Old Bonneville Pictures

[Wildcat]

I saw a photo above of the LeBlanc's Streamliner.  Here's a nice shot of that car, also from 1955's meet.

[Wildcat]

Got back into my dad's old photos and now I can't stop looking!  Here's a nice shot of the two engine Harley they ran from Indiana.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Dang -- looks like they have the right name for that bike.  Hats off to the fella that muscled it down the salt.  Quite a ride, hey?

[knucklenutz]

Wildcat,
    That image is just too cool! I met your dad at BUB in 2008 and again in 2009. Please pm me.
John K. Endrizzi

[theazoldcrow]

ildcat!  Is your Dad Bud Shmidt (sp) per chance?

[4-barrel Mike]

Neat cars in the background!

Chopped & mildly customized Chevy/GMC pickup towing a trailer with white-walls.

Heavily chopped & mildly customized (looks like '57 Buick grille?) '50 Ford coupe ready to run with a (looks like, going by the grille bar showing) '52 Ford push-car.

And the '54? Ford Victoria spectator? car in the far background.

Love it?  Got any more???   

Mike

[Rob]

Neat cars in the background!

Chopped & mildly customized Chevy/GMC pickup towing a trailer with white-walls.

Heavily chopped & mildly customized (looks like '57 Buick grille?) '50 Ford coupe ready to run with a (looks like, going by the grille bar showing) '52 Ford push-car.

And the '54? Ford Victoria spectator? car in the far background.

Love it?  Got any more???   

Mike

I was thinking the same when I saw them Mike, was curious on the '50 grill too so thanks for IDing that one.
Cheers,
Rob

[*RP*]

I also was thinking the same thing.. How cool is that photo!  1955....Probably the first dual engine bike on the salt?  And the two main vehicles in the background with chopped tops and one is a tow vehicle!  Keep 'em comin' Wildcat, they are classics.

And to answer my own question....after searching the internet I see Bud Hare's Double Trubble was the first dual engined bike on the Dry Lakes according to a 1953 Motorcyclist Magazine acticle.

[Wildcat]

I've been posting various shots of 1955 event since page 92 of this thread.  There are some additional photos the 2-engine bike and crew on pages 92 and 94.

Bud is not my dad, but you're close.  I've known Bud my entire life, as my dad, Rex Wright, began working at with Bud in the mid-50s.  I still see Bud every Saturday, as he stops by my shop for a little bench racing.  Bud starts Saturday mornings with free coffee and donuts at Eagle Harley (down the street), then makes it to our place before lunchtime!

Bud, and his brother John (in the black leathers shown above), started Schmitt Speed Shop in Chalmers, Indiana in the early '50s.  My dad worked for Bud in the '50s building engines and doing dozens of engine swaps after the overhead valve introduction.  Schmitt Speed Shop was well known in the Midwest for building Merc-illacs and Ford-illacs, and lots of Olds swaps, too.  My dad was the engine swap artist at the shop.....I think they did more than 75 swaps before he left to start his own business a couple of towns away in Wolcott.

Everyone in the shop was drag racing on weekends, mostly at Andy Granatelli's Half Day Speedway near Chicago.  The two engine bike was a dominant force at the track, along with George Smith's (founder of S&S) bike.  Today, a large 72"x60" photo of the bike hangs in the AMA Motorcycle Museum, as part of their motorcycle drag racing history display.

To fast forward, I grew up listening to my dad (and Bud) talk about their 1955 trip to Bonneville....repeatedly!  The same group of guys that went out in 1955 continued to be friends, and would often meet up at my dad's shop, or at Bud's shop and laugh about old times.  Every weekend, Bonneville was a topic.

In 2004, I purchased a car and decided to take a run at Bonneville.  My dad and I both ran, I went 226+ average in my first "full out" atempt.  Not bad on a 233 record.  You'll see the same group of guys in my pit that accompanied Bud in 1955.  From From Left to Right, Jake Hall, Steve Ashby, Bud Schmitt and Rex Wright.  In 2005, I wokrked with the folks at Eagle Harley and we took a modified Vrod out for Bud to race, 50 years afer his initial run.  We've all been back to the salt every year since.

[Wildcat]

Oh...one last thing.  I forgot to mention how the bike performed.

At start of '55 meet, Rollie Free had the bike record at 156.2mph (I think I've got all of this correct....).  The Monster went 157.2mph on an early run, but burnt a piston.  They were unable to back the record up in a timely fashion.  They finally got the bike running again later in the week, but couldn't repeat the earlier speed, as they struggled with clutch issues.  Couldn't keep the clutch locked up...it became the weak link of the operation.

They had hopes of running some nitro late in the week, as Bud said it usually gained him 6 mph at the drag strip.  But, it wasn't to be.

I believe the week ended with Joe Simpson grabbing the record on a Vincent with a (British car) Supercharger.  I don't know much more about the bike, but I believe it went 160 - and my dad said it was a really neat piece.

The Indiana farm boys had only seen Vincent's in magazines, never in person - let alone one with a supercharger!

I'll post more photos of the bike and the '55 event....  Thanks for your interest.  I was sharing with Bud Schmitt last night on the phone and he was excited to hear about the thread and photos.

[Rex Schimmer]

Neat bike, check out the chain between the two engines. I'll bet they changed it pretty regularly!! Pretty good speed for 1955.

Rex

[theazoldcrow]

  Wildcat, thanks for the info on Bud.  Had the pleasure of meeting him last Aug. at Speedweek.  He sat around with us at the Bend in the road and it was PURE history listining to him and some of the other "ancients"!  Tell Bud, that Crow, with the pan/shovel said Hello! Thanks, and Happy Holidays to you all!

[JimL]

That chain pic is an interesting thing.  In western Colorado is a small railroad museum with one of the original "Galloping Goose" engines (this one was a GM powered unit...gasoline truck/bus set up to pull rail car).  They ran the drive from the truck diff out to the forward wheels of a 2-axle "truck", and then ran sprockets outboard of the railroad car wheels to connect to the rear wheels (on each side of the truck, to make 4 drive wheels).  They also ran the chains super loose, letting them run in an ellipse.  The chains are so loosely tensioned that the lower run almost reaches the ground if the top run is tight.

I was talking to one of the fellows that knew the history, and asked if the chains were worn out....he said, "noooo, that's how they ran them, and it still works for the chain saw contest guys!"  Sure enough; the really hot chain saws have great big elliptical shaped bars so the chain can survive!

hmmmmm.... sure would like to understand the physics of that!

JimL

[Wildcat]

I enlarged the original of the photo taken under the pit tent.  They must be working on the clutch, becauase the chain is actually hanging loose off of the front two engines in the photo taken in the pit tent.  Also, the clutch cover appears to be off in this photo.

The chain is on, and in place, in the picture posted 6-8 replies above - you can clearly see it running to the wheel sprocket.  Not necessarily a pretty design, but it is in place.

[JimL]

Oh good!  I hate it when I get that "what the heck, and why don't I understand" feeling!

Thanks for the detective work....now I'd like to know why the chainsaws work!

Meanwhile, back to my regularly scheduled confusion.

JimL