Most Unpopular MeiJ

On the Road
HAL BUETON

Nohody-except another cyclist-likes a man on a

|iu m-tiHs
At Altooiia. l'a., ii f-'jilir^t in ii hill-clinihing
conlest plots s bi^ iiiut'lnii«.* up llic rii^jzcd
motorcycle. But these clannish outcasts of the liigh-
way have so much fun together, on the open road and
at the race track, that they don't mind public scorn.

MOTORCYCLE rider inTsbirt.duBtyduR-

j^arees and low-cut hooLs came storming out
ofaeoiintrylaneinthehillBof NortbemNew
Jersey laat spring, and onto a ouperbigbway,
exuding tbeatern determination of a young man who
intends to nrrivc nt bis deutiníitinn exaelly wben due
there. He had juHt finiabed rattling bis bones over
ninety-»ix miles of dirt roads, coupatbs, and ehaly
mountain trails eschewed by all but tbe bardiest
denizens of the Jersey backwoods. Along tbe way,
be wallowed waist-deep through tbree icy brooks,
bounced bio vebicle over doi'.eiiK of logs and Iwtimes
leji|)Gd nimbly from boulder to boulder —all this in
tbe fond hope of winning a 100-mile reliability run, Q
carefully mapped teat of skill and timing that only a
motorcyclisl could relinb. Now be wa« on tbe home-
streteh, obeying the rulen of the race by throttling
down well lielow the legal speed limit. Witb one eye :
lixed on liia wrist watch and tbe otber on the pave- .
ment ahead, he was more tbansturtled wbeti a police
ear hove alongside, a eiren smot^j hia eardrums and Q
trooper |>eremptorily motioned him to atop.
"Wbcre'K your license plate, bud?" tbe officer de-
manded in none too friendly a tone. Tbe racer ahol n
A rider b i t s lhe road d u r i n g a l.ai-nnia, N.ll., race. Racors nuisl in'iir I n i t h r r punis fur prnl<^-« tit quiek look at hid rear fender. Sure enough, the plate
l o p professional riders may tour CiO.IJDO inilei» a t><>a»on, earn froni $9(10l> to $15,ÜÜÜ fur tbc i^ri was missing —ripped ofF, no doubL, as be bounded
down a bruaby lane some miles hack. "Tben how
F a c h y e a r , s o m e 10,000 m o t o r e y e l i s U i a t l c n d t h o N e w E n p l a n f l Gvp^> T o u r a l L a c o i i i a . alK)ut tbe registration papers for thia bike?" the
i h e l r h e s l b e h a v i o r — i l ' l h . \ n i i ' l H ' I m i c . ( o u r nH'ci i;il- l-.iUi- tln-ir t i n U m i ydirn u w a y for ll
trooper unfeelingly inquired.
The fuming racer, conacioua tbat time waß »lip-
ping by, fumbled in bia hip pocket, only to make a
horrifying discovery. "Guess my wallet must have
slipped out along tbe way," he eonfessec! sbeepiBbly,
"and my registration was in it."
Tbe ensuing conversa tion included ß cordial invita-
tion to tarry at the nearest police Htation, hut the
prisoner linally won his freedom after a long and a
anguJBbed explanation. By tben. he was well out ofJ
the race. To place in a reliability run, a competitor"
must maintain a specified rate of speed Iwtween L
series of ebeck pointa, bowever devilíah lhe terrain,
and then must eroHfi the finish line within seconds of
a pre-eatahlished time.
