The Wild World of Motorcycle Racing in the early 1900's

I’ve always been a fan of racing, especially motorcycles. That’s probably why I spent more time in my university library studying motordromes, than I did studying. I had always known that motordromes had existed, but I never quite grasped how immense the sport was, and how iconic these structures were.

In 1905, America’s technological revolution hits full throttle. Ford is producing cars, Indian Motorcycles has been in business for 4 years, and Harly Davidson just opened their doors, and the first powered aircraft took flight. At this time, there were no motordromes, but there certainly was racing.

Motorcyclists would test their machines and skills on horseracing tracks and velodromes. These were quite popular events, but it didn’t take very long for the motorcycles to become far too fast for these circuits. Outside the city of Los Angeles, it was decided that a “motordrome” would be built. In 1910 it opened its doors.

The Pie Plate had 30 degrees of bank (extremely low for a motordrome), was 1.0 mile long and was built to hold 70,000 fans. It was even lit, the cost of which was in excess of $10,000!

Amazingly, motordrome racing was America’s most popular sport of the period. Attendees would arrive in their Sunday best. This is quite amazing considering the barbaric racing that took place on these insane tracks. Had Ben Hur been given a choice, I’m sure he would have stayed in the coliseum - it was much more civilized. The riders wore sweaters and jeans, no helmets, and in the early days: no goggles!
The first bikes they were racing had open valves, so oil would actually fly up onto the goggles making it impossible to see, so the riders were forced to squint through the splinters. Of course, there were lots of crashes. Lots. So many so, that Motordromes soon became “Murderdromes.”

It was common for at least 1 rider to die per race and one fateful day in New Jersey in 1913, a rider went into the grandstands killing 12 people. Strangely, that’s the same year that the L.A. Pie Plate burnt down, and from its ashes rose the Beverley Hills Hotel.

If this story interested you, I’m currently working on a film project for Fine Line Studios, entitled Motordrome: A Historical Short. I’ll continue to keep posting facts, tidbits, and images of the era as I compile my script, and you’ll soon be able to help us reimagine this incredible world through our Kickstarter campaign!