In an era of supersonic jets and street bikes that can go 200 mph, it’s hard not to smile when you look back at the pioneering motorcycles of the early 1900s.
With their big leather seats, tiny engines and late-Victorian styling, these bicycle-like steeds could be mistaken for oversized antique toys. Yet in their day — when most people still traveled by foot or depended on horses — they were the breathtakingly speedy symbols of a revolutionary change in transportation.
Many early bikes could cruise as fast as 40 mph over flat ground and, in 1903, two specially tuned motorcycles set speed records of 53, then 64 mph. That was far faster than any horse and faster than almost any car — stamping the new vehicle with an aura of dizzying speed that has defined it for more than a century.
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August 9th, 2009 by speed
The retro style is convincing, but what were they thinking of in the naming department?
Never mind the motorcycle, its name puts it at a disadvantage even before you see the comedy skull and crossbones sticker on the oil tank.
What is Harley-Davidson thinking? That we’re going to shout out “Aha me hearties!” every time we swing a leg over the Cross Bones? I’m sure there are riders who won’t buy this bike just because of its moniker.
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August 4th, 2009 by speed
Gypsy biker Bean’re lives it up
OTSEGO — Bean’re (pronounced “bean rey”) lives the “gypsy biker” life.
He’s 45, but “a 10-year-old” at heart. Bean’re travels from biker rally to biker rally, from here to Europe and Australia.
“People pay me to show up,” he said from Nashville, Tenn.
He will hang out, tell stories, perform stunts, and otherwise amuse guests at gatherings such as Chopper Fest 3.
He told about the time he was at one of Larry Davidson’s post-ride parties in Otsego. The power went out, “so I decided this is the perfect time to go skinny-dippin”, nobody can see nothin.’”
Bean’re jumped in Davidson’s backyard pond.
“I didn’t know everyone had spotlights and flashlights and everything else … That’s kind of what I do. I have a good time. And people around me tend to, too.”
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August 4th, 2009 by speed
