Found dismantled in an Australian collection some years ago, this 1915 Indian is barking again. A flames show out of the cylinder heads.
1915 Indian Boardtrack Racer Breathing Again
Published by April 10th, 2016 in Builders, Editorial and Videos.17 Responses to “1915 Indian Boardtrack Racer Breathing Again”
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This is a freaking cool video! Things you need to know about board track motorcycles as you watch this:
They had no brakes.
They had no throttle (if you notice in the video, he’s manipulating the carb directly. In reality, they didn’t rev the engines like this, and the engines didn’t need to idle. The bike was push started and the engine went up to full speed.)
The rider had a spark interrupter to slow down, by actually shutting off the engine for short periods. (Look at those flames coming out of the head. I think if I knew those were going to be blowing at my leg every time I used the throttle interrupter, I’d be a bit hesitant about using it!)
Board tracks were banked at up to 45°. Modern, high banked tracks are banked at 33°, If a rider screwed up at speed, he and the motorcycle could easily be launched into the crowd.
I thought I was a real biker, until I start thinking about some guy on one of these at full throttle on a board track!! Holy Crud!!
………….. domino dave……………
I often wonder if I would have the nerve to ride one of these
How come there’s fire coming out of the heads like that? Why isn’t it going straight out the exhaust pipe/pipe? I must be missing something…
I don’t know if that’s the coolest thing I’ve ever seen in my life… but it’s certainly the coolest thing I’ve seen for a while!
Richards,
I’m think-n that flames are combustion bypassing the valve guides. There had to be extra clearance to compensate for the lack of top-end oiling. Don’t know how the pistons survived. Can’t wee any oil coming out of what seem to be cooling ports at the bottom of the cylinders. …???
-nicker-
Amazing! It is the coolest motorcycle video I have ever seen.
Just like Domino, the first thing that came to mind is so you think you are a bad ass biker? Well try to hang on to this at speeds exceeding 100 mph on a high banked board track covered in oil along with 20 other guys doing their best to run over your ass! No thank you. It is cool to look at and awe inspiring to hear. It lets one see raw mechanical horse power at work. The definition of minimalist. Thanks for sharing.
YOU TUBE
VINTAGE BOARD TRACK MOTORCYCLE RACING VIDEO
THIS IS AWESOME.
Would we have the nerve to ride something like this? Remember that this was state of the art stuff back then and going back to my whippersnapper days I jumped on a few hot bikes and rode like an idiot. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for nerve and given the chance and youth of the day I’m sure more than a few or us would step up for the chance.
In-ground roller bed…clean shop…clean clothes and a haircut….clean cylinder head….this fellow is one of those “neat freaks”. Nice restoration taken to the edge of doom….but not ruined by new paint.
Wonder what the poor people are doing today…. blogging on the internet?
Nicker…I don’t know??? Maybe Cyril can help?
Nicker, I just looked at the video again. That would be the exhaust valve side. If it were oil through the guides, I would have guessed that “charge” would have still have been pushed out the exhaust pipe durning the exhaust cycle. Additionally, wouldn’t that have seriously reduced the power realized? I’m still not understanding…Cyril/anyone else…please help, I’m really curious.
That is one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen !!!!
We romanticize the board track days & the men who rode them
But had no idea how tough they actually were !!!
Would not want to ride that thing shooting flames at my legs
Like almost everyone on this post,
Kudos for bringing it back to life !!!!
Well Done !!!
Throttles were usually wired wide open and at least some of the bikes pushed started with a compression release open at first. Could the flames sneaking out the side be the compression release ports?
Richards,
Looked at the video again…. Can only rationalize those ports as a cooling mechanism for the exhaust seat and exhaust valve guide. They are at pipe level putting-em above the combustion chamber. Makes no sense for any connection to the actual exhaust port. Valve springs are sitting on what looks like some screw-in-plug, so guides must be either cast into or pressed into the head below that opening….. ???
-nicker-
Nicker, you may be entirely correct. Otherwise, I’m stumped.