1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

[JRoberts]

Alright all of you bike guys here you go....this looks brutal to me. What do you think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDFX-nhUYzc

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

First thought, man that's a shitload of wood.

Wild as hell.

Thanks for the video Joe!

Brian

[mike343sharpstick]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

As a motorcycle guy, I have been fascinated with board track racing forever. It is fantastic and totally crazy.
The reason it no longer exists is simply the danger factor, racers died regularly. Companies like Indian and HD had wicked advanced engines for the day.
This IS the best footage I have ever seen! Awesome!
This is back when men were men, and didn't live very long.

[mike343sharpstick]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

By the way, these things have NO brakes! :o

[Gary 351C]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

Falling off must have been a bitch, splinter city, OUCH! :'(

[Caveman]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

I remember hearing/reading about an old board-track racer who had some pain in his foot during a race... finished the race, went to change clothes and found a 3" x 3/4" splinter through his boot... and through the flesh on his heel.

Today's 'Extreme' sports are lame, now that you can just call 911.

Those guys were nuts, and had big nuts.

[JRoberts]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

I got the original thread from a thread on the Studebaker Drivers Club Forum. Since somebody asked about the construction of these tracks I thought I would post the entire thread. Being computer challenged that is easier than trying to post a picture. There is a picture of a board track that has a hole in it, it shows that the track is made of what looks like 2X4's on edge. By-the-way, the original thread concerns an 18 day speed trial for 1938 Studebakers. I think you will find the results interesting.

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24984

[JOES66FURY]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

At what point does that become a GOOD idea....and who cme up with it....musta had a death wish....crazy mofo's

[Darren N.]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

At what point does that become a GOOD idea....and who cme up with it....musta had a death wish....crazy mofo's

I was asking myself the same question. I'm not sure of the origins of board track racing, but it's freaking awesome ;D. Here's a snippet on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_track_racing.

That clip is a true gem. I especially enjoyed the sidecar round. The Stude racer article is way cool.

Thanks for posting JRoberts, I need to go find some more now :D

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

Guy 1: Hank, that broken glass track just isn't gonna work.
Guy 2: I agree. The cleanup was a real biotch last week

Guy 1: See that huge stack of lumber?
Guy 2: We're gonna need a shitload of nails.

;D

Brian

[joebogey]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

At what point does that become a GOOD idea....and who cme up with it....musta had a death wish....crazy mofo's

You have to remember this started when road options were cobble stones or dirt. Using the boards provided them with a great flat surface. With that said, I wouldn't want to have to hammer all that shit down.

[DanStokes]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

I think back then, a "shitload" was called a "hogshead" (pronounced "HOG shead"). Those folks were definitely insane. No accounting..... As I understand it, those tracks were, at least in part, because of the available materials. Truck-mixed concrete was pretty much non-existent, MacAdam (an early form of asphalt) would come apart under racing conditions, and there were lots of trees - and carpenters. I'm not convinced that this was the best type of surface, but remember that Indy was paved with bricks back then - they were looking for a good surface. Our 60+ year old concrete looks pretty good by comparison!

Thanks for passing this along, Joe - see you in April.

Dan

[TheSilverBuick]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

Anyone else count the stars on the flag? 48 :P Anyways, the quality of the film is excellent. I wonder what the sound of the tires on the wood sounded like.

[Fordplay0621]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

I checked out the flag too... And yeah that's a s&^% load of wood.

[KeithTurk]

Re: 1920 Board track racing -- Motorcycles!

Those guys were mechanic's... they didn't change parts they built them... true innovation and Shear guts...

Barber's Museum has a Great section on board track racers.... Thought I was going to loose Whitemonster to it...

K