C
urtiss Motorcycle Co.,
named after legendary
American motorcycle and
aviation pioneer Glenn H. Curtiss,
is one of the most historic names in
the USA's pantheon of motorcycle
brands. Curtiss essentially invented
the V-twin motorcycle, dead-heating
with Eclipse in Britain and NSU in
Germany to produce his first such
two-wheeler in 1903 under the
Hercules name, later changed in
1904 to Curtiss. This was the first
example to be constructed of what
would become the iconic American
V-twin motorcycle, with Indian fol-
lowing suit in 1905 and then Harley-
Davidson later in 1909.
But Curtiss was an engineering
visionary, as well as a very brave
man, whose most notable achieve-
ment on two wheels was to set a
land speed record of 136.36 mph
in January 1907 at Ormond Beach,
Florida, on a 40-bhp, 4410cc V8-
powered motorcycle which he'd
designed and built himself. There-
after, he transferred his attention to
aircraft and to emulating the feats
in flight of the Wright Brothers.
His motorcycle land speed record
would stand for another 23 years.
REVIVING THE CURTISS
MOTORCYCLE CO.
Now, after more than a century in
abeyance, the Curtiss Motorcycle
Co. has been revived, with the 2018
rebranding of the Birmingham,
Alabama-based Confederate Motors
as Curtiss. After practicing the Art of
Rebellion for a quarter of a century
in manufacturing a total of 1300
outrageously unconventional, totally
uncompromising V-twin American
maxi-cruisers since it was founded in
New Orleans in 1992 by former trial
lawyer H. Matthew Chambers, Con-
federate has built its last-ever such
bike. This marks an end to a period
of iconoclastic innovation ever since
the first Confederate Hellcat rolled
out of the company's Louisiana fac-
tory on November 11, 1994.
VOLUME 57 ISSUE 16 APRIL 21, 2020 P59
BOTH
FIRST AND
LAST
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PHIL HAWKINS
