PAGE 2

8 1/4" tall x 8 1/2" wide, Silver Plated, made by Pairpoint

PAGE 2

Every sport had an embryonic period that evolved to resemble the sport as we know it. After the initial touch and go when they're just seeing what works and what doesn't, the essential form takes shape...Though primitive in terms of what it evolves into, it serves as the basic starting point model. At about that time rules are coded and governing bodies begin to form...This weeks feature on a c1912 Flying Merkel motorcycle race trophy is from that starting point period in motorcycle racing...

Short American Motorcycle History

As we continue looking into this trophy's history, let's put it's time frame into perspective. To do that we'll take  a cursory look at the beginnings of the motorcycle in America. To give you a feel for the industry, below is a list of most of the American motorcycle makers at the turn of the 19th century: 

- Indian 1901-1953 Springfield MA.

- Harley Davidson 1903-2019 Milwaukee, WI

- The Flying Merkel 1902-1917 Middletown OH

- Henderson 1912-1931 Detroit MI

- Iver Johnson 1907-1915 Fitchburg, MA

- Cleveland 1902-1929 Cleveland OH

- Waltham Orient 1899-1907 Waltham MA

- Marsh-Metz 1908-1913 Brockton, MA

- Pierce Four 1909-1914 Buffalo NY

- Pope 1902-1918 Hartford CT

- Sears Dreadnought 1910's Chicago Il

- Cyclone 1912-1917 St. Paul MN

- Thor 1901-1907 Aurora IL

- Reading-Standard 1903-1923 Reading PA 

- Wagner 1901–1914 St. Paul MN 

- Columbia 1905-1913 Boston MA

- Curtiss 1903-1925 Hammondsport NY

- Emblem 1909-1918 Angola N.Y.

- Yale 1906-1915 Toledo Ohio

- Schickel 1907-1924, Stamford Ct.

- Haverford Ace 1920-1924 Philadelphia. PA

For the sake of time we'll only take a quick look at three, Indian, Harley-Davidson, and Flying Merkel. By the way, just an FYI...there were also European makes like Excelsior, Norton, Triumph, and others that also competed on American tracks during motorcycle racings early days... 

Indian

The "Indian" motorcycle, produced in Springfield Massachusetts, was the first bankable, dependable enough, mass produced motorcycle in the United States, starting in 1901. The first year only three were produced...in 1902 they made 143...in 1903, 377 were made...and in 1904, 546 were made...

Harley Davidson

In 1905 twenty four year old William S. Harley and childhood friend Arthur Davidson built the first five Harley Davidson motorcycles in a back yard shed at William's home. That year Carl H. Lang of Chicago became the first Harley Davidson dealership and sold three motorcycles.

Joseph Frederic Merkel

1872-1958 

Creator of the Flying Merkel Motorcycle

Inducted AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame 1998

The Flying Merkel

The sensational Flying Merkel was harder to research than Indian and Harley...as there hasn't been as much written...But I kept digging and managed to come up with some great info...Researcher Michael J. Petrie wrote such a great profile of Joseph Merkel, the founder of the Flying Merkel I post it below...

Courtesy Michael J. Petrie:

Joseph Merkel was the founder of Merkel Motorcycles, manufacturer of machines better known as the "Flying Merkel." The Flying Merkel was one of the leading racing and road machines of the 1910s, earning numerous victories in a variety of contests of the day. Joseph Merkel was considered to be one of the finest engineers in U.S. motorcycling. He came up with dozens of innovative designs, many of which were copied by other motorcycle makers. Merkel was born in Manistee, Michigan, in 1872. His father was employed in the logging industry and like many boys of his era, young Joseph went to work at a young age. He worked as an engineer on a logging railroad in 1886 when he was just 14 years old. At 15 Merkel went to work at a machine shop and learned the particulars of making machined parts that were light and durable. The practical mechanical experience gained in machining gave him a desire to learn more. He enrolled at Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) to study mechanical engineering. In 1897, Merkel accepted a draftsman position at E.P. Allis Co. (later to become Allis-Chalmers Co.) in Milwaukee. By the turn of the century, Merkel had opened his own business that manufactured bicycle parts. By 1901, Merkel was attaching small motors to bicycles and the Merkel Motorcycle was born. A motor-powered tricycle Merkel had built in 1900 was thought to be one of the first self-propelled vehicles built in Wisconsin. Merkel didn't stop at motorcycles. In 1906, his company built 150 automobiles featuring a powerful 30-horsepower engine. In 1908, Merkel merged his company with the Light Motor Co. and the new Merkel-Light Motor Co. moved activities to Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Flying Merkels were known for having one of the finest rides in all of motorcycling and also as one of the most reliable motorcycles on the road. Merkels were more costly than many motorcycles of the time, but Merkel engines utilized the best German-made bearings and other high-quality materials, which led to excellent reliability. Merkel also helped design a unique front and rear suspension system on his motorcycles. The rear suspension was a mono-shock design that proved to be decades ahead of its time. Yamaha would later make a similar single rear shock design popular again on racing machines of the 1970s and beyond. Even more impressive than the rear suspension was the front fork of the Flying Merkels. The fork was so good (telescopic in principle, using dual coil springs, yet looking like an unsprung trussed fork) that many other manufacturers put Merkel forks on their factory racing machines even through the 1920s, years after Merkel had ceased production. Riders such as board track stars Morty Graves and Fred Whittler, and dirt track racers like Maldwyn Jones and Cleo Pineau, brought fame to the Flying Merkel through racing. Merkel rarely got directly involved in the racing end of his company, leaving that to other employees, but he attended many of races. With few exceptions, Merkel did not field full-fledged factory racing teams, but the company did pay many Merkel racers' expenses through its sales division. Early in 1911, Miami Cycle and Mfg. Co. purchased Merkel-Light and transferred all operations to its Middletown, Ohio headquarters. Merkel came along with his company in the purchase. Merkel stayed with the company he founded until 1914 when he sold his interest in the company. Merkel went on to design and patent the Merkel Motor Wheel, which was later manufactured by Indian Motocycle Co. By the 1920s, Merkel had moved to Rochester, New York, to take over experimental design for the Cyclemotor Corp. Merkel earned a lot of praise from the motorcycling industry in the early 1920s when he convinced the New York legislature to assess lower highway fees on motorcycles since they caused much less wear and tear to the road than automobiles. The Flying Merkel continued on without Merkel at the helm until just before the onset of World War I. After the war, Miami Cycle Mfg., like dozens of other American manufacturers, did not return to the motorcycle business. The Flying Merkel was relegated to the history books. Little is known about Merkel after his stint with Cyclemotor in the early 1920s. He was an avid golfer and secretary of the Genesee Golf Club near Rochester. He was also a prominent booster in the Knights of Columbus and was involved in many charities.

