Category Archives: Motorcycle photos

* Up Dated * A Tuesday Morning Double Mystery

Posted on June 4, 2013 by David Greenlees

* Up Dated * Our knowledgeable readers have come though one again and identified both the 1923 Reo and the circa 1920 Henderson Four. Thanks to; Jon Lee, Raul, Justin Johnson and Dan Haynes.

This Tuesday morning we have a double mystery for you to work on and try to help us solve. The only clues that came with this photo are that it was taken on Illinois Route 4 and 10 during 1924 (2 years before Route 4 became US 66).

We do not know what motor company produced the touring car, but it has enough distinctive features that should help you car sleuths out there to pinpoint the maker and the year. The motorcycle we have been able to identify but do not know the exact year it was made. So put on your thinking caps, go to work and let us know what you can find out. We will wait 24 hours before we post readers answers to give you some time to work on it. Photo courtesy of the Joe Sonderman Collection (scroll down).

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Posted in Auto photos 1921 - 1942, Motorcycle photos | Tagged Joe Sonderman Collection, Monday Morning Mystery, Route 66 |

A Motorcycle Cop at The Log Cabin In Pontiac, Illinois

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Gene Herman

Best not be in too much of a hurry to get some of the famous barbecue at the Log Cabin Inn in Pontiac, Illinois around 1930 or you might have met up with this stern faced lawman astride his Indian motorcycle. We don’t know the name of this anonymous officer from days gone by, but we were able to uncover some information about the place where he posed for his portrait.

Joe and Victor “Babe” Seloti opened a lunchroom and gas station on what would soon after be designated Route 66 in 1926 (see photo, above). Over the years the business thrived, even surviving a relocation of the highway to the other side of the property. Besides the good eats, such features as a talking crow trained by Joe and a small airport that he built about a mile from the restaurant helped secure the business’ reputation as genuine roadside attraction along the famous route.

An establishment of the same name is still doing business at the same location today in what may be parts of the original buildings. A brief and interesting history of Joe and Babe’s enterprise can be found here.

An annual Thresherman’s Reunion , a celebration of antique agricultural practices, including equipment powered by hay, steam, gas and diesel, has taken place in Pontiac on every Labor Day weekend since 1948. Photo courtesy of the Joe Sonderman Collection (scroll down).

Principles of Cycle Car Construction – Part IV

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Gene Herman

A cycle car from an unknown builder, possibly of English or European construction. Photo courtesy of Dale Davenport.

Here’s the next installment of our ongoing series about the world of cycle cars, with more excerpts from that definitive article on the subject from the January 15, 1914 issue of The Automobile magazine (below). One again, we’re struck by the sheer number of manufacturers actively involved in the production of these interesting little vehicles in locations all over the country. From Detroit to San Francisco, Indianapolis to New York, and all points in between, it seems that every tinkerer with a barn to work in was trying to get into the game.

Friction drives with belts or chains to the rear wheels seem to have been the standard practice, although the Chicago-built Rayfield mentioned in the first thumbnail, above, used a more conventional two speed selective gearbox. It also differed from most others with it’s water-cooled four cylinder engine, as many other designs relied on air-cooled one or two cylinder power.

The Imp cyclecar (top image in the first thumbnail, below) is notable as William B. Stout’s first automotive concept, selling the idea to the W.H. Mcintyre Company who went on to produce the car. He would later gain fame as the builder of the Stout Scarab, a distant ancestor of the modern mini-van.

Lastly, the idea of doing sixty miles per hour in the 1922 Wing Midget pictured below, let alone eighty, as claimed in the headline of the article, would certainly give us pause today. But then again, we’re not as young as we once were, nor as daring as the man behind the wheel no doubt must have been.