Sears 1912 Dreadnaught 9 Motorcycle

[Texan]

I was at the Sears HQ today and snapped these pics of their 1912 motorcycle displayed near the cafeteria. Only two still exist.

Notice the 9HP twin cylindar engine, chains on both sides of the wheel, the manual lever clutch bar on the left side, the kerosene headlamp and the bicycle style pedals. You definately needed your man card to ride this monster.

 

[Crash Cash]

I'll bet it *still* had Bridgestones on the front that cupped badly!

They're sure pulling in the Navy battleship references, with "big guns" and "Invincible" and "Dreadnaught", which were two big man 'o war of the time.

 

[fangjkf]

Respectfully - anyone that rode a cycle in 1912 - sears or otherwise - had some harry-ness. Stop sniveling, and have some respect for history. It's a cool bit of of two-wheeling.

I still recall seing some more recent entries in Ye Ol' Sears Dream Catalog that had a bike or two back in the Sixties. Not purdy, mind you, but they were sure something that your momma didn't want you to be riding. Just the same.

 

[old&slow]

Interesting Bike / pictures,,,

Ride that sucker for a 100 miles ,,, had to be some hard *** individuals.... :blink:

I remember a story a guy told me about riding across country on his Indian when he got back

from WWII ,,, When asked, where did you stay at night ,, he said they

always kept the grass mowed under billboards..... :dribble:

Kind of makes me feel like a sissy when I take a trip ,,, motels with AC ,,, good roads ,,,

places to eat everywhere,,,

 

[Wee Willy]

Marvelous piece of history. Go check this page out for more information on this little gem (Clicky). And if you were lucky enuf to have one of these in your collection in decent shape, it would be worth a pretty penny. One sold in the Otis Chandler collection in 2006 for $99k. And I believe there are more than just 2 of these out there.

Cheers,

W2

 

[radman]

Actually, that's a Carbide Generator (acetylene) headlamp. Deluxe highly optioned bike for it's time. Pretty cool machine.

 

[FLOWBACK]

Wonder where they were built? USA had hundreds of shops building cicles back then.

 

[FLOWBACK]

Forget the above question. Just read willy's linky. I love beer :fool:

 

[Crash Cash]

This is why when "Art of the Motorcycle" came to town for 6 months, i practically lived there. Hundreds of cool old bikes, each one with a different story.