Archive Icon: Albert "Shrimp" Burns

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Albert “Shrimp” Burns, the young California crack is perhaps one of America's most recognizable and widely loved stars from the early days of motorcycle racing. Growing up just around the corner from the local Pope dealer in Oakland, Burns was the scamp perpetually having to be shooed away from the motorcycles parked out front by management. It is said that his first ride was actually the result of the manager’s absence, a brief window in which the boy fired up one of the machines and took off around the block. Coming of age in the great motordrome era, Shrimp soon developed an interest in the flourishing sport of racing, but unlike many of his schoolyard buddies, Shrimp wasn’t content to simply sit and watch. So at the age of 14 he rebuilt an Indian twin and began entering dirt track races. 

With all of the tenacity and foolhardiness of a small framed teenager Burns thrust himself into the middle professional motorcycle racings golden age, but as he squared up against the day’s star riders like Otto Walker, Ray Creviston, and Carl Goudy, not everyone was comfortable racing against, or losing to such a young little gnat. Some riders filed protests against allowing Burns to race on a number of occasions, and when the concerns turned into action against him, Shrimp is said to have perched himself on the track fence, making faces at the riders as they shot past around the track. It was that attitude, along with his compact size that earned the young Burns the nickname “ the Shrimp” in those early days, one which he never shook. 

By the age of 17 Shrimp had already begun besting some of the top riders, but as it was across the country, America’s involvement in WWI halted any racing aspirations, giving him an opportunity to further hone his skills in the saddle and behind the wrench. Having established himself before the war as one of the sports brightest young talents Shrimp was eager make his mark once racing resumed in 1919, and in June he was approached by Harley-Davidson’s Bill Ottaway, becoming apart of the motor co.’s newly formed team, the Wrecking Crew. Traveling the country and racing full time as a professional, 1919 was Shrimp’s break out season, becoming a crowd favorite as he raced around America’s dirt tracks and massive wooden super speedways. However, a growing turmoil within the team, mainly between Shrimp and team Captain Otto Walker, who had filled some of those early protest to prevent Shrimp from running, led Burns to surprise everyone by signing on with Indian in January 1920.

With the full support of the Indian factory Shrimp became a household name, and in his Wigwam debut he beat out his former teammates in the 25-mile National Championship at Ascot Park that January, continuing to lead the majority of the biggest races in the country throughout 1920. For the next two seasons he consistently held his position towards the front of the pack, being beaten more often as a result of mechanical failures than actually having been outmatched. During the opening races held at the Beverly Hills Speedway on April 24, 1921, Shrimp’s tenacious reputation for leaving everything on the track as well the affection he received as a result was caught on film. The extremely rare film, which can be viewed on Youtube, documents one of the most sensational performances of Shrimp’s career. That day Burns won two of the four races at speeds over 100 mph, only losing the second race after a nasty crash, which in turn caused him to miss the third while getting bandaged up, only to come back and win the fourth despite his injuries.

As evident in the film, Shrimp was at the top of his game in 1921, but a promise made to his fiancé meant that he would be retiring from the dangerous sport that September following the M&ATA National Championship races in Syracuse, NY. The season progressed and as Shrimp approached his 23 birthday his fiancé Genevieve traveled to Toledo to celebrate with him and attend the races. On Sunday, August 14th, 1921 just two days after his birthday he mounted his factory 8-valve racer and headed out onto the dirt of the Fort Miami mile. 

After making the best time during qualifying, Shrimp held down second place in the first 5-mile event, losing to teammate Don Marks as he scuffled with former Harley Wrecking Crew teammate Fred Ludlow. For the second 5-mile race, Ludlow shot to the front of the pack leaving Shrimp and Ray Weishaar close behind, but as they exited the first turn of the first lap Weishaar got a bit loose, causing Burns to maneuver high on the outside of the track to avoid the Harley star only to have to cut back sharply towards the inside to avoid the fence. As he cut back in front of Weishaar though his rear tire clipped the front of Weishaar’s machine, sending Burns headlong through the fence at full clip. Breaking off a post as he exited the track. Shrimp’s skull was crushed, neck broken, and his face deeply cut open. His machine was on fire, and in an eerie coincidence, it was the same 8-valve motor No. 50 that Charlie Balke was running at a Chicago track when he died in 1914, just as Shrimp had begun racing. Albert “Shrimp” Burns, one of America’s most adored racing celebrities was dead before he reached the hospital, his horrified fiancé Genevieve left devastated by his side. 

Today, August 12th is Shrimp’s birthday, and this Sunday the 14th will be the 95th anniversary of his tragic and untimely death. The legacy of the unshakable Shrimp Burns lives on, and the man with a champion’s legacy at both Indian and Harley-Davidson remains one of America’s most beloved racing pioneers.