However »oul-searing the incident, it serves to
establiöh that motorcycling is a aport beset by pe-
culiar and.unpredietiible hav.iirdti. Certain posaibili-
ties will occur to anyone wbo ever bas watched a •
motorcyclu wbip down tbe road. The most common
of tlietie is a pavement bum, caused wben a rider in-
voluntarily parts company with bis macbine, tbere- j
after sliding some distance down the concrete on bifl 1
back or stomach. Otber obvious possibilitiea include
sprained ankle«, broken bonea or even sudden deatb j
at n bigb rate of speed. All of tbese unpleasant con-
tingencies are implicit in a two-wheeled, two
cylinder, superboreepowered machine tbat can ac-
celerate from zero to ninety miles an bour in Icsi
tban Q eity block. Tbo less tangible handicaps of
motorcycling can be aummed up in one senlenw:
Noljodyyglikea a mnn on (Continued on PURC Ili'O
Noljody likea a mnn on (Continued on PURC
 : uniformed "Spii/Íf» Itoamcn." of Alba.iv. N.Y.. lak.- to the r..a<l. TouriiiR wUli fellow club miniLer. i- tin a.era;;,- cyclistV favorite rccrcalion.

Kiii-li >IIIMIÍI>. C;ilil<.riiin i-vrli-Is rai-e al tin- l'omonii Fairprouml- iiiulir

Juaiiiif Crccii ridi-T. iiilliiiii i>ilb Jim I t i i i l at H.rnin-u Hiiu li, Calif. \ "i^M-
cquippL'il, tbirty-borhopourr inai-liiiu- »«iiallv >'.I-IH I H I M I I I I i-MKMI :in<l .'SlaOll. liolicc sii(HTvi->ioii. Mere oHu-rr lt<iniil<i lînol ¡ n - l i i n t - tbe r.vflistif.

Admirent in>>pcet r.a>loii Liiiiotillc and l.iirtlta V.-iinr*- lla-li> ma<liiiu-.

Newlywcds Joyir anil Perry Nor^tad afu-r tlicir mildoor ueilding at Laconia.
CyrU- !ir«- -old i>illi miillliT-. but iiian> ri.ltr* jmik -ili nriiii; di-»iri-.
Mokt cvrliiit!« for-ake tli.-ir Itik.v. ¡ifu-r lbr> an- iiiiirrii-d ¡iiiil ba*c a family.
 128
MOST UNPOPULAR
MEN ON THE ROAD
(Conlinuc<l Truni I'ngc 32)
a motorcycle. Tniffic cops bestride the
machine by the thousands, but still
look sourly on the luckle«» ridor who
lose» his license plate or inches n mile
or two over the Bjieed limit. Motorists,
trapped in a line of crawling car», aro
prone to curso fervenlly when Q motor-
cycle rider worms hi» way tlu-ougb the
jnm, departing for points unknown
witb an ear-splitting roar. Motorcycles
nre sold witb mufflers attached. Too
many purchasers, being young nnd
high-spirited, junk nil such silencing
devices immediately, much preferring
to prickle scalps and rattle spines for
miles around.
However glumly the public may re-
gard the motorcycle, tbia versatile
piece of machinery grows more popular
year by year There are 412.000 ma-
chines licensed to operate in the United
States, according to the American
Motorcycle Association, which regu-
lates nil races and spends much time
urging motorcyclists to be gentlemen.
The number has tripled since tbe
193O'B. The rate of increase seems
fated to continue, despite a singular
vagary of the motorcycle business. In
contrast to tbe automobile, a lifetime
possession, the motorcycle is very
largely a plnytbing for youngsters be-
tween the ages of sixteen and twenty-
two.
It is axiomatic in the industry that
a boy will buy his first motorcycle,
generally secondhand, at the age of
ßixteen. Thereafter, tbrough a series of
trade-ins and the investment of some
cash earned the hard way, he progresses
to newer and fancier machines. These
come encrusted with chrome, gleaming
with color and equipped with a "buddy"
6eat, on which girl friends may attest
their daring or devotion by riding
pillion. Directional ligbts, fringed sad-
dle bags, glittering bumpers and a vinyl-
plastic windshield may be added later
to complete I be ensemble. By now
twenty-two, with SIOOO to .S1500 in-
vented in a thirty-borsepower machine,
the typical youngster disposes of his
most cherished possession without a
visible sign of regret.
