Motorcyclepedia is a motorcycle museum containing over 600 mostly American motorcycles, mainly from the first half of the 20th century, with a special emphasis on Indian motorcycles, including a model from every year of the original Indian brand on display, covering 1901 to 1953.[1]
The 85,000-square-foot (7,900m2) non-profit museum was opened by Gerald A. Doering and his son Ted Doering on April 16, 2011, at 250 Lake Street, in Newburgh, New York. Housed on two floors of the old Miron building, it is divided into galleries dedicated to motorcycles and memorabilia from the time periods represented; including an 1897 De Dion-Bouton trike, a 1901 Thomas, and the marques Reading Standard, Yale, Pope, Thor, and many others.[2]
Indian motorcycle gallery
The museum features over 100 Indian motorcycles, including an Indian Papoose, a 1914 Hendee Special, an Indian Ace, an M-1 Military Prototype and a timeline of Indian Motorcycles from 1901 to 1953.[citation needed]
Chopper City
This gallery features over 30 choppers. Some of the notable choppers include Ed Roth's Mail Box, Arlen Ness's Taxi and Ron Ebert's Bubble Machine, and replicas of the choppers from Easy Rider.[citation needed]
Police and military galleries
The Police Gallery features police motorcycles from the City of Newburgh, New York and Town of New Windsor, New York. Also featured is one of thirteen Harley-Davidson FL Police motorcycles that were used in the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy on the day he was assassinated, FLH Police Harley-Davidson that was used in a motorcade of President Richard Nixon, and a 1910 Sheriff's Harley-Davidson. The Military Gallery features Army Harley-Davidson's, an Army Indian, and a Kettenkrad from World War II.[citation needed]
Circa, American and scooter galleries
The Circa Timeline section features motorcycles manufactured prior to 1930 including a De Dion-Bouton trike, Thomas, Reading Standard, Yale, Pope, Thor, Henderson, and Flying Merkel. This gallery includes and a large collection of Ace motorcycles.[3] The American Gallery features over 50 different Harley-Davidson models, some of the highlights included are a sidecar that was specially constructed for James Patrick Harley, 1965 FLH Electra Glide Period Custom, and 1905 Single. Highlights in the Scooter Gallery include a Vespa with sidecar, Monark, Ner-a-Car, and Cushman.[citation needed]
Motordrome
The museum has two fully constructed motordromes, or Wall of Death, which were imported from Germany. These motordromes are fully operational and operated for special events. The motordromes have been dismantled and put into storage as of November 2020. The museum rents the space to film and TV productions.[4]
Antique Motorcycle Club of America
The museum maintains a gallery to exhibit members' motorcycles. The exhibit is called Fast from the Past: Competition Motorcycles of Yesteryear. This exhibit is broken into categories of racers; boardtrack, dirt track, hillclimber, road racing, drag racing, land speed, motocross, endurance and observed trials. This exhibit will be on until Summer 2012. All of these motorcycles are on loan from Antique Motorcycle Club of America members. The Antique Motorcycle Foundation mascot motorcycle, a Torque Four, is also on display.[5]
Charter and educational programs
The museum has received a provisional charter from the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York. The museum hosts Motorcycle Training Solutions, Inc., which provides a basic motorcycle rider course to New York State residents. The core curriculum is 15 1/2 hours[6]
Harley-Davidson, Inc. is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression along with its historical rival, Indian Motorcycles. The company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality, and intense global competition to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored, brand-focused museum.
Orange County Choppers (OCC) was an American motorcycle manufacturer and lifestyle brand company based in the town of Newburgh, located in Orange County, New York, OCC was founded in 1999 by Paul Teutul Sr. The company was featured on American Chopper, a reality TV show that debuted in September 2002 on the Discovery Channel. The series moved to Discovery Channel's sister channel TLC in 2007. Following cancellation of the Discovery series, the company was also featured on Orange County Choppers on the CMT network in 2013. Orange County Choppers returned to Discovery Channel in March 2018.
A chopper is a type of custom motorcycle which emerged in the US state of California in the late 1950s. A chopper employs modified steering angles and lengthened forks for a stretched-out appearance. They can be built from an original motorcycle which is modified ("chopped") or built from scratch. Some of the characteristic features of choppers are long front ends with extended forks often coupled with an increased rake angle, hardtail frames, very tall "ape hanger" or very short "drag" handlebars, lengthened or stretched frames, and larger than stock front wheel. To be considered a chopper a motorcycle frame must be cut and welded at some point. I.e. the name chopper. The "sissy bar", a set of tubes that connect the rear fender with the frame, and which are often extended several feet high, is a signature feature on many choppers.
