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Interesting motorcycles, not XS650
- Thread starter Kevin Werner
- Start date
The late, great Carl Cranke aboard what appears to be early 1970's Penton 250. Likely a National Hare Scrambles event as the helmet is not official ISDT garb - as I recall.
1976 Can-Am 500
Built near me in Bedford, Pa. Such high hopes. 
I was beginning to think nobody else remembered ”Crazy Cranke” a nickname he earned while competing in the ISDT, because he always ran WOT. I was always a fan of his. Man I remember reading about the ISDT races ,back in the 70’s , like it was yesterday. What I loved about the ISDT was how difficult it was, and what an endurance test it was for the riders. Those riders were the best in the world, not only did they have to go blindingly fast over difficult and unfamiliar terrain, they also had to do any repairs on their bikes themselves, nobody was allowed to touch their bikes. No high dollar factory pit crew for those guys! Great stuff!
And the diversity of bikes that were represented, how about a BMW airhead based off of the R69s
Or a Rokon? 
From Dirtbike magazine,
https://dirtbikemagazine.com/carl-cranke-r-i-p/
“Carl represented the United States in ten International Six Days and in the process won 9 medals, 7 golds and 2 silvers. No matter what class he rode, he was known to ride in the 100, 125 and 250 class, if he showed up on the starting line he was favored to win. In addition to his racing career Carl was also the West Coast service manager for Penton. Many of us were lucky enough to be decent at one discipline of racing, it’s incredibly rare to be really good at everything. Carl Cranke was great at everything he raced and everywhere he raced. Rare indeed.
Godspeed.”
Heres a couple more of Carl Cranke going full out at the ISDT
How about this guy, anyone remember Harvey Mushman?
Steve McQueen?How about this guy, anyone remember Harvey Mushman?
Carl Cranke if I remember right was a desert racer also, very fast. I remember reading that at his first IDST he was riding a open class Penton. Mint 400. The Europeans were in awe of his speeds on the grass special tests. He was clocked at 117mph on grass.
Interesting read on the 6 Days in Czechoslovakia.
https://books.google.com/books?id=v...hDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=carl cranke&f=false
Billy Uhl the first bionic man.
https://books.google.com/books?id=v...hDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=carl cranke&f=false
Billy Uhl the first bionic man.
Yeah he was in the US ISDT team in 1964 racing a Triumph with team members Dave and Bud Ekins, John Steen and Cliff Coleman. McQueens race ended on day 3 after a bad crash.
Harvey Mushman was a fake name that McQueen sometimes used when he entered a race. That little nugget was made famous in the movie On any Sunday.
Also McQueen?
Malcom Smith?
JN Roberts
J.N. Roberts absolutely owned the desert racing world in a time when the dirt bike planet was exploding. And while his role in On Any Sunday marched him into the limelight of the fledging dirt bike world, it was his ability to dance across the desert at speeds that were inconceivable that made him famous. J.N. won the infamous Barstow to Vegas four consecutive times, at one point he won 27 straight races, was a two-time Baja 1000 winner, two-time Baja 500 winner, the Mint 400 three-times and raced the 1971 ISDT. J.N. went on to become a Hollywood stuntman, he has participated in the Day in the Dirt many times, an event which his son Jimmy is one of the promoters. He was recognized easily by the football face guard on his helmet, Levi’s and his big Husqvarna will forever leave their marque on a sport and lifestyle searching for heroes.
-dirtbikemagazine.com
J.N. Roberts absolutely owned the desert racing world in a time when the dirt bike planet was exploding. And while his role in On Any Sunday marched him into the limelight of the fledging dirt bike world, it was his ability to dance across the desert at speeds that were inconceivable that made him famous. J.N. won the infamous Barstow to Vegas four consecutive times, at one point he won 27 straight races, was a two-time Baja 1000 winner, two-time Baja 500 winner, the Mint 400 three-times and raced the 1971 ISDT. J.N. went on to become a Hollywood stuntman, he has participated in the Day in the Dirt many times, an event which his son Jimmy is one of the promoters. He was recognized easily by the football face guard on his helmet, Levi’s and his big Husqvarna will forever leave their marque on a sport and lifestyle searching for heroes.
-dirtbikemagazine.com
The ability that some of these racers had , really is amazing.
