Brakes: They Only Slow You Down
Sons of Speed revives board-track racers
Have you ever dreamt of riding 100 mph on a 100-year-old motorcycle with no brakes, clutch, transmission or any suspension? Me neither, but it sure does sound like fun… if you’re into that kind of thing.
“You gotta hold on for dear life, you know?” says world-renowned motorcycle builder, Billy Lane. “It’s so light and you don’t have any brakes. It steers so fast, so squirrelly. It’s kind of crazy… good crazy.”
Inspired by early twentieth-century board-track racing of the 1910s and 1920s, Billy Lane created Sons of Speed, a race that features custom-built, stripped-down bikes with pre-1925 1000cc American V-Twin engines. These days, technology is advancing so rapidly that sometimes it’s refreshing to go back to the basics of a simpler time, to take something that was obsolete and bring it back. Sons of Speed does just that. The race will return for its third installment during the 25th anniversary of Biketoberfest this Saturday, October 21, in Daytona Beach at the New Smyrna Speedway. There will be 13 racers duking it out in this unique, wide-open, thrilling style of motorcycle racing.
I encourage you to spare eight minutes and check out this interesting mini-documentary put together by Jeff Maher that explains Sons of Speed and how it came to be.
Sons of Speed from Jeff Maher on Vimeo.
More by Brent Jaswinski
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This Saturday's race was a hoot! Great racing and an interesting crew of bikes and people. I can't wait for next year's event.