Hap Alzina's 1938 Indian Arrow

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This unique machine was the first of its kind, an attempt to incorporate into motorcycles the streamlining techniques and technology developed in the burgeoning automobile land-speed culture of the 1930’s. The brainchild of Oakland's Indian dealer Hap Alzina, the 1938 Indian Arrow was the first fully encapsulated American motorcycle built to break speed records. Its inception is considered to be a response to Smokin' Joe Petrali's record of 136.183 mph, set the year prior at Daytona Beach onboard the lightly streamlined Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. Petrali’s record was actually made without any of the body panels however as he found that the experimental fairings made the now iconic Harley difficult to manage, an issue that also crippled the Arrow. At the heart of the Arrow was a 1924 1000cc, 8-valve Indian factory racing engine designed by Charles Franklin and tuned by Red Fenwick. Alzina built the chassis using an amalgam of lightweight stock components, a number of which came from the Scout 101. His sales manager and friend Bill Meyer designed the aluminum, balsa wood, and fabric shell which was built by Pete Anderson. One of Harley's former golden boys, a founding member of Harley’s famed 1920's Wrecking Crew, Fred Ludlow, who was at the time in his mid 40's was enlisted to pilot the Arrow. Initially the team began testing at Muroc Lake, but by September of 1938 they had arrived at the Bonneville salt flats to officially challenge Petrali’s record. Ludlow hit 135mph, less than 2 mph shy, but the design was simply too unstable at speed. After a few modifications an unofficial speed upwards of 145mph was reported, but the speed wobble was too much for Ludlow to over come, allegedly snapping the handlebars off on his final run, and the record attempt was abandoned. The trip was not a loss however as Alzina had loaded up two other machines as well. Setup in compliance with the relatively new Class C specifications, Ludlow piloted a factory 750cc Sport Scout to a speed of 115.226 mph, and a Chief to 120.747 mph, both American speed records and achievements that would lead to the factory debut of the now coveted high performance Bonneville engine platform in 1939.

A Brief History of Speed: Part VI

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The Depression acted as a grand a catalyst. Both the sport and the industry were forced to adapt to the economic decline in America and the changes devised spawned an entirely new culture. Indian and Harley further refined their smaller 45 models, packing them with value, and with the addition of the AMA professional 45 class these new machines became American favorites. Dealerships and clubs rallied together, creating events in hopes of driving new sales. Local races that allowed men to be competitive on their lightly modified stock machines, like the Jack Pine Enduro and the reemerging Gypsy Tour races saw a spike in popularity. The decline of factory-backed Class A racing forced the AMA to introduce a new class in 1933, one that they hoped would foster wide spread participation and bring more people back to the sport, it was Class C. Lightly modified, stripped-stock 45 and 74c.i side valve machines were now a part of three new categories, dirt track, TT, and road race, with three divisions each, novice, amateur, and expert. For the first time racing was accessible to everyone as any AMA member could ride in, race, and ride out, it was just the injection of participation that the industry needed. This marked a turning point in racing history and became the foundation for the second renaissance in the decades to come. 

As the AMA developed their new Class C in 1933, the Southern Motorcycle Dealers Association devised a scheme of their own to drive business, once again bringing the thunder of American racing to the southeastern coastline. The group sponsored a 200 mile race on Savannah’s old Grand Prize circuit, the same course that once hosted the Vanderbilt Cup and where Harley-Davidson’s first factory team debuted in 1914. Over the next five years the 200 mile race would move between courses in Savannah and Jacksonville Beach, FL, before finally settling in at the new 3.2 mile semi-paved course in Daytona Beach. In 1937 the inaugural Daytona 200 was held and became a marquee race for the next 80 years.  Racing was again halted for a war in 1941, but the culture was healthy and would return even stronger just as it had after the first World War. Class C flat track became the backbone of American motorcycle racing and the sport grew more popular than ever. The AMA’s membership boomed as soldier’s returned home seeking freedom and adrenaline. A proliferation of new motorcycle clubs strengthened a growing community full of new events, tracks, and rallies, while an influx of surplus machines and a flood of new import brands produced a frenzy of new racers, mechanics, and customization. Once again, having come full circle, the eyes of America focused intensely on the warm sands of Daytona Beach to see who was going to wear the crown of the fastest, a new Golden Age had begun.

Here, New Jersey’s Al Wilcox (#138) tucks into his Harley-Davidson on the beach straightaway during the 1948 Daytona 200 as Canadian Norman Teleford (#161) stretches out like Rollie onboard his Indian Sport Scout.

A.F. Van Order

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One of the founding father of American motorcycle racing, Chicago's Freddie Huyck sits atop one of the rarest prototype Indian factory machines ever made shortly after arriving at Los Angeles’ Agriculture Park, arguably the birthplace of professional motorcycle racing in America. However, the rider, the venue, nor the rare machine is the focus of my upcoming project, what will soon be my second large format book. It is the photograph itself that has occupied my focus for the last 2 years, just one from a collection of over 250 rare and largely unpublished photographs belonging to one of the most important men in American motorcycling history, Ashley Franklin Van Order. Van Order was not only an active participant in the Golden Age of American motorcycle racing, but he later became the first great champion of our history, spending the last half of his life dedicated to preserving and documenting those early days of this great culture. 

Van moved from Illinois to Los Angeles just in time to witness the birth of the Motordrome frenzy. Initially trying his hand at racing, he soon began snapping photographs at the races, quickly becoming close friends with the pioneers of the sport. By the 1920’s, Van was traveling the country and was so chummy with the boys of Harley-Davidson's legendary Wrecking Crew that he could have been considered an unofficial member of the team. In the decades that followed Van went on to recount the glory days of racing in articles for Motorcyclist Magazine, and still found time to form an organization of pioneer enthusiasts and racers in 1936 that would become the Trailblazers Motorcycle Club, a group that continues to preserve our history today. A photographer, a racer, an enthusiast, a salesman, a collector, a writer, and an ambassador, Van dedicated his life to the sport of riding motorcycles and helped preserve many of the iconic photographs that we all admire today. A.F. Van Order was our first historian and without his commitment and passion we would have considerably less knowledge of our own beginnings. I am truly honored and humbled to have the opportunity to share the remarkable story of Van's life and the images that define our culture.