Glenn. H. Curtiss just after setting a speed record for the two-cylinder class. Images courtesy of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum.
January of 1907 found Glenn H. Curtiss of Hammondsport, New York, a humble, quiet motorcycle and engine manufacturer, traveling by train to sunny Ormond Beach, Florida, for the second time in four years. He was headed there to participate in the official weeklong time trials known as the Florida Speed Carnival. Accompanying him on the 1,500-mile journey were three of his Curtiss motorcycles and his longtime friends Leonard “Tank” Waters and Capt. Thomas S. Baldwin, for technical and moral support.
Glenn H. Curtiss making a practice run before the V-twin race.
On arrival, with the trials underway and no time to lose, Glenn first brought out his single-cylinder, 3-horsepower motorcycle, a stock machine he was producing for commercial sale. After several test runs to get a feel for the beach, Glenn set an officially timed record of 1 minute, 2 seconds for the one-mile run in the single-cylinder class on January 21st. Competing in the one-mile race for two-cylinder cycles on the 23rd, Curtiss came in first on his other stock machine and found he had again set yet another record time of 46.67 seconds. With enthusiasm running high amongst the three friends, Glenn brought out his newest bike the next day, powered by a 40-horsepower V-8 engine of his own design. Glenn H. Curtiss on his V-8 motorcycle just before the record run.
Obviously not a ...