Larry Lawrence | September 18, 2018
Archives: The Original Superbike
The Curtiss V-8 was simply the most incredible motorcycle of the first decade of the sport and arguably of all time. A true Superbike worthy of the name, the 4000cc V-8-powered machine clocked an unbelievable 136 miles per hour on Ormond Beach in Florida, with builder Glenn Curtiss at the controls. It was perhaps the biggest news in all of motorcycling in first decade of the 20th century.
Archives: The Original Superbike
Some context: A mile a minute was still a big deal on a motorcycle in 1907. Keep in mind this was still early enough in the history of the industry, that motorcycles of this era were still more or less powered bicycles and the fastest production machines boasted of being able to reach 60 miles per hour, although advertising claims were often optimistic. The motorcycle land speed record at the time was held by Frenchman Henri Cissac, who managed 87 mph at England’s Blackpool Speed Trials in 1905.
Curtiss began his career as a Western Union bicycle messenger, a bicycle racer, and bicycle shop owner in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. In 1901 he became interested in emerging field of motorcycles when internal combustion engines became more available. Curtiss began developing motorcycle engines in 1902 and sold them under the Hercules name. The first was a single-cylinder model generating 3 horsepower. In 1903 he designed an 8-horsepower V-twin engine. On Labor Day 1903, around the Empire City track, a dirt horse oval in Yonkers, New York, in front of 5000 spectators, Curtiss used that V-twin to set what is considered the first motorcycle land speed record, reaching 64 mph.
As the decade progressed Curtiss continued to develop ever more powerful engines. He was also turning his attention to aviation. Airships were being developed and a Curtiss motor was used to power the first successful dirigible flown in the United States, called the California Arrow. Airships demanded ever more powerful powerplants and that’s when Curtiss began building his first eight-cylinder engines. That eventually led to four-liter version that produced a stunning 40 horsepower.
While Curtiss was fully immersed in expanding his business into aviation, he considered himself a motorcycle racer at heart. With the most powerful engine he’d ever built, he came up with the idea of promoting his business and putting his name in the record books by stuffing his airship engine into a custom-built elongated motorcycle frame and using that monster machine to make a land-speed record attempt. And that’s just what he did in 1907.
The frame measured nearly eight feet in length. The overall weight of the machine was a surprisingly lean 275 pounds. Because of the size of the engine, the seat was mounted rearward. This in turn necessitated extra-long handle bars, which made steering awkward. It used an automobile rear wheel and a motorcycle front wheel. The tires were specially made by B.F. Goodrich.
The Curtiss V-8 engine was air-cooled, producing approximately 40 horsepower at 1,800 rpm. The motorcycle used shaft drive because a conventional chain-and-belt transmission could not handle the power of the massive V-8. The motor was mounted with the crankshaft running lengthwise and was connected to the drive shaft with a double universal joint. A large bevel gear on this shaft meshed with a similar one on the rear wheel.
The engine had two carburetors, each one supplying a bank of four cylinders on each side. The transmission was direct drive, with no clutch.
The idea of beach speed trials was the brainchild of a group of Ormond Beach hotel and business owners. The speed trials were for both cars and motorcycle and were held every winter from 1903 to 1910. Even with a wide variety of speed record machines assembling at Ormond Beach, Curtiss’ V-8 amazed onlookers as the most awesome and perhaps absurd.
The engine was so powerful it was feared that it would tear itself from the frame under full throttle. As a precaution it was heavily gusseted. Curtiss built up speed for two miles on the beach before running through the one-mile timed section. The course totaled five miles, with an additional two miles to slow down the machines after the timed section (which is good because Curtiss’ motorcycle only had a hinged paddle that would rub against the rear tire as a brake!). You could only imagine the faces of the timers as Curtiss tripped the clocks with a time that figured out to an average of 136.27 mph – nearly 50 miles per hour faster than the previous motorcycle record.
Newspaper reports quoted Curtiss as saying, perhaps with wry sense of humor, “It satisfied my speed craving.”
Curtiss was dubbed the “Fastest Man on Earth.”
Curtiss never rode the bike again. For years it was on display at his aviation company before eventually ending up with the Smithsonian.
Unfortunately, the drive shaft broke on the record-setting run and a return run could not be completed, so the speed was not officially recognized, yet a motorcycle would not go faster until 1930, ironically the same year that Glenn Curtiss died.
The famous Curtiss V-8 is at the Smithsonian today with an exact replica on display at the Glenn Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York.