↓
 

Flesh & Relics

Mostly Other People's Art: Women, Machines, Outlaws and Rust. Not Necessarily in That Order.

  • Home
  • CVKustoms
  • TransverseAlchemy
  • Good Karma Productions

Monthly Archives: November 2018

The Traub Motorcycle

Flesh & Relics Posted on November 12, 2018 by CharlieJuly 10, 2020

In 1967 or ’68, a plumber doing renovation work on a building in a quiet North Center neighborhood of Chicago broke through an old wall to discover a hidden space. Inside this time capsule, hidden for over 50 years, stood a pristine motorcycle. The paint, white rubber tires and even the leather of the seat were incredibly well preserved, and it was soon realized that almost every part of the bike had been meticulously hand crafted.

It was truly an one-off, possibly one of the rarest motorcycles in the world, and the only clue to its origins lay in the name “Traub” which was painted on the tank and cast on the engine covers.
The elderly owners of the building were tracked down and told about the mystery, and they admitted that  their son had stolen the motorcycle in 1917; how it came to be walled up in the building is still unknown, and after their son had been killed in the First World War it had been left there all but forgotten.

Almost every item on it had been engineered and manufactured specifically for this bike; aside from a Schebler carburetor, Bosch magneto,  Troxel Jumbo seat and a period wheel rim there are no shared components from any other motorcycle of that era. The pistons are hand made and have gap-less cast iron rings and much of the engineering and machining is years ahead of its time.

The v-twin engine is unique to the Traub; with a sand-cast, hand-built, 80 cubic-inch side valve motor and a three-speed transmission thought to be one of the first of its kind. The rear brake setup is also unique, consisting of a dual-acting system that employs a single cam that pushes an internal set of shoes, while simultaneously pulling an external set of contracting shoes.

The motorcycle utilizes two clutch levers; the conventional foot-operated mechanism along with a hand lever that sits alongside the fuel tank on the left side. The lever gate for the shifter is also unique, operating what could have been the first three-speed gearbox on an American motorcycle. The transmission has two separate neutral positions, between first and second gear and again between second and third, marked on the shift mechanism with a zero.

The powerhouse is a beautifully crafted 78ci V-twin engine with a 4in stroke and a 3 7/16in bore; 1,278cc, which was large for the time. (The majority of big displacement motorcycle engines from the Traub’s era were around 1,000cc (61ci). Using a side-valve arrangement, the top of the cylinders feature a gas primer valve, adjustable crankcase breather and unique engine mounts.

After its discovery, the motorcycle was first traded to Torillo Tacchi, a motorcycle shop owner in Chicago, in exchange for a $700 Suzuki. Tacchi restored it and kept the bike for some 10 years. He later sold it to Bud Ekins (Steve McQueen’s stuntman) while Ekins was on set of the Blues Brothers movie in the late 1970s. The Traub was later sold to California collector and restorer, Richard Morris, who then sold it to Wheels Through Time Museum curator, Dale Walksler, in 1990.
It has been on permanent display in the museum collection ever since.

Allegedly the only parts that had to be fabricated in the final restoration were the base gaskets; the bike is so perfectly machined that no other gasket was used anywhere in the engine, one more significant indicator that this was not a mass-production machine.


For many years a mystery lingered as to who had built the Traub, and whether any other examples existed.
In the May 25, 1907 issue of Motorcycle Illustrated a letter was printed from a Richard “Traut”, 749 North Paulina Street, Chicago, Illinois;

“Dear Sir – Enclosed find one dollar  for which send me The Motorcycle Illustrated beginning with June issue. Also find enclosed picture and specifications of a motorcycle made by myself throughout engine and all. I worked on this cycle about one year, putting in the time only between 7 pm and 11 pm. I also worked Sundays. This motorcycle has no wonderful qualities, but will run as good as any four-horsepower motorcycle I know of.
Specifications – Wheelbase, 55 inches; tank capacity, 3 1/2 gallons gasoline, 1 gallon oil, sufficient for 125 miles; power, 4 horsepower; bore and stroke 3 1/4 by 4 inches; auxiliary gasoline tank, 1/2 gallon; speed, more than the roads will stand; perfect grip control; throttle and spark motor is geared 3 3/4 to 1; it has a cycle chain with washers and does good service; has never troubled me yet, and I rode all of 1,500 miles. The belt is not my own idea. Tanks have gauge glasses, so you can see at an instant  how much gasoline you have. Hoping to see this in print, I am. “

Gottlieb Richard Traub is listed in the 1900 census at this address; his occupation was simply noted as “a laborer”.
In the 1910 census a Richard Traub lived at 1520 North Paulina St .,Chicago, with the same family members as resided at 749 North Paulina. He was born on 23rd of March, 1883, in Chicago; of German descent, a common heritage in that neighborhood. In 1910 he was 27 years old, and a now said to be a “toolmaker at a factory”. According to his WW1 draft registration of 1917-18 he was still at 1520 North Paulina, but most interestingly he was then listed as a self employed ‘experimental machinist’. Two years later in 1920 he was at the same address, his occupation shown as “a laborer at an experimenting co.”
By 1930 he had moved to Park Ridge Illinois, possibly as plater or chromer at an experimental company. His 1942 draft registration card has him self employed in Park Ridge. There are references to him building telescopes in Park Ridge in the 1940’s, and he died in 1952 aged 69. He was buried in Concordia Cemetery, Forest Park Illinois.

