Ray Seymour, Big Base Indian Columbus Motordrome, July 1912.

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There is a sweet spot in the pre-WWI era of American motorcycle competition. A time when the technology, the industry, the tracks, and the riders all hit a stride simultaneously and America’s enthusiasm for the sport hit a fever pitch. By 1912 Jack Prince’s fabled board track Motordromes were popping up across the country on what seemed like a monthly basis. Each new track was a refinement of design, a result of the race to accommodate the incredible speeds of rapidly evolving pure bred factory racing machines. This was the golden age of the board track, and for pioneer racers like Ray Seymour who were some of the first to start racing years before on dirt horse tracks like Los Angeles' Agriculture Park, it marked a time of great opportunity.  

A champion seemingly from the start, Ray Seymour made himself known as a serious competitor as a teenager in Southern California. The pride and joy of the Reading Standard racing program, the freckle-faced boy wonder racked up a number of records before the Pensilvania based company pulled back from the racing game in the spring of 1910. Seymour was then taken under the wing of Indian's Jake DeRosier, arguably the most famous and capable racer of the day. It was DeRosier’s famous No. 21 factory machine that the young Seymour piloted when he became the FAM National Amateur Champion at Philadelphia in August that same year. Seymour, now an official rider for the mighty Springfield factory team charged into his most triumphant years, officially entering professional competition in February 1911. Seymour spent the majority of his time honing his skills on the Salt Lake City saucer at Wandamere under the continued tutelage of DeRosier just as he had done the year before. However, the young California Wonder also began criss-crossing the country, often opening Prince’s newly constructed motordromes and setting new records as a rising national star. 

For the 1912 season Hedstrom had reproached his relatively new overhead valve design for the factory team. The new direct drive configuration featured larger cases and flywheels set into a slightly modified chassis, a distinct design feature which earned the rare machine its nickname as the Big Base series of Indian 8-Valve racers. Hedstrom initially built two of the new 7HP Big Base 8-Valves and delivered them to Los Angeles in late January 1912 for the opening of Prince’s newest track, the LA Stadium Motordrome. Ray Seymour and the young Texan Eddie Hasha were the lucky riders who were chosen to pilot the powerful machines, putting them at the top of the class in American motorcycle racing.

In February 12, 1912 Seymour and Hasha mounted their new factory 8-valves and ripped up the boards of the 1/3 mile LA Stadium Motordrome with its 50 degree tilt. The two proved their mettle as they finessed the power of the new cutting edge Class A machines, hitting speeds over 90mph, establishing a new standard that competitors and manufacturers alike would be chasing down over the coming years. Seymour and his Big Base continued on their warpath throughout the 1912 season, running wide open in LA, Chicago, and Oakland, and setting new professional speed records at playa Del Rey. 

This photograph of Ray Seymour and his Big Base beast comes from inside the Columbus Motordrome, a larger than average 1/2 mile motordrome with 48 degree boards. On the Fourth of July, 1912, Seymour and Hasha duked it out during the opening races at Columbus in front of a massive crowd of 27,000. Taking place amidst a national FAM rally, the opening races were divided into two parts, half taking part as an afternoon festival until sunset, then a lavish fireworks display followed by the excitement of nighttime competition. Both Seymour and Hasha matched each other in setting a new 1 mile record of 37 seconds, nearly 97 mph on the rough 1/2 mile saucer , but it was Seymour who won each of the main events against his partner that day. Competition continued and within two months, both young racing stars would arrive in New Jersey to continue their domination of the 1912 season at the new Vailsburg Motordrome. On September 8th, as Seymour lead the pack at Vailsburg, Eddie Hasha lost control and the tragedy at Vailsburg unfolded, claiming the life of Hasha, Indian teammate Johnny Albright, and another 6 spectators. It had only been 7 months since Seymour and Hasha had pulled their Big Base 8-valve machines out of the shipping crates together back in Los Angeles. 

Despite the loss of his friends and teammates at Vailsburg Ray Seymour continued his racing career, though the weight of the risk would only continue to grow heavier over the  years as many of his fellow racers met similarly gruesome fates, including his mentor Jake DeRosier in February 1913. Seymour would live through his professional racing career, retiring a few years later and living out the rest of his days a legend of the golden age.

