Earl Gove Photo Brockton MC Racer

December 3rd - 10th 2022

THIS WEEKS FEATURE

12 1/2" x 10 1/2"

c1912 PHOTO OF RENOWN NEW ENGLAND

MOTORCYCLE RACER EARL G. GOVE

On a 1912 Indian single cylinder

Father was president of Brockton Motorcycle Club

went to the Alameda Point Antiques Fair this last November 6th…wasn’t much of a day…didn’t see anything exciting…But I bumped into my friend Pat Nester, who showed me this photo on eBay, which was closing in about 3 hours…Pat said he wasn’t bidding…I walked around the show and didn’t find anything so I put in a snipe bid...and won it that afternoon…

This is one of the nicest motorcycle photos I've come across for several reasons…First and foremost it’s a race bike…There’s a lot of motorcycle photos out there, but relatively few race bikes from the 1912 period....then the trophies are lined up on display in front…very rare to see that….And then the photo quality…great clarity…so clear you can easily read “GOODYEAR” embossed on the front tire…Add them all up and you got straight A's…One gentleman on an antique motorcycle group I belong to on facebook, inquired if it was for sale…it's a keeper I told him…He only collected side views he said…Curious, I asked him to send photos of some from his collection….He graciously sent eleven of his side view photos….all exceptional…but I would take this photo before any of them...

The young man you see in this photo was Earl G. Gove. I would speculate the photo was taken about 1912-13…He was killed September 12th 1921 in a motorcycle race at Combination Park in the Boston suburb of Medford…I was able to I.D. him by enlarging the photo and reading the engraving on the center trophy…GRAND PRIZE - CLINTON MOTORCYLE RACE MEET – JULY 4TH 1912 – EARL G. GOVE. I was able to find quite a few references of him in newspaper clippings, which you will see at the end of this feature…Always in coverage of races…By reading carefully I caught a few glimpses of his personality…He seems to have been a chance taker…But I think that's a common trait of winners…

Spotting his name on the trophy was the key that unlocked the story of this photo...once I had that I hunted down every newspaper clipping I could find on our boy Earl...I uncovered about a dozen...plus two or three from magazines...One magazine clipping was particularly interesting, as it revealed his father was the president of the Brockton Motorcycle Club...see below...

Snippet reveals father was president of Brockton Motorcycle Club

Based on clippings that reported on the injuries he suffered over the years, he was obviously aware of the danger of racing...This one below was particularly ominous as it publicly admonishes him in particular, that he should have known better than to ride without lights in an enduro race...I say ominous because it was published July 1st 1920...about a year and two and a half months before he was killed on September 12th 1921...

THE DEATH OF

EARL G. GOVE

SEPTEMBER 12TH 1921

AGE 23

The report of his death said it happened at Combination Park in Medford Massachusetes...I looked into where Combination Park was...Medford is a suburb of Boston, about 7 miles from downtown Boston...which means he died about 30 miles from his hometown of Brockton MA. From what I could gather Combination Park and Mystic Park seem to have been part of the same complex...Mystic Park was a horserace track in the late 19th century.

Legendary actor Steve McQueen also had a 1912 single cylinder Indian which he had

restored to original stock condition by motorcycle historian, racer, mechanic, Steve Wright

To learn about the bike I resorted to the Facebook group "Antique Motorcycle Bikes 1925 and before"...I recommend you join if you want to learn about early bikes...Brett Cooper of the group schooled me as much that he had never seen the Indian advertising slogan "Like a Flash" on a tank before....Up till then I thought it was Earl Gove's personal slogan...I went looking and found a postcard with the slogan....then Brett posted this photo below of the pit area of an early motorcycle race...It's an amazing rare image...I've never seen anything like it...It's as candid as can be....shows life as it was no posing...Note the two gentelman sitting sideways on a bike having a conversation with two others...one sitting on a crate....and of course there it is big as day on a transport case..."LIKE A FLASH" INDIAN MOTORCYCLE HENDEE MFG. CO. SPRINGFIELD MASS...wow how'd ay like to find one of those at a garage sale..phew!...Actually you can see two more...another behind it...and another with "INDIAN" in bolder letters...I like the "INDIAN WIGWAM" inscribed on the wall of someones pit...to the far right you can see a Thor crate...