, ran off with the 20-mile race, and five of the first six po sitions went to Excelsior riders. Then in a time trial to attempt a new world record Curley Fredericks fired up his 61-inch In dian and looped the saucer like a red comet at 114 mph, the fastest speed ever made on a circular track on two wheels. But in a few weeks Curley was going to do still better.

It was a day when the Indians were scalping the opposition at the Rockingham 1¼ mile speedway, at Salem, New Hampshire, August 21, 1926, and Curley Fredericks had already won two 25-mile open races on his 61-inch Indian; Jim Davis had won the 45-inch 20-mile Na tional with Johnny Seymour, also Indian mounted, second. Then Curley uncorked all the canned horsepower in his Indian Power-Plus motor in one crashing lap at 120.3 mph, the first two-miles-a-minute ever done on a circular track by a motor cycle! It wasn't a "freeze-out" though, as Bill Minnick managed to snare the 5-mile National event for Harley-Davidson by stepping along at "only" 110 miles an hour.

But for the board tracks there was no Tomorrow; rapid deterioration from weather and consequent high upkeep costs, encroaching real estate develop ment, and taxes sent one by one into bankruptcy. Altoona and Rockingham were the last to operate. Two years after Fredericks' feat, Rockingham, the fastest motorcycle track in America, was only a memory. So are the 61-inch, thin-tired race bikes, and the strenuous era when the old pro riders wrote a glorious, exciting saga of thrills on the motor tracks of America. •