Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1086032
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE Y ou know the photo—the rider stretched out on a speed- ing motorcycle on the salt in full Superman pose, wearing nothing but swim shorts, a pudding bowl helmet and tennis shoes. It's undoubtedly one of the most fa- mous photographs in the history motorcycling. The man in the photo was Rol- lie Free and he was on his way to setting a speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1948. The documentary Black Lightning - The Rollie Free Story gives us the backstory behind the iconic photograph and it's top-notch storytelling. This documentary follows the life of Rollie Free from his early year, through his racing career in the 1920s and '30s, owning an Indian dealership, his military service, and his post-war life. At the core of the story is an un- usual union of two very different men. One, from a world of privi- lege and the other from blue-col- lar middle-America. Their bond was their fierce determination to set a historic motorcycle speed record and to beat the Harley- Davidson Motor Company. Directed by Zach Siglow, the film tells the story of Rollie Free, John Edgar, a special Vincent dubbed "Black Lightning" and P104 BATHING TRUNKS AND BLACK LIGHTNING After the bike was completed, a factory rider tested the machine at a British airstrip and was able to reach 143 mph before running out of tarmac. That speed alone would be good enough to break the existing record. The bike Edgar had ordered from Vincent was clearly capable of the record, now all he needed was a rider. Roland "Rollie" Free had been a racer clear back to the board track days. His first success was on Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and after winning some regional races, a sponsor offered to put up the money for Free to buy a factory Harley racer. Harley agreed to sell Free a factory rig, but according to Free, when he showed up to Milwaukee to pick the team's 1948 assault on the AMA Class A speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats. It's amazing how much of a story the film tells in its relatively short 35-minute running time. Wealthy sportsman John Edgar, who'd been a hydroplane racer in his younger years, wanted to own the fastest motorcycle in America. He'd met Vincent Motorcycle Company owner Phil Vincent and discussed the possibility of having Vincent prepare a special Vincent HRD that would be set up for speed trials. Vincent agreed and the factory built a special motor- cycle. Company engineers set Edgar's machine up to run on al- cohol, included high lift cams, fit- ted special Amal carburetors and racing tires on Avon alloy rims. Perhaps Rollie Free is reason the term "flat out" was born.