CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
T
he Curtiss V-8 was simply the
most incredible motorcycle of
the first decade of the sport and
arguably of all time. A true su-
perbike 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 the first decade
of the 20th century.
Some context: A mile a minute
was still a big deal on a motorcy-
cle 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 fast-
P116
Hercules name. The first was a
single-cylinder model generating
three horsepower. In 1903, he
designed an eight-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 specta-
tors, 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 en-
gine was used to power the first
successful dirigible flown in the
United States, called the Califor-
nia Arrow. Airships demanded
bigger and stronger 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 im-
est 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 French-
man Henri Cissac who managed
87 mph at England's Blackpool
Speed Trials in 1905.
Curtiss began his career as a
Western Union bicycle messen-
ger, 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 inter-
nal combustion engines became
more available. Curtiss began
developing motorcycle engines
in 1902 and sold them under the
THE
ORIGINAL
SUPERBIKE
(Above) At one
time, Glenn Curtiss
was called the
"Fastest Man
on Earth." (Left)
Curtiss on the
record-setting
Curtiss V-8.
