Curtis installed one of his 4000cc V8 aircraft engine into a motorcycle and blew all competitors into the weeds with a run of 136.27 mph on 24 January 1907. Glen Curtis built and rode a V8 motorcycle to a land speed record of 136 mph. Within a decade he would become the Henry Ford of the aerospace industry,
But his motorcycle record of 1907 was not bested until 1930. It was the only motorcycle to ever hold the outright land speed record and, because the train records were powered initially by steam and then by electricity, used the first internal combustion engine to hold the record
He produced motorcycle and airplane engines, and manufactured motorcycles under his own brand, and realized that the low weight and minimal frontal area of the motorcycle offered an easy way to demonstrate his wares to the public and sell more of his engines.
This is where his self-belief really begins to raise him above the rest of the greats. He not only designed engine, motorcycles and aeroplanes, he was also the test pilot, and he was also in the saddle of the motorcycles which set land speed records in 1903 and 1907.
Glen Curtis pioneer aviator land speed record holder Read here
