Motordrome - Board Track Motorcycle Racing in the US 

Very cool video. My great grandfather is Arthur Mitchel (9:37) I'm just now discovering his history and impact on the sport. Thanks for sharing this video.

Obsessed as a child with this great era of motorcycles. Dreamed everynight about being a racer back then.

The first song was awesome. The second song put me in a trance with the vintage racing footage. Good music and excellent video.

Board Track racing had such a brief existence in the overall picture of Motorcycle Racing. Many of your BT Racers were killed or had career ending injuries. These men were daredevils; riding essentially 1000cc Bicycles with no brakes on high banked board tracks with minimal head and body protection. After the N.J. Carnage which also killed spectators, The Tracks all across America were torn down and BT Racing just faded away. One racer who escaped Death and serious injury in his career and went on to live 100+ years was Jim Davis. He is honored at the Racers Wall at the Daytona International Speedway. I consider myself somewhat knowledgable on DT Racing History; but many names that were listed in the Video, I hadn't heard of before. I'm glad there are people who do remember them and their Racing Days on the BT's & DT's of America. They entertained 1000's of spectators doing something that could end their life every time out. BTW: Interesting bit of trivia; the racer shown in the Video name Ray Weisshar who had the little Pigglet on his Gastank is credited for giving Harley Davidson the term "Harley Hog" Ray use to bring his little pet Pig to the Races as both a Mascot and Good Luck Charm.... I doubt that little Pig knew he was responsible for that often said phrase over the decades.....Excellent Video, Thanks for Uploading it !

Met Jim Davis back in the mid 90's at the Del Mar race track in San Diego. He was 102 then, oldest living board track racer!

grandpa rode and sold bikes. dad was a motorcycle cop. got my first motorcycle in 1969.love this stuff.

Excellent work on this video. Well done. Good tunes too! Sidecars on a board track. Incredible.

A few years ago i tried to search for Board Track racing info on the web and was very disappointed. I am so glad there is more out there now.

Great video. Thanks for sharing and documenting that era. It's so easy to dismiss those bikes, but they were state of the art and arguably required as much creativity and engineering acumen as modern day MotoGP bikes. Of course it goes without saying that those pilots were courageous beyond reason and every bit as skillful as modern riders.

These guys had huge balls

Thank you so much for posting this great video. It is such a great privilege to see these heroic guys, properly identified. More strength to you, Sir.

Well done interspersing photos with videos and a great soundtrack. Kudos to you.

absolutely fantastic! I won't sleep tonight. an old racer...... Thanks!! A Lot!

Great job on putting this awesome video of motorcycle history

You can add Salt Lake City to the list. In 1910, Jack Prince built a motordrome at Wandamere Park. First "official" race was July 4, 1910 and the newspaper estimated the crowd at between 8,000-10,000.

love the Harley and the Davidsons mini-series. this video goes great with it. one needs to be made on Glenn Curtiss and his motorcycle career!

I wish one day they bring back board track racing .And bring back these beautiful machines :)

Great Video!!! i cant sit still watching... cant wait for summer

Incredible music.. Incredible movie.. Congratulations!

Great vid , very well done. I gave the pause button quite a work-out! Worth watching over & over! Thanks for posting this, 5 star all the way.

Live footage of Indian racer with tape all over arm was Shrimp Burns at Sheepshead Bay NY Board Track,......the Motordromes 1/4 to/1/3 mile tracks were ever more crazy than the big boardtracks 1-2 mile tracks,...cool song

Awesome video and great piece of music

at 3:27 albert shrimp burns with wrapped hands with wood chips from early crash wins at 102 mph on INDIAN

I´ll put this vibes in my head for our next Race. Many thanx!!!! Murderdrome Cycles

Thank you!! Very well made!!

Very good vid and tunes, thanks

Super vidéo, avec de la super musique !!!

Excellent video

excellent video!! i really enjoyed it!

GREAT, presentation, thanks.

Thank u very much deluxeride.. :)

Great video! Fantastic! Thanks!

Great tribute to the legends. 👌🏼

Fantastic soundtrack...thanks.

Soundtrack is exceptional

Awesome music!

Awesome video Even the soundtrack! Those guys had some serious sack, putting a dirtbike down on gravel hurts enough.

super vidéo merci la musique aussi est top !!!

