Post by dungbug on Jun 17, 2012 9:46:01 GMT
After some idle net searching I came across this photo;
Didn't recognise it so a bit more research revealed it to be a 1940 Crocker, not a bike I'd heard of before.
Found out some more (cut from the official Crocker website);
"When the first Crocker road machines blasted onto the scene in 1936, it astonished the motorcycling community and "single-handedly caused Harley-Davidson and Indian more grief than any event up to the British motorcycle invasion of the 1950's." (Iron Horse, April 1979 - p. 32) As the first road test results were released, showing cruising speeds of 90-100 mph, the Crocker became an overnight success. Orders for the Crocker Twin exceeded all expectations. It had to be the best motorcycle produced in North America at that time, and riders wanted it.
The Crocker was built heavy duty for maximum performance, custom-tailored to the individual rider's order, and built in Al Crocker's own facility. Each buyer could choose color, degree of chrome trim, and even gear ratio and displacement!
So confident was Crocker with this magnificent machine that he offered to refund the full purchase price to any buyer who was beaten by a rider on a factory stock Harley or an Indian. No refund was ever given..
Crocker introduced motorcycle design innovations that set his V-twin ahead of the Harleys and Indians of the mid 30's and 40's. The transmission could withstand incredible amounts of torque. This beautifully engineered three speed transmission coupled with a unique proprietary engine of Crocker's own design laid shame to anything that dared cross its path. Featuring overhead valves, Crocker's engine was released to the public months ahead of Harley's venerable "Knuckle Head" with more than enough horsepower to keep it ahead of the Harley crowd.
At 3.25 " Bore and 3.625 Stroke, the 61 cubic inch engines were almost square. Cylinders were set 45 degrees apart. The compression ratio was rated at 7:1 on most machines but was known to go at least to 11:1 on some specials. The machine was put together with customizers in mind, too. The cylinder walls were a full 3/8-inch thick to allow for over-boring. This led to the creation of some big-bore Crockers of over 90 cu. in. that blew off anything in their way. "
& some more photo's;
1939
1940 setting a time of 136.87mph
1941 small tank
& a single for the ladies
More can be read here; www.crockermotorcycleco.com/
Didn't recognise it so a bit more research revealed it to be a 1940 Crocker, not a bike I'd heard of before.
Found out some more (cut from the official Crocker website);
"When the first Crocker road machines blasted onto the scene in 1936, it astonished the motorcycling community and "single-handedly caused Harley-Davidson and Indian more grief than any event up to the British motorcycle invasion of the 1950's." (Iron Horse, April 1979 - p. 32) As the first road test results were released, showing cruising speeds of 90-100 mph, the Crocker became an overnight success. Orders for the Crocker Twin exceeded all expectations. It had to be the best motorcycle produced in North America at that time, and riders wanted it.
The Crocker was built heavy duty for maximum performance, custom-tailored to the individual rider's order, and built in Al Crocker's own facility. Each buyer could choose color, degree of chrome trim, and even gear ratio and displacement!
So confident was Crocker with this magnificent machine that he offered to refund the full purchase price to any buyer who was beaten by a rider on a factory stock Harley or an Indian. No refund was ever given..
Crocker introduced motorcycle design innovations that set his V-twin ahead of the Harleys and Indians of the mid 30's and 40's. The transmission could withstand incredible amounts of torque. This beautifully engineered three speed transmission coupled with a unique proprietary engine of Crocker's own design laid shame to anything that dared cross its path. Featuring overhead valves, Crocker's engine was released to the public months ahead of Harley's venerable "Knuckle Head" with more than enough horsepower to keep it ahead of the Harley crowd.
At 3.25 " Bore and 3.625 Stroke, the 61 cubic inch engines were almost square. Cylinders were set 45 degrees apart. The compression ratio was rated at 7:1 on most machines but was known to go at least to 11:1 on some specials. The machine was put together with customizers in mind, too. The cylinder walls were a full 3/8-inch thick to allow for over-boring. This led to the creation of some big-bore Crockers of over 90 cu. in. that blew off anything in their way. "
& some more photo's;
1939
1940 setting a time of 136.87mph
1941 small tank
& a single for the ladies
More can be read here; www.crockermotorcycleco.com/