The HOG Boys Go Racing

   In the years leading up to World War 1, the excitement was beginning  to reach a fever pitch on the racetracks. The old saying "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" has always rang true in the world of motorsports. As the largest pre-war motorcycle manufacturer in America, Indian had the financial ability to fund a strong racing team. As the wins piled up, Indian sold more bikes, building the brand's popularity and bringing in more dollars. Dollars that helped to fund more racing. The same was true for Thor, who was proving to be a strong competitor on the track.

  Despite Arthur Davidson's anti-racing rhetoric during Harley Davidson's first decade, the powers at Harley Davidson soon saw the need to compete on the track if they were to be competitive on the sales floor and decided to test the waters. In 1913, Harley Davidson hired expert tuner Bill Ottoway away from Thor and made him Chief Engineer of Harley's new racing department, working directly alongside co-founder William Harley. All rather quietly, of course, as the public stance was still that Harley Davidson was not a racing company. 

  Until this time there were, of course, private racers competing on Harley Davidsons but they rode mainly stock machines, slightly modified for the track. Bill Ottoway began work on Harley Davidson's first factory racer, using for a base the Model 10, a 61 cu. in. V-twin of intake over exhaust design. Ottoway enlarged the intake port and intake manifold for increased flow, fitted a larger carburetor, a racing camshaft, and stiffer valve springs. The engine was balanced and precisely assembled using steel flywheels. The chassis was stripped of anything not needed and trimmed for competition. The sleek new racing machine was dubbed the Model 11-K.

Harley Davidson Model 11-K racer

  Harley Davidson surprised everyone when in 1914 they submitted a last minute entry into the July 4th Dodge City 300. Called The Coyote Classic, the Dodge City 300 was held on a 2 mile oval dirt track. The Dodge City 300 was an officially sanctioned race of FAM, the Federation of American Motorcyclists. FAM would later evolve into the AMA (American Motorcyclists Association) that we know today. 

  Co-founders William Harley and William Davidson arrived at the race with 12 race-prepped model 11-Ks and a team of 5 racers. Harley Davidson's first factory team consisted of Walter Cunningham, Paul Garst, Paul God, "Red" Parkhurst, and Alvin Stratton. When the dust settled, there was no champagne or victory celebrations for the Harley team. Only 2 of the 5 riders crossed the finish line. Despite the dismal finish, Harley Davidson had been tied for 1st place at the 120 mile mark and had, for a time, competed for 2nd place before succumbing to a stretched chain and fouled plugs. William Harley and William Davidson were nevertheless impressed with the performance of their machines. The decision was made to continue with the racing program. The Harley Davidson team and the Model 11-K racer went on to claim victories in Minnesota, Alabama, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Ohio, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, Canada, and Mexico before the year came to an end. 

  In 1915 Harley Davidson returned to take the checkered flag at Dodge City, and again in 1916. The Harley Davidson team began to dominate motorcycle racing prior to WW1. The news reporters gave them the title of "The Wrecking Crew" and the name stuck. Race after race, they became the guys to beat, often taking the top spots on the winner's podium. 

  In 1916 a young racer named Lawrence "Ray" Weishaar joined Harley Davidson's Wrecking Crew. Born in Oklahoma in 1890, Ray Weishaar grew up in Wichita Kansas. At age 9 his father died and Ray had to find work to help support his family. Working for the Bell Telephone Company in his teens, he scraped together enough money to buy his first motorcycle, affordable and sensible transportation in the days before Ford's Model T. By 1908 Ray was racing on short 1/2 mile tracks at county fairs all around Kansas, earning the State Championship title 2 years in a row, and the nickname of the "Kansas Cyclone."

