Savannah’s Martin Schroeder, member of Harley-Davidson’s first official racing team and his narrow-case 11K factory racer at the F.A.M.’s 300 Mile Grand Prize race in November, 1914.
A southern privateer in early American motorcycle racing, here is Martin Schroeder showing off his factory works Harley-Davidson 11k racer after the 1914 F.A.M. Grand Prize 300-mile race in Savannah, Georgia. A Savannah local, Schroeder acted as Vice President of the Savannah Motorcycle Club and was an avid racer in regional events throughout the teens. Though not quite as rowdy as the later famed motorcycle clubs of the 1950s and 1960s, the Savannah Motorcycle Club had a reputation for being a rather irreverent bunch. As the reach and influence of the industry spread into the deep south, Schroeder helped clean up the club's reputation, aligning them with the F.A.M., and playing a prominent role in staging races in the area, including the 1913 and 1914 Savannah 300 endurance races. For the 1914 event, Harley-Davidson selected Schroeder as one of their factory-supported competitors, one of eight men who made up Harley's first-ever factory works team, the precursor to the Motor Company’s legendary Wrecking Crew. Notable names among Schroeder’s teammates in Savannah were a young Ray Weishaar, Irving Janke, and Alva Stratton, all racers who would stay with Harley through their first golden age of racing.
For the 1914 event, Harley sent an experimental motorcycle developed by their new racing engineer William Ottoway, a machine that would reinvigorate Harley-Davidson and forever change the landscape of American motorcycle racing. The "stripped stock" racing motorcycle, designated as the 11k series, had been tested only a handful of times leading up to the Thanksgiving Day event in Savannah. Ottaway had sent several prototype configurations of his narrow-case, “fast motor” racers to dealers and privateers beginning with the Dodge City race in July, 1914, with men like Bill Brier, Leslie Parkhurst, and Arthur Mitchel proving the machine’s capabilities and helping iron out the initial issues. Still, after a string of regional wins in Birmingham, Phoenix, and Madison, Wisconsin, the die was cast on the new 11K racer and Harley-Davidson decided to field a full team for the big F.A.M. race in Savannah that November.
This photograph captures the details of that milestone narrow-case 11K racer. It featured a 61 CI (1,000cc), 11 horsepower, IOE V-twin fitted into a lowered, short-coupled frame. The compact chassis required cutaways to be made in the tank for the valves, and a primitive yet revolutionary oiling system helped solve early oiling issues. A magneto ignition, dropped bars, bobbed fender, and an auxiliary fuel tank rounded out the equipment for the 300-mile event in Savannah. Onboard this powerful Harley-Davidson 11k Martin Schroeder captured the fastest initial lap, but like several of his teammates, he had engine issues. Grand Prix racing was new in America, and the consistent high-speeds on the loose sandy surface of the Savannah course taxed the engines in every team’s machines, but for the Harley team, the new engines were literally melting the glass spark plugs every few laps. Schroeder, Weishaar, and Janke were clocking speed nearing 80 MPH, but given the spark plug issues, Schroeder dropped back to an eighth-place finish. Weishaar was out with a fuel tank puncture with only 3 laps remaining. Indian’s Lee Taylor finished in first place, with Excelsior’s Joe Wolter’s coming in a close second. Harley-Davidson’s Irving Janke, a Milwaukee native, finished 3rd and, in doing so, earned the Motor Co. their first official podium. Sadly the momentous first showing of the Harley-Davidson racing team was marred with tragedy as two of their team racers, Gray Sloop of Mooresville, NC, and another Savannah local Zeddie D. Kelly, lost their lives during the race during violent crashes along the sandy, tree-lined race course.
Schroeder would continue to promote his passion for motorcycling and racing after the 1914 Savannah 300 and acted as a pillar in the southern motorcycling scene. Ottaway’s 11K laid a foundation in the second half of 1914 to build a strong factory racing program in 1915. The machine was further developed into specialized variations, and Harley quickly began recruiting the most talented riders in the country to ride for the Bar and Shield. Leslie “Red” Parkhurst was tapped to be team captain, joined by Otto Walker, Alva Stratton, Harry Crandal and the veteran Joe Wolters was recruited from his tenure at Excelsior. In April 1915, Otto Walker won the 300-mile GP in Venice Beach, becoming the company’s first official champion in a long line to follow. In July, Walker followed his record setting run in Venice leading the HD team to another victory at the prestigious Dodge City 300. Harley-Davidson swept 6 of the top 7 positions, dominating what had become the biggest race of the year and establishing an American motorcycle racing dynasty which would last for over a century.
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