This peculiarity has l>een studied at
length by the Harley-Davidson Com-
pany, of Milwaukee, wbicb pioneered
the first mass-produced American mo-
torcycle in 1903. and now turna out
25,000 of them each year. " What we've
concluded," aays William Davidson,
the president, "is that a boy's parents
won't let him ride a motorcycle until
he's sixteen or n little older. They seem
scared of the idea, even though the
accident rate is about fifty per cent
lower tban it is for motorcars. At eight-
een, be begins to develop a wild en-
thusiasm. He may go into dirt-track
racing, endurance runs or perhaps
make n transcontinental tour. About
twenty-two he marries, and pretty
soon a baby come» along. At tb.-it point
his wife generally persuades him to
give up the motorcycle and buy a car.
But, fortunately for UB, there's always
a new crop of youngsters coming
along." Dnvidfton, a man in bia forties,
still rides to work on a motorcycle.
The ahort but merry life of tbe aver-
age motorcyclist inspires in him an
intenMC interest, bordering on mono-
mania, in what the machine can do. As
a matter of fact, it can do almoat
anything —run a measured mile at 180
miles per hour, the existing world's
record, established by a German racer;
; SATUKDAY EVEMNü POST r 25.
climb straight up a forty-degree hill if The Rending race», an agreeable fixture
skillfully guided; plow through terrain were tuning up their machinée—chik
in the Pennsylvania German country, ing the movement oí parta polished to
thnt would slyinie even a jeep, or (jene- have [jt-en run since 1930, when the
trate into the vvildeat places on tho a tolerance of a thousandth of an inch
slate's blue InwH were modified to per- adjuating the chain that runs from thé
continent. Cyclists armed with blind mit Sunday racing. As a competitive motor to the wheel, inBtalling specially
fnith nnd a jug of wntur hnve croased evunl, they are no great sbakes when cleated tirea that grip well on dirt, and
Lhe roadless desert« of tho American compared to tho 200-mile National lietening intently for any sign of „
Southwest. Others have traveled on Championships each March at Day- motor sputter. The noise seemed dea[.
horse and sheep trails tbe length of the tona Bench, Florida, or the 200-mile ening, since none of the machines car.
Snimon River and Snake River can- Natianals held each July since 1913 at ried muffler«.
yons in Idaho, botb accounted exceed- Dodge City, Kansas. Novertheless, oil
ingly remote. In traveling to and from There waa a lull in the proceeding,
the major racers were out. The stands and then the loud-speaker ayateni
such far-olT places, muny cyclists pile were filled witb youngsters in the ac-
up 30,000 milea a year, nil of it over emitted The Stan» and Strip«« Forever
cepted motorcycle uniform of leather- Down the track came a group of girli
weekends'nnd holidays. The best: avail- visored cap, T shirt with club emblem
able tigurea indicate tbat 5000 of tbem and women on motorcycles, trim in
imprinlí3d in ilaming colors, and some- blue uniforms, riding in formation
have nccumuliiled 500,000 miles, these times a leather jacket well covered witb
Iwing individuals who buck tbe trend each carrying a fluttering fiag. Tliia iji!
meUil studs. Tbtse are popularly aup- terlude brought down the house. The
by refusing to retire at age twenty-two. posed to reduce abrasions and contu-
The more pleasant side of motor- riders, 1 established later, were the
Bions wben a pleasure rider sails from Motor Maidß, an organization for the
cycling is best seen at a dirt-track race. hia machine and goes sliding dofvn tbe
LaBt April, I went to Reading, Penn- wivea and girl friends of motorcyclieti
pavement. Down in the pit, an area who want to ride their own machin«.
sylvania, to watch one of these events. next to the judge»' stand, the racers Leading them was Dot Robinson, their
president, the blond wife of a motor,
cycle dealer in Detroit. To fulfill her
presidential obligatloriâ, she had tmv.
eled 500 miles between dawn and dusk
tbe preceding day. "But that's noth-
ing," observed Mrs. Rohinson. "I've
traveled seven hundred and twenty
thousand miles in twenty-five yeare.
We Motor Maids will ride for dayB to
get to a big race."
