Talk:Rollie Free

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A fact from Rollie Free appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 2 May 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that when Rollie Free rode his motorcycle to a land speed record in 1948, he was wearing only a Speedo bathing suit, a shower cap, and a pair of borrowed sneakers?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2006/May.

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Untitled

don't understand how lying prone would shift weight to the rear wheel; it would help equalize weight front-to-back. lying supine would shift weight rearward, tho i wouldn't try it, especially at speed.

Nothing to do with weight, at Bonneville you've got miles and miles to get to speed, traction is not that big a deal at 150. It's wind resistance. By lying flat he made himself into an arrow instead of a barn door. 116.231.78.79 (talk) 11:34, 9 July 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Prone vs. supine

Here is a link to the picture referred to in the article: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/newsphoto/RollieFree(2)9(1).jpg. I am a novice Wiki submitter, but I don't think the photo can be posted here without permission. But follow the link and all will be made clear. Free rode with his body supported over the rear half of the bike, legs sticking out back. His body mass was supported just slightly forward of the rear axle, thereby maximizing rear wheel traction. tx. pix is helpful. No problem. Fixed the link to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame museum. Ridenm 04:18, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed - pix is most helpful and one of the most historic in motorcycling history. But your correct - unless we have licence agreement, we can't use it. Such a pity, but that's the rules here and we need to follow them to ensure Wiki remains for the good of all. Rgds, --Trident13 06:02, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have added a better quality one from the Motorcycle Hall of Fame page under a fair use, historic photo rationale. --Cactus.man ✍ 14:54, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Love the pix - excellent Cactus! Rgds, --Trident13 15:08, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Does this record still stand today?

If not, maybe you should indicate when it was broken. Also, was it the land speed record for motorcycles only or for all vehicles? Cheers. — SteveRwanda 11:02, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Motorcycles only; at the time, the overall land speed record was already around 400mph. And it doesn't still stand, apparently the current record is somewhere around 330+mph. FiggyBee 17:08, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Correct - it doesn't stand today. That would be American Dave Campos who set the record on July 14th 1990 at Bonneville. Next I suppose you guys want a whole list of record holders? Seems I have the job here of writing pieces on daft people and their 2wheeled machines! Rgds, --Trident13 15:18, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Plus, there are so many classes for both bikes and cars competing for speed records (e.g., displacement, aspiration, fuel, etc.) that only the overall record is easily documented, and such an article would be a pain to maintain. Ridenm 04:17, 4 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

World's fastest Indian?

Is it the story which "The world fastest indian" movie is inspired by?

No - that was New Zealander Burt Munro. Rgds, --Trident13 15:07, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The first sentence of the entry gives the year of death as 1980. The last sentence of the entry gives the year of death as 1984.Xjljqfejb 04:03, 18 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

John Edgar Lightning

We need to verify the sale of the Bathing Suit Bike. The Vintagent says the bike was 'rumored' to have sold for US$ 1.1 million, not $1 million.[1]. But text here written by Herb Harris implies that he as of 2011 he still owns it, so didn't sell it in 2010. This LA Times mention says Harris did bring 3 bikes to Quail, but not necessarily that one? Meaning the new owner brought it? If a record-setting sale of over 1 million took place, why the lack of news?

Prior to the sale, if any, there is much more detail on the racing, provenance, ownership disputes, and restoration of the John Edgar Lighting in Wasef, Basem; Leno, Jay (2007), Legendary Motorcycles: The Stories and Bikes Made Famous by Elvis, Peter Fonda, Kenny Roberts and Other Motorcycling Greats, MotorBooks International, pp. 34–39, ISBN 0760330700, retrieved 2011-08-13. See also The Vincent in the Barn: Great Stories of Motorcycle Archaeology By Tom Cotter, David Edwards, for more coverage of the Gunga Din bike, apparently owned by Paul Pflugfelder of Concord, Massachusetts in 2009 [2].--Dennis Bratland (talk) 14:54, 13 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Rollie Free

I've read that Rollie Free physically rode this bike from LA to Bonneville. He took off the headlights, the seat, the front brake (although I haven't exactly figured out how one takes off a front break) and wrapped the girder forks with electrical tape to improve aerodynamics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.84.252.13 (talk) 00:05, 20 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Would be interesting to know where - and particularly when this was allegedly published. Vincent brakes were designed to be separate to the hubs, so that there were no spoke-flanges incorporated that could potentially distort the drums under the stresses of heavy braking. I don't know, however, exactly how they were indexed and secured.--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 04:48, 30 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Prone riding position

I've changed the caption dating from 2006, previously stating "his unique riding position", and the prose to suit, adding an historic image as a citation that WP:AGF dictates we accept from a WP:RS as depicting March 1948, pre-dating Free's image by six months.

When I was researching the background of this bike earlier in January 2018, I unearthed in the house a 1967 mention that this riding style was first used by Bert le Vack's sidecar passenger from a 1924 record-setting run, who also rode solo.--Rocknrollmancer (talk) 04:43, 30 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]