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Wonder What happened with all board tracks…

No brakes no butterfly in the early carburators they grounded the magneto to slow the bike. Read one account about a rider after the race not being able to release the handle bars. He discovered a pencil size splinter through his forearm. Some spectators were killed at a few tracks and the media started calling the tracks murder dromes. Bad press and high maintenance caused the end of board tracks and the birth of dirt ovals in America.

My great grandfather used to do this sort of racing in New Orleans in the 1900s. I asked family if he ever got involved in motorcycle chariot racing, but he never got into THAT particular form of insanity.

What a time to be alive.

What SHIT

Beautiful... The banks are steep! Great presentation. Top notch.

Just so impressed with all that timber thats been layed.

3.37 look at how uneven the track is, there's all sorts of nasty edges and and bumps with sharp corners, Those leathers would offer very little protection from that, They would just rip and flesh there after.

Never knew they had sidecars in these races wonder if the passenger was the navigator go fast turn left😂

When I watch these early BT races I can't help but think of massive splinter's....

There was a board track in this era., in Beverly HillsCA .Google it and go to images. When racers fell along of them got huge splinters. Legs, arms,butts moters cycles would fly into the crowds Thats why this kind of racing was short. They even raced cas on board tracks

So,cool.

Awesome.

It would be great if this movie could be digitally improved and colorized because the base b/w movie has a rather good quality.

Wow ! I can't believe how fuckin steep the corners are . Wow !

Dreamy! I have never seen anything like this.

So where do you think this was filmed ? Looks like NY

This is so amazingly Beautiful. Yu can the begining standards of American style Motor Racing . Especially Daytona's High Bank Racing. Thrilling. Thank yu so much !

Thank you

Simply magnificent. True gold. Thanks for sharing.

How about that flag...48 stars!

The tracks themselves steal the show for me. What amazing bits of engineering and construction, especially for their time.

Indian cheated to win races by stealing engineering designs from the Harley brothers ,

What an amazing film this is. I did not know about Motordrome racing until yesterday. They had more thane nerves of steel. The idea came from Brooklands racing oval circuit.

Strange thing is. This is used in the Olympic sports event today, but as bicycle racing.

Killer motorbikes (I love'em)! If you can find one!

Just imagine,,, taking a wobble at 90mph with absolutely no steering geometry, a 2x4 on end track nailed together, rough as shit, gouges from previous wipe outs, chunks and splinters waiting to claim it's next victim,,,, balls ya they had Big Hairy Moose Balls!!

To think all that raceway was timbered 4 inches thick. 100mm.

THAT FOOTAGE IS AMAZING AND FANTASTIC!! FANTASTIC IS NOT THE CORRECT WORD! THANK YOU FOR THESE INCREDABLE MOMENTS!!

Indian still rules the track.

The track is a marvel,never seen anything like it.

The reason this footage is so sharp and not jumpy is because this was shot on a Bell and Howell 2709. They had pins to hold the film in place and not flutter during shooting. Loud as hell too to use, hence why their use evaporated during the talkie era. The story I heard is that the largest operator of the 2709 east of the Mississippi was located just an hour away from here, and he loved motor racing so would borrow one of his company cameras to shoot footage at the tracks.

I see nothing really dangerous as other racing...

Love the footage, especially the sidecars. The. obnoxious music however leaves something to be desired. Would have been better silent, had too turn off the sound. Please think of the older viewers who will be watching this with hearing aids.

all these fine young courageous racers you see here, and their mechanics are long gone. celebrate them with me, and hope they're up there racing where the long track circuits are planed smooth and true, where every race is a winner and they celebrate where their smiley faces are soapy clean and kissed by fair maidens, true race warriors of fair beginnings.

Horrid crap music junked video 👎🏻💩

A perfect song for this film.

When you consider the protection they had, or not! Crude patched-up leathers, helmets of leather or even wooden (an example of which can be seen at the brooklands museum) if you were lucky! Then of course the question of the SPLINTERS! They were tough riders. RIP.

I think there is a walkers H D shop in salem Oregon ?

These films are priceless and timeless. Thank you for adding them.

looks like fun id do it

wonder how many red woods they had to cut down to make the super oval track in LA

Ballsy guys imagine going over 90 mph on a bicycle with a engine and no shocks on thin tires.

love the Pompous men getting in the way.... lol

the Jerkyness of old films is the result of variable frame rate of the camera... it wasn't necessary to have one frame rate with silent films, and why they look funny.... todays films are all 24fps these varied between 15 and 19fps

I do believe that William Harley and Arthur Davidson would of been in the crowd there somewhere. Great historical footage

I'm so glad this footage survived, from around 1912 to around 1920 there was a very famous board track built by the man who founded Universal Studio's in Hollywood, why he built a board track in South Western Pennsylvania is beyond me and as far as I know he had no other real connection to the area, I was born in the 60's and raised about a mile from where the track was (it was a golf ball driving range when I grew up) and always heard stories about it, it was a very prestigious track at the time and races were attended by the wealthy and royalty, the first championship race won there was won by no other than Louis Chevrolet himself, many of the championship races held there in the years that it was open were won by Duesenberg's, there were motorcycle races held on the track but I don't have any information about winners, manufacturers, or any earned titles as far as motorcycles go though I'd like to find out because motorcycles are the single biggest thing in my life, info on the track and automotive championship titles won there can be looked up on Wikipedia under "Uniontown Speedway", I'd love to see footage from there like this footage from Daytona, I'm really glad this hasn't spun off into the universe and lost over the years like so much footage from racing in the board track era, thanks for posting👍👍👍

What was the survival rate for early 20th Century sidecar men? Sign me up.

What an incredible treasure!!!!