This weekend, I headed out to Hickory Corners to the Gilmore Car Museum. When I went back in January, only the main building was open. In April, everything opens up for the summer. So I met up with a friend of mine and drove out to the museum. One of the buildings on the grounds was the Motorcycle Collection. I'm not really a motorcycle guy, but I was still fascinated by what I saw.
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As we approached the building, I notice this old motorcycle sitting out front. As I got closer, I saw it's rough, unrestored condition. All indications show that this is a late 1930's to early 1940's Whizzer motorbike.
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| This 1910 FN Four (Yes, the same FN that manufactures firearms), with it's 498cc Inline-4 engine, was one of the earlier examples in the collection. Note the pedals, used for starting the bike. |
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With it's 2-speed transmission and 165lb total weight, this was considered a fast motorbike for its time.
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This unrestored 1914 Harley Davidson V-Twin, with it's 989cc, 8hp v-twin engine, originally sold for $128, or nearly $3,200 in todays money. Famously, a woman named Della Crewe, and her Dog,"Trouble", left Waco, TX in June of 1915, and rode 5,378 miles in 6 months.
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| This 1920 Cleveland Model 20, known for its sound design, had a 270cc single cylinder two-stroke engine delivering all 2.5 horsepower to the rear wheel vi a clutchless transmission and worm drive. Sadly, the manufacturer was one of many casualties of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. |
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This motorized Bicycle, made by Johnson Motor Wheel, turned a standard Yale (made by Yale Sewing Machine Company) Mens Bicycle into a motorbike by replacing the rear wheel with one fitted with the drive sprocket, and mounting the engine on a rack.
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This 1967 BSA 441 Victor, had a 30hp 441cc single-cylinder 4-stroke engine, and a top speed of 95mph. These are still popular with performance motorcycle enthusiasts.
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This 1973 Triumph Tiger 750, also known as the TR7 (not related to the car from the same company with the same name), has a 724cc Twin-cylinder engine. It was a common British performance motorcycle.
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Fans of BBC's "Top Gear" should recognize this as a 1941 Vincent Black Shadow. Richard Hammond rode one in the "Race to the North" episode (Season 13, episode 1).
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The bike was built by Vincent HRD, in England.
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| The engine in this motorcycle is, as Hammond mentioned, a stressed member of the chassis. |
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This 1956 NSU Spexial Max, was made by manufacturer "NSU", which later on, became one of the 4 manufacturers that formed Auto Union, which later became Audi.
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This Ariel Square Four Mk.2 had a unique engine...
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| A Square-Four. Essentially, a pair of inline t-cylinder engines joined and synchronized by a geared flywheel setup. |
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| This 1971 Honda SuperSports CBX superbike was my favorite bike in this building. It's powered by a rather unusual 1,047cc DOHC Air-cooled, 6-carb inline 6. Notice that the output is in the center between cylinder 3 and 4. |
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Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back for more content from the museum this weekend and into next week.
-Phil
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