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kyrbz

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Jan 30, 2012
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midwest US
What kind of horsepower do you think they were getting with those bikes.
There would have been 5 classes of racing in 1950's Grand Prix motorcycle racing - 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and 600cc sidecar. I think one of the fastest Grand Prix bikes of that era was the Moto Guzzi "Otto" 499cc V8 with 78 hp. Top speed 171 mph

otto.png
 
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Drill Sergeant Arc

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Ore-gun
There would have been 5 classes of racing in 1950's Grand Prix motorcycle racing - 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and 600cc sidecar. I think one of the fastest Grand Prix bikes of that era was the Moto Guzzi "Otto" 499cc V8 with 78 hp. Top speed 171 mph
Those guy's had nuts of steel the size of beach balls.
 

Provincial

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Near Salem, OR
I'm trying to make sense of those exhaust pipes.
You are only seeing half the exhaust pipes. Some (on the other side) are hidden by the rear wheel and the frame. I think the smaller one on the top isn't an exhaust. There is a vinyl hose in the middle of the run, so it couldn't take that much heat. Probably a crankcase vent routed to keep the vapors off the rear wheel. Oil vapors there would have made life very interesting even for those highly skilled racers!
 

Provincial

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Like the rest of my tools, my machinist stuff (accumulated over a long period, most of which involved limited finances) is a hodgepodge of brands. Lufkin, Brown & Sharpe, Tumico, Mitutoyo, General, Craftsman and, of course, Starrett. Plus others. At this time, it works, and it is paid for, so I only pick up items that I think I can put to use and which is affordable.

Most of my Lufkin was bought from people who had upgraded to Starrett, even though the Lufkin was performing perfectly well. It didn't have the brand name, and was dumped for something more desirable.
 

Drill Sergeant Arc

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Ore-gun
Mid-1920's?
Has to be, but I looked for a date several times and found none, it will take an expert in tools who knows when these manufactures introduce and discontinued products to find the year or even someone that has enough of the series of catalogs to know for sure. My guess is 1925.
 

Drill Sergeant Arc

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Ore-gun
According to Wiki;

“The Ballou & Wright Company was originally a bicycle dealer in Great Falls, Montana.[3] It was founded by Oscar. B. Ballou (1853-1946), originally from Massachusetts, and Charles F. Wright (1877-1958), originally from Kansas.[4][5][6]

They had set up shop in Portland by 1902, and were carrying selling bicycles from lesser known bicycle manufacturers Tribune, Cleveland, Imperial, and others.[7] In 1904 they were carrying bicycles from popular maker Pierce,[8] and by 1905 they had added Rambler models and begun to carry automobile supplies.[9] By 1909 they had begun to sell motorcycles part,[10] and by the following year they had become a west coast distributor for Indian Motorcycles.[11] They took on the Emblem motorcycle distributorship for Oregon and Wasthington (state) in 1913.[12] By 1916 their motorcycle business was big enough that they would receive railroad cars full of new Indian motorcycles - 66 motorcycles in one published case.[13][14]

The rapid growth of the firm led to Ballou & Wright Company becoming the leading wholesaler of bicycles, motorcycles and automobile parts in the northwest region of the United States. The rapid growth meant the firm outgrew multiple facilities, and eventually to have a large building designed for them in 1917. Likely because of World War I, and the recession after the war, the construction of the building was delayed, and it was not finished until late 1921. On December 30, 1921, they held an open house with over 600 guests attending.[6][15]

The company eventually grew to have 12 branch offices with locations opening in major cities like Seattle, Washington (1913), Spokane, Washington (1920), and Tacoma, Washington (1936). The firm disbanded in 1960, about two years after the death of Charles Wright. Oscar Ballou had died in 1946.”
 
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lzenglish

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Sep 3, 2009
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616
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California
I wonder what brand of toilet paper they used back then.
Good Question, and one that i pondered when i had one of these remote oil filters on my 1969 Road Runner. I think i went with the Charmon wipe, "Please Dont Squeeze the Charmon"! Lol

LZ
 
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piehammer

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Mar 20, 2021
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Location
Georgia
Made My Day !! Question, Just WTF is going on here? LOL Are they dragging the bicycle around for a reason?

LZ
Based on the front sprocket of the bike, they are probably pacing him, or he is drafting. Either way could be a speed record attempt or velodrome training.
 

Stubby1743

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Jul 16, 2023
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715
Location
UK
I have this old Moore & Wright decimal equivalents booklet which I still Often use.

001R.jpg

002R.jpg

003R.jpg004R.jpg

005R.jpg

The little sayings at the top of the RH pages make me smile. Especially the reference to monkey glands!
 

WisJim

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Dec 20, 2010
Messages
2,264
Location
Menomonie, WI
I found some old (late 1960s early 70s) patches while sorting stuff after our move. The Terlingua Racing Team was advertised in the back of auto magazines in the 1960s and was, as I understand it, started as a kind of joke by Carrol Shelby and friends. I still have the tee shirt and membership card somewhere, too.cycle patches.jpgTerlingua racing.jpg
 
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