Another announcement from tbe
judges' stand, and five racers lined up
for a mile run. All of them wore ctaab
helmets made of plastic: leather jackeU
and leather pants, the latter a require-
ment of ftie American Motorcycle As-
sociation to reduce skin injuries in caae
of a fall. On the soles of their Bhoes wen
metal plates. In rounding the comen
racers use one foot aa a guide and in liei
of brake«, which are stripped from rat
ing motorcycles to cut down the weight'
A racing machine weighs 300 to 350
pounds; a standard motorcycle up tl
600 pounds. The starter lowered hii
Agganisgcts ofTa long puut. ñag and there was a bone-rattling roai
as the motorcycles got away. Behind
each rear tire a stream of dirt stretched
out horizontally in the air. Around tho
firBt curve they went, picking up apeed,
The Best Player some of them sliding 200 feet, with ont
steel-shod foot grinding against the dirt
of tbe track-
I Ever Coached These racers were novices. To be-
come an expert takes three yearB, and
the steady accumulation of pointa baaed
By ALDO (BUFF) DONELU
Boston Vniivrsily on the number of racea in which a man
wins or placea within the first three. Ae
they streaked around the curve toward
the grandstand, on the second lap of
H ARRY AGGANTS may be-
come mure famous ns n fintt
baseman for tbe Boston Red Sox
Jind defensive teams in the same
year.
Harry was a thinker as well as
the run, one racer began to wobble. I
could see his front wheel bouncing up
and down, leaving the track; then his
than he was ao Boston University's a physical powerhouse. After our machine veered ofF to the aide and
qunrterbock, but he'll never he third score on a strong College of rammed into the fence at sixty miles an
more valuable. No footbnll player the Pacific outfiL whicb had beiitun hour. He was the first of three men to
has ever been more rigbttully Q Clemscin bowl team the week crack up that afternoon, but all of them
called a one-man team. before, wofiguredone more point hore charmed lives. The worst injury
Harry, a left-hfinded and left- would put the game on ice. We was a concussion.
footed 195-pwundL'r who etimda missed lbe convt^rsion, but got
six feet two, lived up to expectii- anotbur cbiincc bcciiuae of an off- Then came the experta—Paul Gold-
tions as a eopbomore on a good side penalty. So Hiirry, tbinking smith, Daytona winner in 1953; Bobby
B.U. team. Then the marineB took fast, switcbed to the bolding po- Hill, winner of five national races in
him. WliL-n be returned in 1951, sition, took the snap, and, while 1952; Billy Reese, another national
our muterinl hnd dwindled until thf kicktT faked, llirew a paaa for champion. They rode lightly, almoflt
most of our foil prospfcL wii» the twenty-tirat puint. .lust to eñ'ortlessly, at eighty to ninety miles an
Agganis in ¡jtrflon. make sure, ho went on to help us hour on the straightaway, throttling
An n T-formution quarterbnck, ecoro a fourtb touchdown. down without brakes to fifty or eixty
be aotin proved himötlf in tho In the Senior Bowl, he con- milea an hour on the curves. Like
class with Sainmy Baugh, Sid cluded bia career so drnmnticHlIy horses in the Derby, tbey followed a
Luckman and Otlo Graham. He tbat some writers called it the beaten groove close to the inner fence.
piiaeed, punted, kicked off, kicked "Harry Agganis Bowl." Hcpa.iised There waH purpose in their riding, for
extra point.-«, called pinys and WPH for two touchdowns, BCt up twi) they were out for the prÍ2e money—
afint-ball hfindler. Assnfely man others with run» and pansva, nnd $500 for tbe winner and leaser auma for
on defense, he WHS wbat I ciill "fi inturcepU'd two passes. Tben. the second- and third-place finishers. It
goud centerfiulder." 1 n one season, ratber than play pro football for
wafl Hill, this time, a 105-pound ex-
hü intercepted fourteen passes. the Cleveland Browns, ho ac- marine who looked like a toy figure as
Tbat kind of play got bim AU- cepted a $50,000 bonuH baseball
he came charging across the finiflh,
America honors on both ofTensive contract with the Red Sox. body bent far forward to reduce wind
reeÎBtance.
