Posts
757
Joined
9/10/2013
Location
Lafayette, IN
US
Edited Date/Time
1/30/2020 10:55pm
So we were going through a good friend of mine old family photos and we found these original photos of his grandfather and some other guys racing motocross on there converted Harley Street bikes to dirt bikes. It appears to be from the 40s? So I thought I would share them here. Would love to have some feedback on what you think? Great window into the history of our sport.
and
and
The Shop
Guy1 - just got a bike
Guy2 - hey me too. Bet i can ride mine faster.
Guy1 - oh yeah?
And it goes from there. The speed, adrenaline, ego, machinery. It's all pretty cool stuff.
Anybody have any specs on bikes like those? HP? Suspension travel? Weight?
Just think if you could take a new KTM FE back in time to those guys. Crazy how far we have came.
Like ZEHN mentioned, my dad (b.1917) lived in CA and when he came back from WWII he bought two Harley 74ci bikes and converted one to do hillclimbs.
Kind of crazy to think but about a year and a half ago I raced in the 100th annual Great American Hillclimb, they’ve been doing that event for over 100 years now!
Pit Row
My grandad landed on Gold Beach on the 7th of June 1944 as a member of the 7th Armoured Division 'The Desert Rats' as a dispatch rider. I believe he used a Harley Davidson and/or a BSA at some point (he said the American equipment was brilliant though).
After the war he rode scrambles while he was still in the army, they even held the races on old battlefields. He was demobbed some time before 1950, he never did ride again after that for some reason but its pretty cool to think he was there at the start of the greatest sport on earth, even if he didn't know it at the time.
Awesome pictures!
Post a reply to: Really old school Motocross... The 1940s