Indian Larry was an American motorcycle builder and artist, stunt rider, and biker. He first became known as Indian Larry in the 1980s when he was riding the streets of New York City on a chopped Indian motorcycle. Respected as an old school chopper builder, Larry sought greater acceptance of choppers being looked upon as an art form. He became interested in hot rods and motorcycles at an early age and was a fan of Von Dutch and Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whom he would later meet in California.
A softail motorcycle intentionally looks like vintage motorcycles with a rigid hard-tail frame that has a triangle of steel tubes at the rear axle, as on a bicycle frame, but on a Softail these tubes are actually a triangular swingarm, with the shock absorber(s) hidden, as opposed to clearly visible regular twin shocks on both sides of the rear wheel on standard bikes. Since the introduction of the Harley-Davidson FXST Softail in 1983 as a registered trademark of the Motor Company, softail has become a genericized trademark for other models of cruiser motorcycles with rear suspensions hidden for retro style reasons. This was done even though the rear wheel was often hidden behind bags or exhaust pipes.
The Harley-Davidson WLA is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was produced to US Army specifications in the years during and around World War II. It was based on an existing civilian model, the WL, and is of the 45 solo type, so called due to its 45-cubic-inch (740 cm3) engine displacement and single-rider design. It acquired the nickname "Liberator".
The Harley-Davidson Museum is an American museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrating the more than 100-year history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The 130,000 square foot three-building complex on 20 acres along the Menomonee River bank contains more than 450 Harley-Davidson motorcycles and hundreds of thousands of artifacts from the Harley-Davidson Motor Company's 120-year history.
Harley-Davidson FL is a model designation used for Harley-Davidson motorcycles since 1941, when F referred to the new large capacity 74 cui (1200cc) variant of the V-2 Overhead valve engine (″Knucklehead″) that was introduced in 1936 as Model E with 61 cui (1000cc). The presence of an additional letter L indicated higher compression, offering more power but requiring higher octane gasoline. In 1950s, the low compression version was discontinued, and in 1952 also the low capacity EL, making FL the standard engine and model designation for decades to come.
Rikuo Internal Combustion Company was one of the first motorcycle manufacturing companies in Japan. In the early 1930s Rikuo operated under the license and name of Harley-Davidson, using their tooling, and later under the name Rikuo until 1958. Harley-Davidson themselves did not publicize this Japanese connection because the Japanese were helped in developing mass-production techniques by the introduction of this factory into Japan just prior to the Second World War. The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan(in Japanese) rates the 1935 Rikuoh Large Motorcycle as one of their 240 Landmarks of Japanese Automotive Technology.
A bobber, originally called a bob-job from the 1930s through 1990s, is a style of custom motorcycle. The typical construction includes removing the front fender, shortening the rear fender, which is "bobbed", and stripping excess bodywork as well as all superfluous parts to reduce weight.
The wall of death, motordrome, velodrome or well of death is a carnival sideshow featuring a silo- or barrel-shaped wooden cylinder, typically ranging from 20 to 36 feet in diameter and made of wooden planks, inside which motorcyclists, or the drivers of miniature automobiles and tractors travel along the vertical wall and perform stunts, held in place by friction and centrifugal force.
A motorized tricycle, motor trike, or motortrycle is a three-wheeled vehicle based on the same technology as a motorcycle, and powered by an electric motor, motorcycle, scooter or car engine.
Avis and Effie Hotchkiss, mother and daughter from Brooklyn, New York, were pioneering motorcyclists who completed a 9,000-mile (14,000 km) round trip ride from New York to San Francisco and back on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle-sidecar combination in 1915.
The Harley-Davidson Tri Glide Ultra Classic is a three-wheeled motorcycle manufactured by Harley-Davidson and introduced in the 2009 model year. Its model designation is FLHTCUTG.
The Auto-Bi was an early motorcycle made by the Thomas Motor Company in Buffalo, New York. According to many sources, it was the first motorcycle widely available for sale in the United States.
Thor was an American manufacturer of motorcycles and motorcycle parts especially engines, founded in 1901 in Aurora, Illinois. From 1901 to about 1907 it made engines under license for Indian Motocycles of Springfield, Massachusetts, which Thor was also allowed to sell on the open market. Thor also sold a large variety of parts especially cylinder heads, and when the agreement finally ended, entered the motorcycle market on its own selling complete bikes until about 1920. Some of its success were supplying engines to many motorcycle manufactures of the period, some record setting bikes in the early 1910s, and V-Twin engine with automatic valves.
Harley and the Davidsons is a 2016 American television miniseries directed by Ciarán Donnelly and Stephen Kay, and co-written by Nick Schenk, Evan Wright and Seth Fisher which dramatizes the origins of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson, and how Arthur Davidson founded the company together with his brothers Walter Davidson, Sr. and William A. Davidson, along with their childhood friend William S. Harley.
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