(Continued on Page 130)

( i i i i H H M l rnini li.Hi I2ft)
Now tbirty-oiie, HUÍ has beon racing
since ngg seventeen, with time out for
six year» in tbe Marino CorjMi. "I
never hiid a renlly bad injury on my
motorcycle," he remarked "ruefully,
"but the minute I gol back in my car
lii«t year, 1 wim in trouble. My wife nnd
I were on the wny to a race in Cnli-
fornia, towing our motorcycle liehind
us on a trailer. A fellow coming the
otber way swerved out of hi« lane and
bit UB head on. I was in the hospital for
months with broken rilw and n broken
collarl>one, and my wife was there even
longer. Guess it proves that tbe safest
kind of a machine is a motorcycle."
Hill, like other rncers who mnkc a liv-
ing from tbe eporl, lends a bard life.
Tbe race »oason, except in Ciilifornia,
is a short one, starting at Daytona in
March and ending in mid-October.
During tbat period, be may travel 60,-
000 mues to races and compete in forty-
five of them from coast to coast. As a
top competitor, his earnings range Irom
$9000 to SI.5,000 a year, but it's a hard
grind. Generally, he leaves liis wife I>e-
hind and takes with him two friends us
mechanics. Tbey alternate on the driv-
ing, taking naps in the back of his sta-
tion wagon when not at the wheel. Hill
think» be ia good unlit bis niiddle
forties. "What you lose in energy you
make up in eavvy," he says.
Goldsmith, who has been racing eight
yeara, is a gasoline-station owner in St.
Clair ShoreB, Michigan, a Buburb of
Detroit. At twenty-nine, he has twice
been voted the most popular rider of
the year by the American Motorcycle
Association. Ever Hince he won lhe
Daytona run, he has had no trouble
rounding up mechanics to travel with
him. "They argue al>out who should
go," he aays. At Dnytona, before 13,000
watcherB, he made a record average
time of 9-1.42 miles per hour around
forty-eight laps on a •1.2-müe course.
There were 111 riders in tbe race last
year, wben Goldsmith won, the l>est
men from the 2000 ciubs and 100,000-
plus members of the American Motor-
cycle Associa tion. There were three
deaths thnt day — two riders and an un-
wary spectator who stepped out into
the path of Clifford Farwell, killing
himself and the racer to boot. One
cracked akull and a broken leg wound
up the camage. Such is the pace and
speed of Daytona thnt it is a rare year
when there is not at least one serious
accident. Pile-ups —wben two or three
motorcycles ram into each other —are
commonplace in such races. Some riders
let go of the handle bars when con-
fronted with this embarrassing situa-
tion, but Goldsmitb prefers to bang
on. " I figure I can make a betterhole,"
be observes laconically, 'if I don'L leL
go of the machine." Frequently, be has
come up BO close in passing otber racer»
tbat the marks of tbeir tires, throwing
up a pattern of dirt and ümall stones,
are etched into bis racing leathers.
The dirt-track race, though the most
spectacular of all, in not tbe most pop-
ular with motorcycle ridera. In Cali-
fornia, witb tbe largeöt numljer of
motorcycles of any state in the Union,
the big event is tbe "drng" race, bor-
rowed from the hot-rodderB. YoungBtera
take their machines apart and pul them
together again with extra supercharg-
ers, a special gear ratio, and an alcohol-
benzol compound instead of gaifoline in
tbe fuel tank. The test is then to see
how quickly a half-mile or mile etroigbt-
away course can be traversed. Tbe in-
terest on the const is HO intense that it
supporta a motorcycle magazine of its
own. One Califomiij racer, inducted
into the Navy, was BO overcome by the
TMK SATUHDAV KVKNING
thought of leaving hi« niacbine behind
thai, by breaking it down into pieces,
he smuggled it aboard his ship. When
they docked in Korea, be smuggled
the mnchine otT ngain, put it together
and proudly traveled Hie highways on
lilx-Tty, the only American motorcy-
clist in the Korean theiiter. Tbo Army,
Nnvy, Marines and Air Forcv all used
jeeps i\n tbeir tninaportation in Korea.
