VOL. 55 ISSUE 37 SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 P117
mersed in expanding his business
into aviation, he considered him-
self 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 en-
gine 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 handlebars, which made
steering awkward. It used an auto-
mobile rear wheel and a motor-
cycle front wheel. The tires were
specially made by B.F. Goodrich.
The Curtiss V-8 engine was air-
cooled, producing approximately
40 horsepower at 1800 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 carbure-
tors, 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 busi-
ness owners. The speed trials
were for both cars and motor-
cycles 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 on-
lookers 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' motor-
cycle 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 "Fast-
est 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 mo-
torcycle 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 Hammond-
sport, New York. CN
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The Curtiss V-8 is
on display at the
Smithsonian.
