VOLUME 59 ISSUE 43 OCTOBER 25, 2022 P117
testing department and was a
specialist in high-speed gasoline
engines.
Even in the sport's first gen-
eration, Ohio was already a
hotbed of motorcycle racing and
produced top National riders like
Lee Taylor, Jim Davis and a racer
who would become Brinck's
good friend, Maldwyn Jones.
Area motorcycle racers came to
Brinck for help with their racing
engines. Brinck began racing on
some of these borrowed ma-
chines in 1916, more for testing
the motors he built instead of
seriously trying to pursue racing.
He continued to dabble in racing
until 1920, again, not taking it all
that seriously until he built a ma-
chine of his own with his buddy,
Jones. They called their creation
the J-B Special (Jones-Brinck).
During the 1921 season, Brinck
was mentored and traveled with
veteran racer and good friend
Jones and raced Harley-David-
son four-valve singles. By the
end of that summer, Brinck was
winning local races.
After five years of racing sim-
ply to first-hand test his motors,
without even noticing, Brinck
gradually developed into a very
talented rider.
By 1924, Brinck began earning
podium finishes in National dirt
track races. He finished third,
behind Jim Davis and Ralph Hep-
burn, in the very first National
race officially sanctioned by the
newly formed American Motor-
cycle Association (AMA) on July
26, 1924, in Toledo, Ohio.
Jones used his influence to
convince Harley-Davidson to
issue factory racers to Brinck.
Even though he was beginning
to make his mark in racing,
Brinck hadn't quite yet built the
credentials to warrant a factory
rig, but Harley respected the
word of Jones and sent Brinck
factory racers with the stipulation
that Jones keep a close eye on
Brinck and overlook the work he
did on the factory racers. What
the Milwaukee factory racing
(Left) Eddie Brinck pictured
aboard a factory Harley-Davidson
"Peashooter." Brinck raced the small
(350cc) and lightweight Harley to
speeds on par with the bigger 500cc
racing machines of the 1920s. In
1926 he set a single-cylinder speed
record on a Peashooter at 96.5
mph. (Right) Three of the leading
motorcycle racers of the 1920s—
Maldwyn Jones, Paul Anderson and
Eddie Brinck—pose for a photo. It
was Jones who mentored Brinck
and helped him get a factory Harley-
Davidson ride.
