customs of an unusual nature

[Fire-medic]

When you have initiative, you can make things work for you. This guy is proof that you can do whatever you want, if you're persistent, and not afraid to do what you want to do.

The Patron Saint of Custom Motorcycles Lives On (msn.com)



Another very creative guy here:

This is one of my favorite racers, he was at the top of the game, and he built many ground-breaking racers. He hired both Byron Hines and Terry Vance to work for him, yes, they later went out on their own, as Vance and Hines.
NHRA Motorcycle Pioneer Russ Collins Dies - My Life at Speed


This drag racing build was named after a train. Work is being done to get it operational again.

 

[Aquamax]

Those bike designs of Bobby Haas you posted sorta reminds me of Randy Grubb's work. He does 2-3-4 wheeled one-off works of art. Here he is on a Jay Leno's Garage episode with a couple 3-wheeled creations.


Thanks for the background info & link to the Russ Collins article. Looks like that was May of 2014. Previously to today, I didn't know he was the guy who got Vance & Hines together...pretty cool. I love this photo from that article...a guy with two engines racing against a guy with three? I bet I know who won that one!

 

[Aquamax]

BTW, here is a hilarious writeup on one of Grubb's creations. These auto rag writers are often too freakn' funny! I found myself in true LOL mode by the end. Wife's looking at me funny...
Blastolene Indy Special (caranddriver.com)

 

[Fire-medic]

BTW, here is a hilarious writeup on one of Grubb's creations. These auto rag writers are often too freakn' funny! I found myself in true LOL mode by the end. Wife's looking at me funny...
Blastolene Indy Special (caranddriver.com)

Yeah, I've read about the builder of the Blastolene Specials. The Indy car tribute designed to look like a Watson roadster is right-up my MI friend's father's Watson race car from the 1958 Indy 500, when Dick Rathmann put it on the pole. My friend's father had two cars in the race, Shorty Templeman finished in 19th in a Kurtis Kraft 500 for him, both were racing as McNamara Motor Express entries.

Unfortunately, another driver (the idiot: Ed Elisian) tried to win the 200-lap race on the first lap, causing a massive crash and which killed popular driver Pat O'Connor in a Kurtis Kraft roadster (nearly half of the 33 car field was involved, and eight cars were unable to compete/continue) which took out my friend's father's Watson roadster. It was also AJ Foyt's rookie race at the 500. I believe that's Jerry Unser going over the wall (below), he survived that one but he died at next year's Indy 500 during practice. His brothers Bobby and Al would win seven Indy 500's between them. Al Unser Jr. would win two more Indy 500's, the most successful family in Indy 500 history. Bobby and Al Sr. died seven months apart in 2021.

Elisian was a criminal who was arrested for Battery LEO and bouncing bad checks. He was a gambler reportedly in-debt due to it, and he made mention before the race he was going to push hard to lead to collect the lap money offered at the time. O'Connor died because of Elisian's reckless driving on that first lap which caused the pile-up. O'Connor's car launched far-into the air, and landed upside-down killing him. If that hadn't done it, the car fire from a full load of fuel would have.

AJ Foyt had been the recipient of Pat O'Connor's professional behavior, when Foyt was told to follow O'Connor around the track for several laps to learn the track, and Foyt managed to put it to good use, qualifying 12th as an Indy 500 rookie. He won four Indy 500's. He later said that he didn't make-friends with other drivers because of what happened that rookie year at the 1958 Indy 500. Indy 500: A.J. Foyt didn't recover from 1958 crash killed Pat O'Connor (indystar.com)

The next year USAC mandated roll bars and fire-resistant clothing for the drivers. Neither had been required previously.



1958 Indy 500 pole-sitter Dick Rathmann in the McNamara Special Watson-Offenhauser


Pat O'Connor


Pole-position No. 97 Dick Rathmann's car cut in-half by Ed Elisian's reckless driving (car No. 5) on the race's first lap. Pat O'Connor's lifeless body sat in his car aflame in the background behind the firetruck. His car went airborne, and landed upside-down, killing him, and his car caught fire from the full load of fuel. O-Connor was still aboard. Rookie AJ Foyt said he saw O'Connor's arm sticking out of the car in flames on his next lap, as the still-running racers circled the track.


A very sad day in motorsports.

 

[Aquamax]

Thanks for the info, I didn't know about Elisian.
Definitely a sad day in motorsports. It's also sad that it takes an accident like that before basic protective measures like roll bars are implemented. One would think it should be common sense...and maybe it was, but adding a roll bar would also add weight, so maybe that's why nobody used them previous to this crash.

 

[Fire-medic]

There was a group of automobile racers who thought, "it's better to be thrown-clear of an impact, so I'm not gonna wear a seatbelt."

Early helmets were made from surplus Army helmet cork liners, with leather straps and earflaps. Cromwell was a popular brand, I believe they were British. Bell and Buco were early adopters of the fiberglass shell, closed-cell foam design. Arai and Shoei were Japanese companies who also used that design. I had the first model of the Japanese helmets which used Kevlar in the weave, it was a patch on either side in the general temple (parietal-temporal bones) area. Shoei made it. I finally tossed it after having it sit on a shelf for years beyond the date it's supposed to be retired. The Miami-Dade County FL Medical Examiner's Office, in the Medical Center Campus, downtown Miami FL has a huge display of helmets which have been kept as evidence in head trauma cases. It is a very-sobering display.

 

[DreamV4]

There are many ways to screw up a bike, and so called "designers" will keep doing it for as long as people pay for them.
Removing brakes, suspension, seats, lights, speedometers, turn signals... Brilliant designs!!!!