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Whirlwind Life
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The Cyclone racebike
Ray Thursby
02/01/2008
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Photography by David Gooley
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What Johns politely omitted from his description was the
Cyclone’s notorious unreliability, which kept him from winning many
long distance events. The culprit, according to motorcycle mechanic/restorer
Mike Part, was simple. Though the engine was beautifully finished, the flywheels
had a built-in imbalance that set up strong vibrations. Often, the roughness was
responsible for broken engines and frames. Even so, the Cyclone’s speed was more
memorable than its fragility. With a solid reputation and a powerplant of
advanced design, why then did it fade out so quickly? The answer lies within the
history of its manufacture.
Joerns Motorcycle Manufacturing Company of St. Paul, Minn.,
built the Cyclones. The five company owners had little knowledge of, or interest
in, issues regarding marketing, dealers and service. They had no problem with
manufacturing and material quality, save the inexplicable rough flywheels.
However, production was slow and expensive. Profits were minimal, and the owners
stopped production in 1915 after no more than 300 Cyclones had been
built.
Attempts were made to revive the product. In 1916, a Chicago
businessman bought Cyclone’s assets, and moved machinery, partially completed
bikes and parts to Chicago, where they were stored in a warehouse. Two other
investors got involved, but were unable to get the business up and running. Four
years later, the leftovers were sold and moved to Cheboygan, Mich., where a
building was put up and production was to resume. It never happened, and another
move, this time to Benton Harbor, Mich., was made. Another factory was prepared,
and Andrew Strand was hired to update the design. A new Cyclone with a
three-speed transmission—reportedly based on an Excelsior unit—was displayed and
ads appeared in motorcycling magazines. Again, nothing came of it.
The Cyclone’s last gasp came in 1923. A racer called the
Reading-Standard competed in several races. As it turned out, this was the
familiar Cyclone bearing a different name on its tank. Reading-Standard, itself
recently purchased by the Cleveland Motor Company, had acquired all remaining
Cyclone assets and put together one last racer from leftover parts.
Ignominious as its end may have been, the yellow machines from
Cyclone will be long remembered for the speed and spectacle of its racing
exploits, not business and mechanical failures.
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