In Pennsylvania, Murylatid and
Ohio, the hill climb is the gala motor-
cycle event. The tougbesL hill in tbe
country, a forty-degree job 400 feet
long, is at Akron, Obio. On thin and
otber hills, strip|ied-down motorcycIeH
charge straight up, roaring and snort-
ing, rearing up on tbeir hind wheels like
bucking broncos, and 75 per cent of the
time get over the top, to be judged on
time and form. Since a motorcycle go-
ing full tilt ean commit mayhem hy
tumbling atop a mun who falls oil,
riders have a thong from their wrñsts lo
the throttle lever on tbe handle bare. If
tbe machine upsets, tbey are flung free
and the motor is shut off.
The East and sections of tbe Middle
West are partial to endurance runs,
most notable of which is the ÖOO-mile
National Endurance Run. Thia event,
beld in North Central Michigan, leads
the riders on n wild trip, at the rate of
250 milesa day, through tbe pine woods
and sand hilla. The winner last year
waa Don Pink, twenty-nine, who took
his first motorcycle ride at the age of
thirteen.
Pink, a philosopher of motorcycling,
is one of tbe few riders who cnn mantigt?
to hit the cb:ck points of an endurance
run exactly when due tbere. " I amell
'em," be aays. I watched bim as he rode
a 100-mile course iji the hilla l>nck of
Pateraon, New Jersey. It was a fiend-
ishly conceived route, involving in-
numerable deep broolíH, tbe crossing of
one amall river on tbe single remaining
stringer of an old bridge, and a wild
ride up one «ide of a mountain nnd
down tbe other. Midway, tbere waB an
endlessly bumpy atretcb tbrough tlie
woods, following tbe undulations of an
oil pipe line. Aside from tbe ex[jerts,
tbia was an average bag of motor-
cy diets —a crane operator, ii half
dozen automobile mechanics taking a
holiday from four wheels, a one-eyed
mnn, and a collection of red-faced teen-
agers out for tbeir first timed run.
Moat of tbe macbinea were British-
made, since oiT-road racing is more oí a
Bport in tbat country than it la in the
United States. All were armored under-
neath to protect tbem from rocka.
Ligbts, batteries and all trim had been
removed, including the safety bars
whicb extend along tho aide of moat
motorcycIeH to minimize accidents on
tbe highway. These, if left on, form n
fulcrum tbat can flip a cycle end over
end if tbe man ahoard ho» tha had luck
to fall. Endurunce riding and thegypHy
tour seem to attract a certain number
of the handicapped —men with poor
night, no bearing, a misaing leg or
otber pbyuical disabilities.
" I t givea them a chance to feel like
normal human Ireings," said Pink. "OlT
their moLorcyclea, they're at a disad-
vnntage." There has been learned
speculation whether the roughneck
fringe of cycling t^ikes to tbe sport for
much the same reasons. Tbis fringe
group, from my observation and the
commenta of dealers, seems to work
out at about 10 per cent, a figure the in-
dustry would like to reduce to zero.
' ^ ^ Eyp^y lour, being a popular and
strictly controlled affair, gives the
motorcycle officials an opportunity to
demonstrate by precept how nice it is
to behave like a gentleman. The biggest
of these évente, held annually in ,Iune
at Laconia, New Hampshire, attracts
10,000 cyclists, virtually all of tbem
orderly.
"If they misbehave," saya Charlea
W. Cartwright, a representative of one
of the motorcycle companies, "we take
their muchinea away from them and
lock the machines up until the weekend
is over." Laconia, which at firat: quailed
at the idea of 10,000 motorcycliata all
in one town, now welcomea them with
open arms to it« inns, hotels and private
bumes. Hundreds of cyclists camp out
on tbe lawns of the Belknap Recrea-
tioniil Area, where road racea are held
as tbe climax of the tour.
By fnr the largest number of cyclists
prefer to ride on tour with their own
club members. When you have a ma-
chine tbat can thread it» way through
tbe thickest traffic, it is a positive
pleasure to run down the road 150
miles to buy a hot dog or to make an
excursion to a nearby beach fora awim.