Thank you!

old is gold

Racing around a board track with a motorcycle that has a total loss oil system. Amazing

Boardtrack racing bikes had no brakes for precisely the same reason as speedway or flattrack bikes do not: It is all about RELATIVE speed. The last thing you need if you are drafting a guy into a 130 mph turn is him suddenly slamming brakes on. Artie Bell lost the use of his arm due to a crash caused by a rider panic braking in the middle of a very fast roadracing corner. Riders had a cutout button to slow down in those days, they were not suicidal.

Please look up The flying Millyard, the guy "Millyard" built it himself, amazing engineer, it's a 5 litre v twin made from part of a radial aero engine, and yes you read correctly 5 fuckin litres, what a fukeen throb comes of it.

Thanks ! Nice vid !

We need a movie about this. When i saw all these Harley riders on these tracks going by what the documentary of Harley they had banned board racing. Just a good movie based on true events would be so cool. Ron Howard should get on this. I am sure it would do good.

These guys were true HEROS ! Crazy as cut snakes but by-jeez......100+ mph with NO brakes, and very little safety gear.... it makes these GP riders of today look like a bunch of wimps !

Great vid - thanks

Brilliant. You rarely see these early racing legends, and the music is GREAT. Where can I download this first song. I can't find the live version. Just bought the studio version on iTunes, but this live version is much better. Thanks for posting.

Hot footage & belly warming tunes , best footage & homage I've seen to Boardtrack racing>>>Wicked

they were all great guys god bless them they risked it all and had fun 2

Great! 4:30 2 old Hungary biker! Zoltan Sulkowsky & Gyula Bartha! World tour 1928-1936 Harley Davidson sidecar! 68 country! Over 100.000 miles!

Found this as I was looking for info about races with motorcycles on board races But with ordinary cyclists behind the motorcycle. It was a tv-program about the Anzani motor and Airplanes. It was not a very good program as there really was no info why there was a cyclist peddling behind. Really impressive build though, the board tracks.

Yep - someone has to make a movie about this.

Thank God!!! For once.....The Music compliments a Magnificent video!!!

Amazing video. If you don't mind me asking. Where did you get you research? I want to learn more about board track racing.

Wouldn't it be cool if Excelsior Henderson (for sale ,again) came back and we would have them, Indian and HD back on a dirt track again? The big 3 banging bars on AMA DT races!

Researcher and historian writing about early motorcycle races. Is this your vid? Please, can you tell me where this video is from, would like to contact owner for more info, Thank you,

when is ron howard gonna do a feature film of these men?

can ı learn music name?

the good old days

If time travel ever happens, it'll straight to a board track race with a six pack of 1920's coca cola in hand.

padrisimo

Who is the band in the first song?

wish i had a time machine

I need a sim rig for this. NOW! 😂

Respeto...

super belle racines

Who is the band/musician in the first half of the video?

Racing in knitwear. My kinda heroes.

When men were men with the heart of Bruce beating in their chests. Bring back the old board track!

Some real horror stories of wrecks on those old board tracks, yikes.

People would flip out if you had the land and the money to build a board track now.

Forget Hells Angels. These old guys here was it was right stuff

The Harley and Davidson series would have been better if there was a remote resemblance of truth in it! George Hendee might as well as been Snidley Whiplash!

Sorry to the guys that think Indians never had Harley motors but it’s true, in the 90’s when they tried to fire up the name that Indian company used S&S motors (aftermarket Harley motor) The Kings Mountain attempt developed a proprietary motor but that company failed too. These “Indians” of today are just rebadged Victory bikes by Polaris Harley endured, and if they hadn’t the Indians you know today would not exist so show some respect

great video!! really sucky music, had to turn sound off

I wish Indian would have stayed in business

Guy Ritchie.. sir.. Movie idea? hint hint.

You have every board track in the U. S. here….EXCEPT one of the MOST IMPORTANT ones: SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS…..the HOME of INDIAN motorcycles, the company that BEGAN BOARD TRACK RACING and had one of the original tracks. What's with that? You also don't show any of the Springfield Board track champions. You show the bikes…..but nothing about the home of America's FIRST motorcycle or board track.