Flying Merkel

[genemaguire]

The craftsmanship on the old bikes is awe inspiring, compared to the disposable crap we have today...

[snowflake439908]

your leaking oil



[fstzed]

this is the most beautful peice of machinery so raw and such craftsmanship

[Th3Art0fRu1n]

I love these old bikes. simply amazing.

i also like watching the mechanics of these old engines. ie the lifters and rocker arms and what not. you can actually see them work as they're running

[MortenBoHansen]

it is such a shame we here in Denmark EU can not build bikes like this. It is just not legal!

[1991porcupine]

how do you drive if the wheel always moves even if you want stop can even stop and on it if you took it on the road and where waiting at a stop light.

[crazyfvck]

@1991porcupine You would have to shut the engine off when you want to stop. Most board track racers didn't have brakes, a clutch, or even a throttle in some cases. Definitely not something you want to drive on the street, unless you have brass balls and a pair of really heavy boots to use to stop it..

[asd36f]

Is this an ex-Maldwyn Jones racer?

[arielmanIan]

@asd36f

Hmm That I couldn't tell you..If I see him I will ask.

[CyberDruidtheModGod]

That color is amazing!

[ElMrFrijolero]

WOW...you out'a be careful or else the tire would eat up you shorts......

[WilliamGruff]

One SV and one pushrod OHV per cylinder. Unusual but rather stylish.

[wesmeis]

I love the color,,its my favorite..I heard some old racers were throttle-less too.Just run wide open..

[royalbrainwave]

Is it so shaky because of the motor, or the rollers the bike is on?

[arielmanIan]

@royalbrainwave

I would think the motor has some shake BUT I'm sure the rollers don't help.

Once on the road I bet the shake goes away.

[BikerRussell]

Thats a nice bike, but man does that thing shake more than my pan!

[lipevolcom2]

thats a epic redneck bike start ever !!! LOL

[UberKuhlMan]

Jezzel Petes! Wow!

[Rick258442]

The bike looks so much like a downsized replica, garage build. Just too clean to be from that era. Then you notice it's a full sized engine with casting insignia all over it. It's like: "how can something so old look so relatively new?"

This bike is so well done. Probably too well done.

Nonetheless, awesome bike.

[arielmanIan]

He does nice work for sure .

I was hoping he would bring something different this year .

brought his early Indian.

His bikes are NICE!!

[Threetails]

@Rick258442 Agreed. It just doesn't look right without some age showing.

[RetroCaptain]

Good Day,

Wow super rest job on that venerable racer,eh!

Lead base enamels? They were really durable! Takes years to fade, over todays plastic isocyanate lacquers. I bought some CDN made lead based auto enamel yrs ago...still have it,..waiting for someday.

I like ancient bikes, but cannot afford. I noticed there were no brakes on that racer. Riding it would be tricky!

It sounds nice,..& no smoke!

[arielmanIan]

I'm anxious to see what he brings this year.

Lead Powder..I have heard of this ..never seen it .

Paint has come a long way for sure .

[faerieSAALE]

The old brilliant colors of long ago had lead in the compounds used. Chrome yellows, oranges, reds, blues etc. all had lead in them...which cannot be used today in paint mixing. The Merkels had a color very similar to "Red Lead" powder...of which I have two pounds of...which is at least 70 years old, and still good. It is toxic to use. It is not for sale...

The new chemistry of paints today cannot match the old lead based paint colors of 100 years ago. They are close, but not an exact match.

[deannaber]

Amazing its pure heaven im blown away !!!

[libertytennessee3709]

Damn people, What year, What HP Give us some stats.....

[nicktcfcsb]

I have been having dreams about this since I saw this video and I have to watch it again! Its so amazing!

[devno9904]

awesome video that sound is like music!

[MARKBRIANBOTWRIGHT]

Nice !!!!

[denzlepob]

Very nice, love the way you started it!

[wildmandazza]

Thanks for posting....a really nice bike

[Wackiboy]

I´m from Germany and "Merkel" does not stand for a motorbike here ;-)

Great bike and great sound !!

[roadyrider]

The best sounding name of all the vintage motorcycles!

[redpiper1]

All I can say Is WOW !!! That is one beautiful machine man...I really got into board trackers a couple years ago and this has to be the finest specimen I have ever seen..5 stars ! How close is that to the original paint color...Is there a paint code available ?

[arielmanIan]

I beleieve the owner said this was as close to the original paint as he could get.

I'm not sure of the paint code.

It IS one nice machine for sure !

[ironworkersteve57703]

Beautyful!

I would give anything to have been able to see this bike in the boardtrack races!

[arielmanIan]

Now that would be nice!

[briggs5sboy]

oh wait this one has it too

[briggs5sboy]

They've got an unrestored one just like this at the museum in sturgis except that one has a manual oiler

[TheBajuri]

SOUND OF HELL!!!!!

[Metalchemist13]

SWEET !

[scott6305]

I've never seen a Merkel in person,just magazines.However,all of the one's I have seen had "THE" in front of the name with streaks coming off of it.Maybe this is a later one and they dropped "THE" from the name.I don't know.I live 15 miles from the worlds largest motorcycle museum,Barber's Motorsports Park.He has well over 750 bikes in his collection,but as far as I know,he doesn't even have a Merkel! Would love to see one though,has to be my favorite antique bike!

[consolereviews100]

its restored right?

[doktorlindblood]

haha, found out that the construktor was a relative of me

[doktorlindblood]

whats the value of this bike? i think at least 100k

good to know that my last name is merkel too ^^

[arielmanIan]

I think you would be close in the price .

I would love to see this go down the road.

Another Great classic

[problem49]

What a glorious machine. Best motorcycle name ever.

[Rousmak]

Very nice bike. Beautiful and differet.

[NunoCRFX]

I never think classic bikes could be so much cool like this one!Great paint job!It´s original ?

[bsmk1sv]

"Nice" sounds wounderful

[arielmanIan]

Sounds great I must say.

Nice write up on this bike inMotorcycle Mojo ( Canadian Mag)Jan/Feb issue