Since automobileB represent a positive
hazard to the cycliBt, most club outings
are apt to take pliice in a park or well
off the main roads. A motorcycle ia at
its safest when moving about five miles
an hour faster tban the speed of traffie;
beyond that point there is too mucb
danger of running into a car that slows
down suddenly just ahead. An equally
unpleasant situation occurs when a
motorist, observing that a cycle takes
up only one third of his lane, tries to
paB8 by when tbere are care coming
from tbe otber direction. In view of
tbeee diocomforts, motorcyclists tend
to draw clannisbly together and to en-
«•• 2Ö, |
joy themselves in places where mot«,
ietu would he hard put to go. The cL
spirit permita two strangers on matt
cycles to become instant friends. It
an unknown thing for one cyclißt
pas« another without waving.
Tbe motorcycle hnB exiiited OB I
fraternal Ijond Bince 1885. In that yea,
Gottlieb Daimler, later famous aa a ( '
Bigner of automobiles, produced i
firet motor bicycle, in Germany
1900, the E. R. Thomas Motor Co'.ü
Buffalo, turned out the firat American
machine, hut production on an naeeni-
hly-line scale originated with Harley.
Davidson. Working independently of
foreign manufacturers, William {Billi
Harley and Arthur Davidson put to-
gether their first motorcycle. By
they were producing 3168 mac
and, in 1920, an all-time boom
more than 28,000. The Harley-David!
Bon factory now occupies more thim
1.500,000 feet of floor space in Mil-
waukee and at a plant in suburban
Butler, Wisconsin. In recent yean,
Britiab competition has hurt. With
700,000 machines in tbe British
alone, the industry there ÍB geared to
produce a lighter-weight vehicle at a
lower price. This led, laat year, to tbe
end of the Indiim Motorcycle Co., in
Springfield, Massacbuaette, as AmeT-
ica'a second motorcycle producer. In-
dian now haa been taken over by s
British firm, serving aa an assembly
plant for seven different Britiah cycles.
Afl the American motorcycle has in-
creased in range and flexihllity, by
some odd coincidence its use by the
armed forcea baa ateadily decreaaed.
During World War I, some 10,000
courier cyclea were in uee, and at tbe
begiiuiing of World War II, 5500. This
number has now dwindled to 1331, all
of which are in tbe service of the mili-
tary police for traffic control. The Brit-
ish, by contrast, relied heavily on the
motorcycle for courier duty during tbe
last war. A British courier, deliveringa
message to a command post, would pull
his motorcycle inside tbe door BO thiita
guard could watch it. An American
jeep driver, faced by the same predica-
ment, would leave his jeep cutaide
while carrying his tidings. Frequently,
since Army jeepa are not ordinarily
equipped witb locks, he would come
back to find his vehicle stolen. The
chronic shortage ot jeeps in the theaten
of war caused this form of pilfering to
grow apace and caused the British to
congratulate themselves with Bome
smugness on tbeir own foresight.
Even t^bough the motorcycle's ad-
vantages as a courier machine are con-
ceded, the Army still prefers to stick t43
the jeep, wbicb can go through eome—
but not all —of the rough countty
traversed by the motorcycle and can
carry six men with ease. The civilian
allergy to motorcycles seems to have
had ita effect in military quarters aa
well. But there are exceptions to every
rule, and one of these waa detnon-
strated, just before tbe war, at a GHQ
in tlie Carolina maneuver area. A visit-
ing lieutenant general, complete with
entourage, was standing in front oí the
headquarters tent when a motorcycle
courier whirled up, shoved s message
into the hands of a waiting soldier,
spun his cycle around one toe and
took off, showering the general and
stafT with rocks, gravel and gooey mud. '
The general, wiping liis face and brush-
ing his uniform, maintained a discreet
silence for a moment while his atafT
awaited tbe explosion. Then be spoke.
"Gosh!" he said. " I wish I could do
that!" It is a sentiment that motor-
cycliBtB wish were more widely Bhared.
THE F.M>