I was at the Vintage Motorcycle show in Wauseon Ohio this last weekend, and this bike was a bit of a surprise when I saw it. Long story short, Glenn Curtiss, before getting into airplanes, was a motorcycle builder back in the early 1900s. In 1907 he built a V8 motorcycle, basically as a rolling advertisement for his airplane engines. He managed to set a speed record of 137 MPH (remember, in 1907). After various changing of hands, the bike itself ended up in the Smithsonian. There is a replica with a wooden engine at the Curtiss museum in New York, which is what I thought this one was at first. Nope, turns out it's a brand new, 1-to-1 functioning replica.
It's the brainchild of Dale Stoner. A few years ago I saw a Curtiss 3 cylinder he built (again, from scratch) run down at Barber, so he knows his stuff. Still, seeing him tackle the V8 was totally unexpected. He's a member of the Curtiss museum, and they let him take apart a period motor, in order to 3D scan the parts. That way he could make molds, get parts cast, and then machined down to a usable state. Apart from better oiling, a better u-joint, and other small upgrades, it's as close to an exact replica as possible.
I've been in love with this bike as long as I've known it's existed, so seeing it up close was super special to me. I've linked my full photo albums below, which includes a pair of videos proving that, it DOES run.
https://imgur.com/a/dale-stoners-curtis ... ca-tCPDZVC
https://imgur.com/a/1907-curtiss-v8-rep ... ng-WX3EgHD
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