The Cyclone’s motor was state-of-the-art for its time, from its detachable cylinder heads down to the aluminum crankcase.

These extra ports did have significant drawbacks. The first is that they threw off heat, as well as exhaust flames and oil vapor, directly on the rider’s legs. But racers, then as now, were willing to accept increased discomfort for extra performance. Perhaps more problematic was that the ports required extremely rich fuel mixtures and reduced the efficiency of carburetor throttles. The work-around was to run the engines at wide open throttle, and attach a kill switch to the handlebars that, on these brakeless machines, became the sole mechanical method of reducing speed.

As built, the Cyclone engine was rated by the factory at 35 hp, and could be wound to 5,000 rpm, a very high figure for 1912. Some knowledgeable mechanics claim these little V-twins were capable of more than 50 hp when ported and tuned for racing.

Three Cyclones were catalogued for sale. The first was the 61 cu in racer, as basic a machine as could be ridden. A road going model, using the same engine, but with such civilizing features as a trailing-link sprung front fork, swing-arm suspension for the rear wheel, primary and secondary chain guards and, in some instances, a large brass headlamp. A third, more mysterious, Cyclone style was a single-cylinder racer, presumably using a single barrel from the normal twin. Intended for what was called the 30.50" class, at least one was constructed.

Racing is what Cyclones did best, and the name most closely associated with them after that of designer Andrew Strand is Don Johns, perhaps the most successful of all Cyclone riders. When the 18-year-old Cali-fornian first took hold of a Cyclone’s handlebars in 1913, he already had some seven years of competition experience, gaining a reputation for being fast and tenacious along the way. He was also known for the kind of rowdyism not uncommon among early motorcycle racers, having once been suspended from competition for six months after punching another rider during a race.

Johns was signed to ride a factory Cyclone and promptly won a most unusual event in November, 1913. The promoter of a contest in Phoenix, Ariz., offered $1,000 for the fastest lap around his one-mile track. Though the competition was not restricted to motorcycles, Johns was fastest. He bested such formidable challengers as auto racer Barney Oldfield and, incredibly, pilot Lincoln Beachey, who flew his airplane around the oval.

In more conventional competition, Johns was regularly the fastest rider, and won many short races. Some 16 years after his final ride for Cyclone, he recalled the machine thus: "The yellow rig attracted a great deal of attention wherever I raced it. The motor was so powerful that I could wear out a set of tires in just a few laps. It was the first racer to turn over 5,000 rpm. It had a unique sound and was often five to seven miles per hour faster than the other factory rigs."