The surprises just keep on coming....   With Week 2 of "30 Bikes in 30 Days" behind us, we'd gotten well back into the swing of breathing a little life back into America's rarest and most unique two-wheeled marvels.  Its been a busy summer so far, and while most of our days are spent hanging out with our wonderful visitors, sharing history and swapping stories, the excitement of hearing an 80, 90, or 100 year-old work of American ingenuity run for the first time never seems to fade.

For week three, Dale and I had put together a heck of a line-up, including several famous and original racing machines from the earliest days of American motorcycle history.  Up first on Thursday, was sleek and powerful 1937 Harley-Davidson "Fred Ham Special".  Set up for speed, the bike was originally tuned by Bill Graves and ridden by Fred Ham (a West Covina, CA motorcycle police officer) to the 1937 24-hour endurance record, cover an amazing 1825 miles in just 24 hours.  The run was completed at Muroc Dry Lake in Souther California in April of 1937, and to this day, no other bike of its age has covered as many miles in one days time. 

The bike came to Dale in pieces in 2006, and after a careful and detailed restoration, bringing the bike back to like new, race-prepped condition, we set out to rebreak Ham's record exactly 70 years to the day later.  Ridden by our good friend Wayne Stanfield, we were able to make lap after lap at the famed Talladega Super Speedway, coming close but falling short of Fred Ham's 70-year old mark of 1825 miles.  Nonetheless, the bike is a true piece of history, and is a visitor favorite here at the museum.  Hearing it run brought me right back to our 24-hours at Talladega, and may have even sparked a little motivation in us both for getting it back out for another attempt in the future.  Ya never know, right?

Up for Friday demonstration were two of Dale's own competition machines -- the 1924 Harley-Davidson FHAC Twin-Cam factory board track racer and his 1915 Harley-Davidson "Cannonball Bike".  Each of the machines Dale preserved in original condition.  The 1924 Twin-cam is one of my own favorite bikes....61 cubic inchs, single speed, with no brake, and no clutch!  In its current configuration, the bike will run over 100 miles per hour.  For years now, Dale's been racing the bike at the Davenport, IA AMCA 1/2-mile flat track races, and with each passing race, the bike seems to run better and better.

As for the 1915 HD "Cannonball Bike"......well, you may as well nick-name it "the Energizer Bunny".   Specially prepped by Dale for the 2010 Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run from Kitty Hawk, NC to Santa Monica, CA, the bike is equipped with a 1000cc I-over-E engine and 3-speed transmission.  During the 2 1/2 week run from coast to coast, Dale racked up over 3400 miles of nearly trouble-free riding.  It just goes to show, that even though its almost a century old, if well prepared and properly maintained, the old American Iron just keeps going and going and going.........

Saturday was truly a highlight here at the museum, as we got down two of the most famed, storied, and accomplished racing motorcycles of the 1950s and 60s.  First up was a 1952 Harley-Davidson KR 750 Dirt-track racer ridden by the famous Carroll Reseweber to four National Dirt Track Championships.  Nick-named the "Blue Goose", the bike features a special built 45 cubic inch KR engine, tuned by Ralph Berndt to get ever last bit of horsepower that the motor would produce.  The bike has no brakes, no kick starter, and can only be fired off by pushing it.  Let me tell you, this bike absolutely screams, and with gearing set up for the various 1-mile tracks on which it competed around the country in the late 50s and early 60s, the bike will undoubtedly do well over 100 miles per hour......and it'll get there quick!  Standing next to the machine, its hard to imagine that not only is it capable of such speeds, but it is indeed the very bike that held the podium from 1958-61.  WOW!!!

On Monday, another special machine was tuned up and ready to run --- my own 1924 Harley-Davidson JDCA 1/2-mile dirt-track racer.  Built with many original racing parts of the era, I finished the machine in mid-July of this year, and just days later, took it out to race at the Wauseon 1/2-mile dirt track races during the AMCA Swapmeet July 15th.  The bike has no brakes and no clutch, and is currently geared for the short track, topping out at about 75 miles per hour for the short straightaways.  Racing a bike like this was one of the highlights of my life, and by weeks end, I'll be at it again in Davenport, racing on the 1/2-mile oval with two-dozen old bike nuts and good friends.  Just last week, after deciding to make a few adjustments before the next race, we opened up the engine and found a few problems.   Within 30 minutes, nearly the entire engine was taken aparts, and an hour later, it was back together again.  With a few tricks up my sleeve and a secret ingredient or two, I'm hoping that the bike performs just as flawlessly as it did in the last race.....and maybe even a bit better.

Next week is another big one for "30 Bikes in 30 Days", so check out our full demonstration calendar, and plan your next visit today!