“IT HAD TO BE A REAL KICK START, A MECHANICAL ONE, NOT ELECTRICAL LIKE ON SOME BIKES. YOU EITHER HAVE IT OR YOU DON'T”
RIDING motorcycles up steep hills has been a popular form of motorsport for the best part of a century, none more so than in the heartland of the United States. By the 1930s, stripped-down Harley and Indian V-twins were sporting extended rear ends to counteract the tendency to flip over backwards on the gnarliest sections, affording the bikes a unique elongated style. Consider, too, that the machines were rigid-framed with rudimentary springer forks, and mostly fitted with low-revving side-valve engines, foot clutches and hand-shift three-speed gearboxes. Every run was all or nothing. Commitment was everything.