It should be noted that North Paulina st. in Chicago is in the same neighborhood, and in fact may be the same street, as the building where the motorcycle was found in 1967.


More:

Caimag.com
Wheels Through Time Museum

Posted in Historical | Tagged classic motorcycle, general historical stuff | 2 Replies


Charlie's Vintage Kustoms

 


Balkans Burn Videos

 


Bounce to my other blog, TransverseAlchemy.

Notice:

This is a collection of images found online. In some cases there may not be credits to the original artists as they come from random sources.
If your work is on this blog and you want it credited or removed email me with the relevant information.

Popular Posts:

  • J.A. Prestwich Industries- History of the J.A.P.
  • Pulsating Paula / road archives
  • Harley Graveyard in Lima, Peru
  • Balkan Motorcycles
  • “Papa Jim” Brewer and the Old Days of the MC’s
  • Pera Baity: Dnepr Model 8.157 Solo
  • fuck it.
  • The Great Frankenbike Resurrection
  • BB3 Balkans Burn, Part II of III: Giannitsa to Samarina, Greece
  • Some Linda McDowell sets from the 70’s
 

Traffic This Month:


871
Unique
Visitors
 

archives

  • 2022
    • October 2022
  • 2018
    • November 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • April 2018
    • January 2018
  • 2017
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
  • 2016
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
  • 2015
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
  • 2014
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
  • 2013
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
  • 2012
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • October 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
  • 2011
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
  • 2010
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
> View Full Index
 

More Groovy Shit:

  • bikerMetric
  • The Selvedge Yard
  • MCart
  • Ride the Machine
  • StrangerBlog
  • The 520 Chain Cafe

Tag Cloud

1% patch 1929 Majestic 1949 Moto Major Addams Family airplanes AK47 AMA Americana Ariel Austin-Healey Balkan Motorcycles Balkans Burn Bettie Page betty boop bicycles Big Bear bike wreck biker art biker cats biker flicks Birmingham bitchbitchbitch BMW BMW R7 boats Boozefighters BSA Bugatti Bulgarian Motorcycles bultaco Burt Munro cafe racer carburetors Carlos Nunez Carroll Shelby cats Česká zbrojovka Chang Jiang Chevrolet choppers Christmas Chrysler ciclobureau Cinderella Cart classic cars classic motorcycle Cleveland Motorcycle colors magazine Cossack motorcycles Crocker Cuba Cushman Motor Company custom bikes custom choppers custom trikes CZ motorcycles Czechoslovakia Dacia Dali Dan Genuario Dave Mann David Mann David Uhl Denis Sire DKW Dnepr Dodge Don MacMillan Ed Roth eggyolk Elvira engraving fashionable shit Ferrari Fiat Ford France Frisco garage mechanics Gary Littlejohn general historical stuff George Barris George Frizzell German Motorcycles Gilera Girls on Diggers Grace Slick guns Halloween Harley Davidson Harley WLA Heavy Machinery Heavy Metal helicopter Hells Angels Hollister Honda Hot Rod Art Hot Rod Girl Hot Rods Hungary Hunter S. Thompson IFA Indian Larry Indian Motorcycles Iron Horsemen IZh IZHMASH J.A.P. Engines Jaguar Jaquar Jawa Johnny Cash Jungle Pam junkyard Kawasaki Kettenkrad Lamborghini lambretta Lee Marvin loncin Chinese motorcycle Lost-'n-Found Lowrider Matchless Mausho Lilac Max Corkill Max Grundy Mercedes MGB Minsk motorcycle moto guzzi Motobécane Motorbike beat motorcycle fashion Motordrome Munsters mustang MZ Norton Motorcycles NSU nude nude biker chicks Oakland Oil Outlaw Bikers paint painting Pannonia personal shit Personal Work photography Pin-Up pinstriping Plymouth Porsche Racing Rallies Rastus rat bike Rat Fink raw pussy Red Baron Revillos riceburners road pics road trip Robert Williams rock'nfuckinroll Rod Scivyer Romania Royal Enfield Russia rust Schneekrad scooter screw drive vehicles Simson Škoda snowmobiles Soviet robots soviet tractor Steve McQueen Strakonice Streamliner surrealists Suzuki tank tattoos Tay Herrera trains Triumph Uncategorized Ural vespa vintage advertising Vintage Japanese Motorcycles vintage nudes Viva Van Story- Volkswagon Von Dutch VW bug Wall of Death Xmas yamaha zeppelin Zündapp
©2023 - Flesh & Relics - Weaver Xtreme Theme
↑

 

Notice: This website contains nudity and other adult oriented content which may be considered offensive. You must be over 18 to enter.