Motorcycle Racing Then & Now

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I typed in Motorcycle Racing in the forum search and got 25 pages of results none of which was under a Motorcycle Racing title so maybe there`s a place for this. I know a lot of the members were racers or fans and I`m sure there are some interesting stories and pictures out there. Really like to here from members in the UK, Australia, Europe etc as well as here in the US about all forms of racing. I was a flat track person myself so I`ll start out with this one.
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I typed in Motorcycle Racing in the forum search and got 25 pages of results none of which was under a Motorcycle Racing title so maybe there`s a place for this. I know a lot of the members were racers or fans and I`m sure there are some interesting stories and pictures out there. Really like to here from members in the UK, Australia, Europe etc as well as here in the US about all forms of racing. I was a flat track person myself so I`ll start out with this one.
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Kinda looks like one of a friend's kids.........
 
From 1908 to 1929 Board Track racing was a big deal in America, with speeds over 100 mph and almost no protective gear it was an extremely dangerous form of racing. There were dozens of tracks in America, some as long as 2 1/2 miles. They were pretty impressive structures really. I would’ve loved to have seen one of those races.
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Deaths were frequent and sometimes the track owners and race promoters were arrested for negligent homicide.
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Those board track pictures and clips make reference to the Excelsior twin...I assume that at least some of you have heard of Paul Brodie and his development of Excelsior replicas from scratch. If not or if interested, check him out on YouTube:
He has a great deal of very interesting moto-related content.
 
Not motorcycle specific but as a child my dad and grandpa owned a machine shop that built rim for stock cars. I pretty much grew up in that shop, cleaning and running the mills and lathes since I could stand on a milk crate and spin the knobs.

My dad and grandpa were at pretty much every race in the US (I would go to as many as I could). When I got to go, we had access to pretty much everywhere and every racer. This was in a time when the pits weren’t open to the public. They were wild haha.

When I was about 10 they started making rims for drag motorcycles. Getting to see top fuel motorcycles for the first time was pretty mind blowing (motorcycles and figure 8 train races with school busses were my all time favorite races!!!) . Throw your leg over it, twist the throttle and pray you make it out the other end! I couldn’t get enough of em as a kid.

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The company my dad and grandpa started is still around today but they seem to be out of the race game with no mention of their former selves on the website. Kind of a bummer but still cool it’s still here. My dad sold it about 20 years ago.

Www.circleracing.com
 
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From 1908 to 1929 Board Track racing was a big deal in America, with speeds over 100 mph and almost no protective gear it was an extremely dangerous form of racing. There were dozens of tracks in America, some as long as 2 1/2 miles. They were pretty impressive structures really. I would’ve loved to have seen one of those races.
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Deaths were frequent and sometimes the track owners and race promoters were arrested for negligent homicide.
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Some great shots and interesting info there Bob.
 
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