Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 12, 2013 P123 gines and fueled with blended mixtures. Steele's aggressive style required a great deal of courage. He would rev his motor at full throttle and drop the clutch, at the same time throwing himself well forward over the handlebars. Hillclimb machines carried kill buttons on the throttle grip, being held open by a small peg jammed into place against a small spring. The peg was tied to the rider's wrist with a piece of cord. If the rider had to come off his machine, or bail out for a backwards somersault, the peg would come free and stop the engine. This not only made matters safer for the rider, but also prevented the rider-less machine from charging into the spectators. During the mid-1920s and early 1930s, hillclimbing's popularity reached a peak when many of the movie house newsreels of the day featured a film of motorcycle hillclimbs, often showing the spectacular flip crashes that occurred. Steele, being the top climber of the time, benefited greatly from these movie newsreels, and became one of the most popular motorcycle racers in the country. Indian made an engine especially designed for Steele and his famous hillclimb V-Twin machine was said to have developed over 70 horsepower at 9000 rpm, burning blended fuels – a remarkable power rating for the 1920s. Steele's riding style developed over the years and was later copied by many other riders of the era. He said it was in 1919 at a climb in Port Jervis, New York, that he learned to ride the hill with the front wheel in the air much of the way. He would lean his body as far forward as possible, holding onto the bike tightly with clenched knees around the gas tank to help keep control of the bike on the steep grades. It was not uncommon for Steele to negotiate nearly the entire hill with the front wheel not touching the ground. Steele was also an expert at setting up his hillclimber for varying conditions of a hill. Gearing, rear tire choice, engine tuning and wheelbase length were all part of the formula Steele took into consideration when readying his machine for a climb. While Steele did most of his racing in the East, he did venture to the classic San Juan Capistrano Hillclimb in Southern California in 1923, where his talent for bike setup paid off. In his debut at the famous hill (where no practice runs were allowed), Steele beat all the best West Coast climbers in the 61-inch (1,000cc) Expert class by using a skid chain on a normal rear tire versus the tractor-type tire the other competitors used that day. Steele followed up his 1922 National Championship success with a National title in 1923 in the 37-inch class. In 1926, he swept all three National Championship classes. He also won the Eastern National Hillclimb Championship in 1927. In the 1930s, Excelsior made a big push into hillclimb competition with its star Joe Petrali. Petrali was coming into hillclimb while Steele was at the tail end of his career, but Steele did beat Petrali, considered one of the best all-around motorcycle racers of all time, on several occasions in the late 1920s in classic matchups. Steele earned the admiration of his fellow riders. The famous Class A racer Jim Davis called Steele one of the best hillclimbers ever. Notable was the fact that Steele won all his national titles while he was in his 30s and 40s. Steele retired from competition in the mid1930s. He was nearly 50 years old at the time. He later supported the war effort in World War II by building planes in Pennsylvania. Steele died in 1960. He was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2007. Orie Steele's name will always be synonymous with 1920s hillclimbing and Indian motorcycle competition. His championship-winning feats on hills across America made him a true pioneer in that sport. CN Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives

• Cover