Mecum’s Monterey 2024 sale is swiftly approaching, and the U.S. public sale powerhouse has a discipline of 100 classic bikes promoting August 15-17. With all the pieces from turn-of-the-century cycles to a 2023 Ducati Lamborghini Streetfighter on the docket, there’s lots to select from, however we really feel the next three Heaps need to have their tales informed.
Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn’s Harley-Davidson VL
40 years earlier than Knievel’s Skycycle accomplished a considerably anticlimactic descent into the Snake River Canyon, motorbike stunt using regarded a bit of totally different in America. Regional stunt riders made names for themselves by using the wall, leaping second-hand bobbers and crashing via flaming obstacles in spectacular style. A rising star, touring one of the best venues in California, Jimmy “Daredevil” Washburn was actually one of many greatest names on two wheels within the Nineteen Thirties.
Choosing prunes at 10 cents a field, Washburn was capable of fund the acquisition of his first bike—a 1917 Harley-Davidson that set him again $75. By 1925, he’d realized how one can experience the wall and was touring native carnivals for $2 a day pay.
Washburn was an completed racer and was headlining a whole workforce of stunt riders by the Nineteen Thirties, sometimes called ‘Dare Satan Washburn’s Thriller Squadron.’ His signature stunts included leaping over a sedan at 70 mph, and crashing via glass, brick and flaming board partitions, and in 1934, Washburn jumped a distance of 65 toes over eight sedans. Washburn toured all through North America, Europe and Australia, and headlined the Chicago and New York World’s Gala’s. His stunt using will also be seen within the 1936 movie Crash Donovan.
Contemplating the tough nature of his feats, it’s stunning the person lived to inform about them, however much more astonishing that his machine did as nicely, as ‘Daredevil Washburn constructed his legacy on this 1932 Harley-Davidson VL. The bike was bought within the mid-’30s for a mere $200, and served as his fundamental stunt bike for many of his profession.
The second-hand VL was stripped again and given the usual bobber remedy with a bobbed rear fender, a megaphone exhaust and all superfluous highway gear eliminated. The triple-diamond paint scheme and No. 7 roundels mirror the scheme Washburn most regularly used, and the entrance crash bars and display screen that made his wall crash stunts potential are nonetheless fitted.
Retained by the Washburn household for many years, and accompanied by a group of images and memorabilia, the Daredevil’s VL is a machine worthy of show at any main museum.
1922 Brough Superior Mark 1 90 Bore
William E. Brough’s Brough Bikes loved reasonable success within the wake of WWI, however his younger son George had illusions of grandeur as he developed a brand new 500 cc flat-twin with aluminum circumstances, pistons and ball-bearing camshafts. George envisioned an unique motorbike of remarkable high quality and efficiency, and he was keen to half methods along with his father to construct it.
George went out on his personal in 1919 at 29 years outdated, and spent his curiosity in Brough Bikes on a bit of property on Haydn Highway in Nottingham. Whereas his new store was being constructed, George labored on his first few bikes in his father’s storage after securing a six-year-old inventory of engines from J.A. Prestwick. Regardless of its humble beginnings, the genius in George’s early bikes confirmed, and an outdated ingesting buddy joked that he ought to identify his firm Brough Superior. William was lower than entertained, however the identify caught.
George first marketed his Mark 1 Brough Superior in 1920, calling it an ‘ambiance disturber,’ and clearly stating that his new machine supplied unmatched efficiency and high quality. The deposit checks poured in, and by 1922, Brough Superior was constructing over 100 bikes a 12 months.
Whereas his later fashions made Brough well-known (the SS80 and SS100), the excellence of Brough’s strategy was instantly evident within the Mark 1. The body was a sturdy open diamond design with Brampton forks, the Enfield or Webb wheels used 10-gauge spokes and the bicycle-style brakes have been thought-about greater than satisfactory for the time. When most different bikes used angular tanks underneath the highest tube, the Mark 1 was graced with a streamlined, hand-formed tank over the body completed in stunning nickel plating.
Powering the Mark 1 was a 986 cc J.A.P. 50-degree V-twin, nicknamed the ‘90 Bore’ for its cylinder dimensions (90 mm bore and 77.5 mm stroke), with three-ring aluminum pistons, sandblasted circumstances, plated valve gear and a refined cast-aluminum silencer. The Mark 1 might run 60 mph all day, would hit 80 mph flat out, and was nearly actually quicker than anything on the highway.
It’s estimated that Brough constructed round 100 90-Bore Mark 1s between 1919 and 1923 earlier than being changed by the legendary SS80, and just some are believed to exist as we speak. Mecum’s Lot R112.1 is a spectacular instance from 1922, carrying a concours restoration worthy of prime honors on the October 2019 Motoroclassica Concours.
1942 Indian 4 Mannequin 441
Few (if any) bikes of the day can match the stage presence of the Indian 4, with its elegant inline four-cylinder, fully-sprung chassis and deco skirted fenders. Simply recognizable as one of the iconic and fascinating American bikes ever constructed, historical past has been awfully type to the mannequin contemplating its function within the model’s decline.
Reliability and sporting prowess established Indian because the primary motorbike in America, however after allocating all of its stock to the army in WWI (successfully depriving its vendor community), the model discovered itself consuming Harley-Davidson’s mud. Strategic strikes in innovation and picture led to the creation of Indian’s most profitable fashions, the versatile Scout and the fully-sprung Cheif, and Indian was closing in on Harley’s gross sales by 1940.
So what went improper for Indian? It was a mixture of things that led to the skeletal, post-war stays of the corporate, however there’s no denying the Indian 4’s contribution to the corporate’s troubled funds.
Indian acquired the Ace Motor Company in 1927, together with William G. Henderson’s newest four-cylinder design, and rapidly rebranded the bike because the Indian Ace. The bike was modified 12 months to 12 months, turning into much less Ace and extra Indian with a stronger five-bearing crankshaft, and Indian’s Indian’s trailing-link fork and quarter-elliptic leaf spring. Regardless of the enhancements, there was little or no demand for flagship bikes within the thick of the Nice Despair, because the Indian 4 bought for the worth of a median household sedan.
From 1936 to 1937, the 4 was match with a brand new inlet-over-exhaust cylinder head that improved gas vaporization and elevated energy, however the design directed an excessive amount of warmth on the rider’s enterprise, and the earlier valve association returned for 1938. The final Fours have been arguably one of the best of the bunch, now boasting the identical skirted fenders and plunger rear suspension because the Chief from 1940 on.
Indian’s sizable funding within the 4 fashions by no means materialized, with round 5,000 bikes constructed over 15 years, and the corporate limped on after WWII with solely the Chief and some rebadged overseas bikes within the steady.
Whereas the story of the Indian 4 is not any fairytale, it does nothing to detract from the staggering great thing about bikes like Mecum’s Lot R204—a totally restored ’42 Mannequin 441. Expertly restored by 4th Coast Fours in 2023, the bike presents as new with 375 miles on the clock. Equal elements high-quality Americana and art-deco excellence, this Indian 4 will certainly seize six-figure bids and be the delight of somebody’s assortment.
Supply: Mecum Auctions