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Diamond Frame
Flying Merkel
Diamond Frame
Flying Merkel
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At the turn of the 20th century, the internal combustion engine was the the hot ticket item for thoughtful engineers, enterprising tinkerers, and thrill-seeking daredevils to play with. Speed was ever growing, and with it, potential danger as well. Nearly anything that could have an engine strapped into it was raced, and that spirit drove the industry and innovation that has become motorsport and modern transportation as we enjoy it today.
One of the very popular motor sports was cycle racing. It is unclear who was the very first to attach a motor to a "safety cycle" (the form of bicycle we are familliar with today: two wheels of the same size, with the front controlled by a pivoting fork and the rear driven by a pedal crank), but by the early 20th century, nearly every manufacturer of pedal bicycles was also dabbling in motorized machines, which were tested and exhibited on the racetrack. Many independant start ups also grew out of this movement, including Indian and Harley Davidson. Comapnies often painted ther machines in flamboyant colors to attract attention to their work, and these billboards for innovation could, for a few pennies, be viewed by the public speeding around the boardtrack velodromes at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour, piloted by drivers wearing little more than leather jackets and caps. To say that the sport was dangerous would be an understatement, and many drivers (and spectators) lost their lives when machines (not fitted with brakes or many other safety features in order to reduce weight) wiped out or blew up.
Joe Merkel joined the game in 1902, when he began producing morotcycle engines in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a brilliant innovator, and his 997cc V twin engines and transmissions were ahead of their time, as was his design for front fork suspension, which became the forerunner for modern front end motorcycle suspension. His color of choice for his machines was a bright orange, and he emblazened the name of his company, "Flying Merkel" in bold font on his machines' fuel tanks.
I came across Merkel's work and story in my early days researching antique bicycle technology and boardtrack racing. I was particularly drawn to his work and innovation, as well as the aesthetic of his cycles. I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin myself at this time as a college student, and decided that it would be a fun progect and fitting tribute to the spirit of Milwaukee innovation and history to produce a Merkel themed bicycle of my own. As I had limited means and needed bicycle as a starting place, I turned to my campus knock-around bicycle, a 70's Brittish made Phillips 5 speed. I had found this bicycle in pieces stored midway up a pine tree at the home of a bicycle hobbiest, and for the princely sum of $20, was able to liberate it along with a set of wheels from the gentleman's estate.
The Phillips served me well, and I had a custom laid back "Lucky 7" seat post welded up for it, done by an acquaintance from the antique bicycle community. I began the conversion process in the late fall of 2010, after it was too cold to bike to campus anymore, and did the work between my fairly spartan college apartment, and my basement workshop at my parent's house. The bicycle was completed in early spring of 2011, in time for the (relatively) warmer weather of a Milwaukee spring, allowing me to use it for the remaining months of my college career as my primary transport.
A lot of work went into this project, and it remains one of my favorite builds to date. Through working on it, and after it's completion, I met a lot of excellent people, and learned a lot about vintage speed and mechanics. Someday, I may even go towards the progression of the movement that fueled the creation of the original Flying Merkels, and motorize the bicycle.
At the turn of the 20th century, the internal combustion engine was the the hot ticket item for thoughtful engineers, enterprising tinkerers, and thrill-seeking daredevils to play with. Speed was ever growing, and with it, potential danger as well. Nearly anything that could have an engine strapped into it was raced, and that spirit drove the industry and innovation that has become motorsport and modern transportation as we enjoy it today.
One of the very popular motor sports was cycle racing. It is unclear who was the very first to attach a motor to a "safety cycle" (the form of bicycle we are familliar with today: two wheels of the same size, with the front controlled by a pivoting fork and the rear driven by a pedal crank), but by the early 20th century, nearly every manufacturer of pedal bicycles was also dabbling in motorized machines, which were tested and exhibited on the racetrack. Many independant start ups also grew out of this movement, including Indian and Harley Davidson. Comapnies often painted ther machines in flamboyant colors to attract attention to their work, and these billboards for innovation could, for a few pennies, be viewed by the public speeding around the boardtrack velodromes at speeds approaching 100 miles per hour, piloted by drivers wearing little more than leather jackets and caps. To say that the sport was dangerous would be an understatement, and many drivers (and spectators) lost their lives when machines (not fitted with brakes or many other safety features in order to reduce weight) wiped out or blew up.
Joe Merkel joined the game in 1902, when he began producing morotcycle engines in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a brilliant innovator, and his 997cc V twin engines and transmissions were ahead of their time, as was his design for front fork suspension, which became the forerunner for modern front end motorcycle suspension. His color of choice for his machines was a bright orange, and he emblazened the name of his company, "Flying Merkel" in bold font on his machines' fuel tanks.
I came across Merkel's work and story in my early days researching antique bicycle technology and boardtrack racing. I was particularly drawn to his work and innovation, as well as the aesthetic of his cycles. I lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin myself at this time as a college student, and decided that it would be a fun progect and fitting tribute to the spirit of Milwaukee innovation and history to produce a Merkel themed bicycle of my own. As I had limited means and needed bicycle as a starting place, I turned to my campus knock-around bicycle, a 70's Brittish made Phillips 5 speed. I had found this bicycle in pieces stored midway up a pine tree at the home of a bicycle hobbiest, and for the princely sum of $20, was able to liberate it along with a set of wheels from the gentleman's estate.
The Phillips served me well, and I had a custom laid back "Lucky 7" seat post welded up for it, done by an acquaintance from the antique bicycle community. I began the conversion process in the late fall of 2010, after it was too cold to bike to campus anymore, and did the work between my fairly spartan college apartment, and my basement workshop at my parent's house. The bicycle was completed in early spring of 2011, in time for the (relatively) warmer weather of a Milwaukee spring, allowing me to use it for the remaining months of my college career as my primary transport.
A lot of work went into this project, and it remains one of my favorite builds to date. Through working on it, and after it's completion, I met a lot of excellent people, and learned a lot about vintage speed and mechanics. Someday, I may even go towards the progression of the movement that fueled the creation of the original Flying Merkels, and motorize the bicycle.