Monterey, Calif. (July 12, 2008) - MidAmerica Auctions offered for auction a rare, highly coveted motorcycle at the Inaugural Monterey Motorcycle Auction. The 1915 Cyclone Board Track Racer sold for $520,000.
The Cyclone is an interesting and historically important motorcycles. Made by the Joerns Motor Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota, the engine features shaft-and-bevel driven overhead cams as its most obvious and, for the time, radical feature. The engine presaged modern practice in other ways, including a near-hemispherical combustion chamber, proper caged ball and roller bearings throughout (when other bikes used uncaged rollers or plain bushes), and recessed mating faces on crankcase halves, barrels and cylinder heads, for a secure fit. Even with a modest 5.5:1 compression ratio, the estimated output from the engine is 45 horsepower--on a brakeless machine, no less.
Very few of these Board Track Racers were made in the short life of Cyclone production. The engine, although very successful on shorter tracks, needed further development especially with lubrication, and the underdeveloped metallurgy on the day. It was already very expensive to build, and the factory didn't have the resources to revamp the engine, so by 1915 the Cyclone passed into legend. The motorcycle at auction was formerly the property of 'Shorty' Tompkins.
Only 12 Cyclone motorcycles have been found, and some of those are road bikes. This Cyclone is one of the most correct Board Track Racers, as some others have been heavily remanufactured. It is thought that this Cyclone has all the correct engine internals. Its rarity and unique qualities of this Cyclone drove the auction bidding over half million dollars.
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