1957 Providence Rhode Island Motorcyclist Walt Brown - 3-Page Vintage Article

Description

1957 Providence Rhode Island Motorcyclist Walt Brown - 3-Page Vintage Article
Original, Vintage Magazine Article
Page Size: Approx. 9" x 12" (22.5 cm x 30 cm) each page
Condition: Good
Walt Brown
Personalities
In Our Sport
Over THE YEARS we have interviewed a lot of fine people in different
sports and when we were given the assignment by the management of
American Motorcycling to do a series of articles on prominent indi-
viduals in the sport of motorcycling, we, frankly were rather skeptical. Our
fears were unfounded as in no sport have we found so many swell fellows
as has been our lot in working on these various research adventures. We
have never seen such enthusiasm or real down to earth men who have made
this sport their career and the next "Personality in Our Sport" is a real
guy, personality plus and a credit to his chosen field of endeavor. Walt
Brown of Providence, R. I., and lately of Nutley, N. J.
His first motorcycle was in 1926, a 1919 Pope, twin cylinder model.
Can’t say that it was the first machine he rode .as he had to push it most
of the time, because it would not start. The previous owner had broken
his foot on the kick starter and had evidently broken off the kick starter
with a heavy hammer in a fit of anger. His first highway job was a 1925
Indian Scout and the bug had really bitten to a point where in 1928 he
started a back yard repair shop in his Dad’s barn and in a few months he
had five machines of his own including an Ace, Harley-Davidson, Excellsior,
Indian and a Pope. This was a start in a field that would take him into
every phase of motorcycling; tuning motors, road testing, engineering and
even sales. Like all motorcycle enthusiasts, he had to compete in everything
that came along. He just had to ride and enjoy that something that comes
only to a real motorcycle rider.
In 1929, 30, and 31, he played motorcycle polo on the Rhode Island
Ramblers team, composed of his brother Hank, Al Arnold, Babe Tancrede
and Jimmy Lang. What an outfit to ride against! This gang of rough
riders won the N.E. championship two years in a row.
In 1931 he took up hill climbing and won his first event at North
Andover, Mass, on Chick Remington’s old 80 Harley-Davidson. The prize,
a trophy! Walt observed that in those days, one didn’t win much money
and the fellows rode for the sport.
After a few years, he felt he was good enough to get into some of the
Jimmy Hill, Ed Kretz and Walt Brown at Lang-
horne in 1947 after Kretz had won the main
event.
Brown at Langhorne in 1939
big AMA events. He rode in the first 200-miler at Savannah,
Ga., later to be transferred to Daytona Beach.
In 1933, he won a 200-mile race on the mile track at
Readville, Mass. He won SI00.00 prize money and spent most
of it before he got home, treating the boys who helped him win.
In 1938, he finished seventh in the 200-miler at Laconia, N. H.
This was the only 200-miler at Laconia and was won by Ed
Kretz. In 1939 he finished fourth at Laconia and was just
beaten out for third place by Johnny Hostetter, now head of a
finance company in Washington, D. C.
In 1937, "Red” Armstrong got him a job with Indian as a
road tester. In 1937, 38 and 39, he rode all of the new ex-
perimental models, riding thousands of miles, day in and day
out, rain or shine. He did such a good job that the late Joe
Hosley, the President of Indian, put him in charge of the Road
Test Department and late in 1939 was sent to Camp Hollabird
to supervise testing of Indian military motorcycles. In 1942, he
was sent to a desert test camp, Camp Seeley at El Centro, Calif.,
where he represented the Indian Engineering Department in the
Army. After six months in the desert, he went to Fort Knox,
Ky., where they were testing Indian and Harley-Davidson shaft-
drive machines. John Harley was a Lieutenant in charge of a
motorcycle school. For almost three years, he instructed soldiers
to ride and service motorcycles in all of the big Army camps.
After the war, he returned to the Indian factory as Service
Manager and also had charge of competition activities and under
his guiding hand came Johnny Spiegelhoff, Floyd Emdee, Ed
Kretz, and others. Later came Bill Tuman, Bobby Hill and
Dick Klamfoth. In 1952 and 1953 he was placed in charge of
development and was in charge of production when the last
Indian motorcycles were manufactured in this country. In 1954,
Ted Hodgdon, who had been with Indian during the early
thirties took over the distributorship of BSA for east and middle
west and one of his first organization steps was to grab Walt
Brown for his service manager.
There is the background of a motorcycle career that has
endured for thirty years—thirty years of making friends and
keeping them.
Getting Walt to talk was a problem, but we finally got this
much out of him:
"Earle 'Red’ Armstrong, Al Arnold, Frank Long, Hap Alzina,
E. C. Smith and Ted Hodgdon are only a few of the many fine
people who have made it possible for me to get started, pro-
gress and continue in a combination of business and sport which
I feel has no equal in America or any other country. The AMA
has done a wonderful job of building the sport and keeping
the motorcycle road riders and competition riders organized
and certainly has given the fans plenty of motorcycle activities
to attend each year.
"I am proud and happy to be on the AMA Technical and
Competition Committees because (See PERSONALITIES, page 40)
During the late 30’s Walt spent his time testing experimental
models for Indian. This was taken on the highway between
Holtville, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz.
Walt tries the hill on one wheel during a climb at Diamond
Hill, R. I. in 1937.
An old Indian flat head entered in the 1956 Daytona 200 brings
back many memories for Walt Brown. The machine ridden by
Claud Mook (extreme right) finished the race in 18th place.
Walt Brown of Indian. Otto Wolfer of Firestone, Martin Riggs
of Goodyear, and Bonneau of Harley-Davidson making tests
during the development of desert motorcycle tires....
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