Going Like Hell Towards Heaven, Oscar Hedstrom, July 18, 1905

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On the first of February, 1904 former cycling star turned upstart motorcycle entrepreneur Oscar Hedstrom boarded a train in Ormond Beach, FL, bound for the comfort his workshop in Springfield, MA, discouraged yet undeterred. Despite clocking a respectable top speed of just over 56 mph during the 2nd annual Carnival of Speed, Hedstrom’s latest experiment, a dual-engined, DeDion powered prototype motorcycle suffered a debilitating mechanical failure. Hedstrom was forced to return home empty handed having being beaten out by fellow pioneer Glenn Curtiss and his more refined v-twin design. Within only five months from returning home from Florida Hedstrom had conceived, drafted, cast, and machined his own proprietary v-twin power plant and was eager to unveil his new creation, the very first Indian v-twin.

Mounted in a standard production frame, his first 42 degree v-twin produced 3 1/2 horsepower and was introduced as more of a prototype racing machine than a production model. In-house electrics, twist grip throttle, a new streamlined torpedo style tank along the top frame tube, a rigid fork, chain drive, coaster brake, and toe clips rounded out the configuration. On July 30, 1904 Oscar Hedstrom unveiled his new creation, tearing up the rough sand 1.125 mile course at Sachuest Beach in Newport, RI. Hitting a top speed of 46 mph onboard his new elegant Indian v-twin, Hedstrom won the event and took home a $75 silver bowl trophy. He continued his work on the design and performance, running the new 26ci twin again at least twice in competitions throughout New England as well as constructing a second sister v-twin prototype machine.

With the new year approaching, Hedstrom again packed up and headed south for the 1905 Carnival of Speed at Ormond Beach. Despite being the only motorcycle entrant he threw a leg over the new “heavy” Indian twin determined to overtake previous records set by himself and Glenn Curtiss. The combination of poor weather, rough surface conditions on the beach, and a slightly underpowered machine the new twin prototype couldn’t seem to break the minute mile mark, falling short of existing records, and hitting only a shade over 55 mph. Hedstrom’s machine proved itself quite capable and resilient however, its features were streamlined, refined, and classic, setting a new high standard within an industry that was trailing far behind. It is worth mention that by this time Indian production had reached 1,000 machines and Hedstrom had produced a number of racing specific prototypes with which he had earned several records, Harley-Davidson had made less than 10 machines total and the American motorcycle manufacturing boom had not yet begun. It would be a few years before the innovations Hedstrom developed with his v-twin prototype would make it into production models, but he continued to enter it into competitions and with each win a new marketing strategy took hold in Indian’s business model, victory equals sales. 

This image of Hedstrom with one of his two 1904 streamlined v-twin prototypes comes from the “Climb to the Clouds” hillclimb at Mt. Washington, NH, July 18, 1905. Both Hedstrom and his close friend Stanley Kellogg made the rough and rocky 8 mile ascent which featured grades over 20% in sections. Kellogg initially shattered the standing time by 8 minutes on a standard production Indian single before W. Hilliard in a 60hp automobile reclaimed the record by dropping another 5 minutes. Due to the weight of the prototype v-twin it was only allowed to run in an unrestricted class, a frequent issue at the time. Despite a spill Hedstrom came within a minute of beating the big auto, which boasted over 20 times more horsepower than his hardy little Indian twin, and Kellogg fell short by only 4/5 of a second. This remarkable moment, this man and this machine embody every aspect of American motorcycle culture all at once. The industry, the innovation, the drive, the competition, the enthusiasm, the grit, the engineering, the determination, and the spirit of gasoline fueled freedom. 

Archive Icon: Eddie Brinck

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Edward Jeffra Brinck, a man so dapper that he more consistently looks like a Hollywood playboy posing for a photo-op rather than a rough and tumble prohibition era AMA Champion. His well kept appearance is misleading though, as Eddie was one of the elite few who began his motorcycle racing relationship with Harley-Davidson before the outbreak of WWI and continued to snatch up national championships throughout the 1920’s.

Early in life Brinck spent his time tinkering, familiarizing himself with all things mechanical, his interests eventually leading him to a career as an engineer. As the Great War chewed through Europe, the 20 year old from Dayton landed a job as a performance motor engineer and wind tunnel technician at the US Army’s experimental aviation department at McCook Field. It was there that Brinck befriended fellow employee and pioneer racing icon Maldwyn Jones. The two shared a fascination with engine tuning and efficiency and Jones soon began to mentor Brinck on flat tracks around Ohio each weekend. It was Jones, who had only recently been recruited into the might Harley-Davidson factory program that convinced the Motor Co. to bring his protege onboard as well, the condition being that Jones would be held responsible for Brinck’s machine. However, the pair’s proficiency for getting the most out of the small, half-mile motors resulted in the factory allowing them to tune their own racing motors, even sending them components directly, a rare privileged within the Class A powerhouse team.