- Michael J. Petrie

Mother Of All Flying Merkel Racing Stories

So that was a really great find that shed light on the production side....Then in all my dizzying array of research I stumbled onto the mother of all Flying Merkel racing history stories. It was written in 1975 by J. L. Beardsley for the American Motorcyclist Magazine, being the organ of the American Motorcyclist Association...J. L. writes with a command and authority that takes you there...Be sure to pick up your copy...err...I mean be sure to scroll down and read the story.....as I've posted it here for all to read. The story is great because although the focus is on the Flying Merkel...you get a birds eye view of essentially the whole world of motorcycle racing at it's beginning stage....The story hop-scotches the country going from city to city as he recounts the races the Flying Merkel competed in...And it will introduce you to the biggest name racers....

Examination of engraving

Though there is no date on the trophy the engraving has plenty of clues to it's history. First you have the make of the motorcycle, the Flying Merkel...Plus the number #13 assigned the rider, seen at the top of the engraving...then there's the winners name Louis A. Torres...Then you have the track the race was held at "Tampa Bay Track"...and last you have the name of the individual who donated the trophy...a Mr. H. M. Stanford...

ENGRAVING ON TROPHY - EXACT VERBATIM

No. 13
"FLYING MERKEL"
10 MILE STOCK RACE
WON BY
LOUIS A. TORRES
TAMPA BAY TRACK
DONATED BY
H.M. STANFORD

We've taken a close look at Louis Torres...and the Flying Merkel....Now let's look into Mr. Stanford...Who was he and why is his name on there...Mr. H.M. Stanford was the president and general manager of the Tampa Bay Hotel...In it's day the 511 room Tampa Bay Hotel was among the most opulent resorts in all of Florida. It was built by railroad magnet Henry B. Plant, and operated from 1891 to 1930...And guess what it had?...a race track..

23 1/4" WIDE X 17 3/8" TALL

c1900 RACE TRACK METAL TROLLEY CAR DESTINATION SIGN

Carlton Hendricks collection

From everything I've read H. M. Stanford was the one that made motorcycle racing possible in Tampa by fitting his hotel's horseracing track with banked turns suitable for automobile and motorcycle racing...Guys like Torres and Mariscano provided the daring feats...Stanford provided the venue...H. M. Stanford not only promoted motorcycle racing but also led a civic-minded group of investors to form a corporation called the Tampa Baseball Training Club which brought the Chicago Cubs to Tampa for spring training.

 

Two rare early photos of Tampa Bay Track

 

Now let's take a look into the "Tampa Bay Track"...Initially it was on the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel and was used for horseracing. Later a baseball field was constructed there and the Chicago Cubs held winter training there...then later it became part of the Florida State Fairgrounds...The engraving on the trophy states the race for our trophy took place there...Essentially the hotel would have wanted to provide a wide variety of entertainment for their guests...The new phenomena of motorcycle racing would have certainly been a boon to their line up of revelry.

 

 

Out of pure coincidence I happen to work at a hotel similar to the Tampa Bay Hotel ...And I can tell you from thirty one years working there...hotel owners and general managers get pet projects they are very proud of. Based on the newspaper article above it appears motorcycle races was one of manager H. M. Stanford's pet projects...as he seems to taken very active control even down to personally overseeing the track was remolded to meet safety demands.

 

TROPHY RACE TOOK PLACE ON  RACE TRACK OF TAMPA BAY HOTEL BELOW

 

 

The Flying Merkel had a top speed of about 60MPH during the trophy's 1912 era...Which of course would be laughable for today's motorcycles...But back in the day 60MPH was very exciting...We'll wrap this feature up with a rare look at an actual Flying Merkel in the video below...You'll get a kick out of the ferocious put-put sound of the motor...Thanks for stopping by...hope you enjoyed the tour...see you next feature Lord willing...

 

All this talk of the fabulous Flying Merkel...but here

below...watch a real live Flying Merkel in action...

 

 
View on YouTube