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VOL. 56 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 29, 2019 P103 Snyder led early with Taylor a close second. When Snyder pitted for ad- justments Taylor took over the lead. Indian's Charles "Fearless" Balke came up to challenge and the two battled for the lead. On last lap a tire puncture ended Taylor's bid for the win and he limped home to sixth. In- dian's Balke and Charles Gustafson finished first and second. During the lead up to the 1914 FAM convention, a Flying Merkel squad with Taylor teaming with Cleo Pineau and F.E. French, won the Rider's Trophy in the Chicago to St. Louis FAM National Endur- ance Run. The 1914 edition of the 300-Mile Championship proved to be one of the most seminal races in the his- tory of motorcycle racing. It marked the first time Harley-Davidson entered a full-fledged factory team. Earlier that summer Harley sup- ported several riders in the Dodge City National races, but they were trounced. Smarting at the loss, Harley officials decided to build factory-racing specials and make a big splash at Savannah late that fall. It was under this backdrop that Savannah in 1914 took on major im- portance to Harley-Davidson, and to the other manufacturers as well. Lee Taylor was part of the top- dog Indian factory squad at Savan- nah that year. It appears Taylor may have been signed specifically to strengthen Indian's efforts in that late season race. Since Taylor had been one of the top competitors at the Elgin National Road Race, Indian knew he had the skills to win at this type of competition. Race morning in Savannah it was so cold there was frost on the ground. Mechanics has to build fires to heat up the oil that had got- ten thick as molasses in the over- night chill. Riders wore multiple layers of sweaters for the race. Thirty-two riders took the starting flag at 9 a.m. Pushed off in groups of five, one minute apart. The course was 11.25-mile circuit—27 laps for the final. Martin Schroder led in the early miles for the upstart Harley- Davidson team followed by Bob Perry, on an Excelsior, and Indian's Red Armstrong. But Taylor was consistent and his factory Indian crew completed fast pit stops. Taylor took the lead by the halfway mark and went on to score the victory with an average speed of 61 miles per hour. His finishing time of five hours, two minutes and 32 seconds broke the previous record by 20 minutes. It was easily the biggest win of his career. Taylor's prize money for the Savannah vic- tory was $150, at a time when a good job paid $11 per week. Joe Wolters finished second on an Excelsior, 11 minutes behind Taylor and Irving Janke third on a Harley-Davidson, making for three manufacturers on the podium. Indian rewarded Taylor by sign- ing him for the 1915 and '16 racing seasons as well. Then tragedy. During a dirt track race on July 4, 1916 in Hamilton, Ohio, Taylor and Harley rider Mal- dwyn Jones collided. Lee suffered compound leg fracture. Infection set in and doctors tried to save Taylor's life by amputating his leg, but it was too late and he died two weeks later on July 16 in Hamilton's Mercy Hospital. Stephen Wright, author of the seminal book "American Racer," interviewed Maldwyn Jones, who recollected the crash that led to Taylor's death. "I had a lot of spills and crashes, generally without serious results, but one bad crash happened at a race on the Hamilton, Ohio, half-mile dirt track. The race was a once-a-year affair and drew big crowds on July 4th. This one was in 1916. When the 25-mile event came up, the track was very dusty. I had gotten a bad start and Lee Taylor, on an Indian four-valve, had gone into the turn ahead of me very fast and the dust was terrific. I thought that Lee might have fallen and I went farther out on the track, but about halfway around the turn he slid out of the dust and right in front of me. It was impossible to miss him and my countershaft cut deep into his leg. I landed on my shoulder about 25 feet ahead of him, but was able to get back to him and help get him off the track and into the ambulance. On account of the hot weather and no refrigeration, gangrene set in and his leg was amputated. In spite of this Lee died about a week later. It was quite a shock to everyone who knew him and especially to me, as we'd been friends for a long time." Unfortunately, death was all too common for motorcycle racers dur- ing this period of the sport and the only notice of Taylor's passing came in a small three-paragraph news item in Motorcycle Illustrated. My research will continue. I would love to find Taylor's descen- dants so that the Motorcycle Hall of Fame might at least be able to give his family long overdue accolades Lee Taylor richly deserved, but never received. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

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