A dirt track racer in the age of the massive board speedway’s, Brinck didn’t share in the same limelight that the stars of the Wrecking Crew did in the early 20’s, he even jumped into the Indian camp for a bit, but Brinck continued wringing out his little singles in the dirt. By the mid-1920’s, as the big money days of the Class A era began to fade Brinck, a flat track wizard stepped into his glory days. Running toe to toe with legendary racers like Jim Davis, Ralph Hepburn, and Joe Petrali, Brinck proved himself a brilliant competitor. In the fall of 1925 at the AMA Nationals in Syracuse, NY Brinck won the first of many national titles, even becoming an international record holder when he sailed to Australia to compete in the winter of 1926. 

Upon his return to the states his old friend Maldwyn Jones, the man responsible for his racing career suggested the it was time for Brinck to join him in retirement, offering him a position at the Schebler Company. However, as the story too often unfolds with these early racing icons, Brinck turned down the offer at a slower paced life opting instead to continue chasing down victory, a decision that proved fatal. On August 13, 1927 while competing in the AMA Nationals at Springfield Brinck’s front tire gave out sending him down at full speed. Joe Petrali, who was trailing just behind collided with the pile in front of him injuring Petrali, but the debonaire racer from Dayton with the brilliant mind for motors died as a result of injuries sustained.

Here is Eddie Brinck, the gentleman star of the dirt and one of the small racing motors that he loved, a 1927 Harley-Davidson 30.50 ci OHV “Peashooter.”

Albert "Shrimp Burns & Otto Walker, Ascot Speedway, Los Angeles, Jan. 11 1920

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After several attempts to put into words the significance of this image it has become apparent that there remains too much backstory to sufficiently cover in a short article. However, I have been kicking an idea for a new project around for quite sometime now and this attempt may have given me the last push I need to pursue it. There is more to this story, but you will just have to stay tuned.

An embrace between Albert William “Shrimp” Burns and Harry Otto Walker, respected competitors, former teammates, rivals, and two of the most fearless, passionate, and iconic founding-fathers in American motorcycle racing history. The moment was captured at the championship races held at Los Angeles’ Ascot Park on January 11, 1920. Burns had just abruptly left the Harley-Davidson factory team and made his debut the Sunday prior as the newest member of the Indian factory team. Reportedly, tensions between Burns and acting Harley team captain Otto Walker were a factor in his decision to split from the mighty Milwaukee team, who had given him his first professional racing contract just one year before. Walker, who had only recently returned from a tour of duty in France during WWI had only been back at the races since Labor Day when he made his post-war return as a veteran of the Harley-Davidson’s Wrecking Crew at the road race in Marion, IN. 

Burns, who had a rough debut the week before at Ascot with a Wigwam stable plagued with mechanical issues returned on the 11th with the tenacity of a man with something to prove. The slight Californian took first place in the 25 mile race at an average speed of 81 mph, becoming the first M&ATA National Champion of 1920. His former teammate Otto Walker was actually leading that race, but after wearing the tread off of his rear tire he had a terrible slide and tumble on the final turn, allowing his old rival to shoot past him for the win. Undeterred, Walker still managed to remount his pocket valve Harley and come in 3rd place. For the 50 mile Ascot Championship, a pocket-valve only race, Walker regained his wits and claimed the victory while Burns and another former teammate Fred Ludlow scrapped in Walker’s dust for second, Ludlow pulling ahead by only 2/5’s of a second at the line.

It is uncertain after which race this photograph was taken, though I like to think that it was a moment captured after the 25 mile race, just after Walker’s spill which no doubt stirred uneasiness in its similarity to another fellow racer, Excelsior’s Bob Perry’s tragic death during practice at Ascot only days before. To whatever extent the reports of their rivalry are true, the fact remains that both men had the fortitude and drive to risk everything for their sport, qualitiesthese men assuredly admired in one another. This moment seems to capture that mutual respect, the general concern these pioneering gentlemen racers had for one another regardless of criticisms or complaints.