Harley Davidson Motorcycles Board Track Racer 1920
Bicycle racing on banked, oval board tracks became popular in Europe and the US during the latter part of the nineteenth century and bicycle manufacturers entered teams of riders to advertise their products.
Then, in order to pace the cyclists, ingenious engineers began fitting small engines to bicycle frames and the rest, as they say, is history – the history of the motorcycle. In the US, the board tracks began to be used for motorcycle races, as were the flat cinder tracks used for horse racing. The first purpose-built motorcycle racing board track, the Coliseum Motordrome, was built in Los Angeles in 1909. It was 1.25 miles (2.01km) long and constructed of 2×1-inch boards laid length ways.
Racers modified production motorcycles for board track competition but in 1914 William Harley’s assistant chief engineer and the company’s competition director, William Ottaway, designed a racing engine by fitting a camshaft with higher and longer lift, and enlarging and polishing the intake and exhaust ports. The V-twin engine has a capacity of 60.34ci (989cc) but its power output is not known. To reduce the high-speed wobbles that were encountered, the length of the front forks was reduced by one inch compared to those found on the production models and incorporated a special mechanism to compress the springs.
In 1919, Ottaway hired a team of riders who became known as the “Wrecking Crew” because they totally dominated the competition that year. This 1920 example was acquired for the NZ Classic Motorcycles collection via a US auction house from a private vendor in Sturgis, South Dakota, in January, 2011.