  Ray Weishaar began competing on the national circuit in 1914, with his 1st major event at Savannah, GA. Ray did well, running with the leaders until a fuel leak forced him out on the 24th lap. At the 1915 Dodge City 300 he again had a strong showing, until falling back due to a fouled plug. Ray's talent and determination on the track was soon recognized by Harley Davidson as shown in the September 1915 issue of The Harley-Davidson Dealer 

Ray Weishaar Hung on to his Helmet Four Laps With his Teeth

(Chicago Speedway, September 12, 1915) 
"In the 13th lap, however, his helmet became unfastened, Weishaar hung on to the strings with his teeth for four laps and then threw the helmet into the pits.
Chairman John L. Donovan of the F.A.M. competition committee and Referee Frank E. Yates saw the helmet go into the pits and insisted on knowing to whom it belonged. There was considerable dispute for several laps as a result of their determination to make Weishaar stop and put on his helmet again.
As Weishaar came around each lap in the lead, those of us who were in the pits did our best to argue the officials out of their idea of forcing Weishaar to make an extra stop but they were determined in their course and as a result we had to call Weishaar into the pits in the 27th lap. This undoubtedly cost Weishaar the race." 

Harley Davidson recruited Waishaar as the newest member of the Wrecking Crew. He came in 3rd in the 1916 Dodge City 300 and then took 1st in the Detroit 100.

  Harley Davidson offered Ray a dealership and for three years, he sold motorcycles instead of racing them. Racing had been halted in 1917 with America's entry into WW1. With racing's return after the war, Ray returned to the track in 1919. Harley Davidson was set to again dominate on the track. The years after WW1 brought some of the most fierce competition in motorcycle racing as Harley competed with Indian and Excelsior for dominance. On Sept. 1st of 1919 Marion Indiana held the first "Cornfield Classic," a 200 mile International Road Championship race over a 5.17 mile course. Harley's wrecking crew again swept the podium, with team riders "Red" Parkhurst, Ralph Hepburn, and Otto Walker coming in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. 

  In 1920, the Wrecking Crew returned to Marion Indiana to defend their title as "The Worlds Greatest Team." Around this time, Ray Weishaar acquired a small piglet that he named Johnny. According to legend, Ray had gotten the pig from a rural farmer near Marion Indiana, whether it was at the 1919 race or the 1920 race, may never be known. What is known, is that Johnny the pig was loved by all the racers and became the Wrecking Crew's mascot.

  Ray Weishaar had the greatest success of his career at the 1920 Marion Cornfield Classic. Lowering the race record by a full 18 minutes, Weishaar was heralded as the International Champion. He took his pig Johnny on a victory lap to celebrate, a stunt that quickly became a tradition. The media made a sensation of it, publishing photos of Ray giving his pig a refreshing sip of Coca Cola in celebration. (Which Coca Cola didn't hesitate to use in advertising)

The newspapers soon began calling the Harley team "The Harley Hogs" and accusing them of "hogging" victories. The name stuck and forever afterwards Harley Davidson motorcycles have been known as "HOGS." In recent years, Harley Davidson has embraced the term, using hog images in advertising, starting a factory backed club called H.O.G (Harley Owner's Group), and using the initials HOG to represent Harley on the New York Stock Exchange. Marion Indiana has an annual Hog Daze rally and embraces the title of "The Home of the Hog."

  Harley returned to Dodge City to again take 1st place in 1920 and 1921. Ray Weishaar continued to lead races but seemed plagued by bad luck as his machines would often fail before the finish. In April of 1924, Ray was battling legendary Indian rider Gene Walker for the lead in Los Angeles, CA. Johnny Seymour drafted past both Weishaar and Walker to take the lead. Ray's motorcycle was sent into a high speed "death wobble" and began to skid. Ray fought to recover but crashed through the wooden fence on the edge of the track, sending him tumbling into the dirt. Still conscious, but with a broken leg, he wasn't thought to be seriously injured. His young wife, Emma, drove him to the Los Angeles General Hospital. He died a few hours later from internal injuries that weren't apparent at the time of the crash. The father of the Hog was gone at the young age of 33 leaving a wife and a 6 month old son. Many of the country's top racers attended his funeral. In a showing of how close the racing community was despite their fierce competition on the track, his fellow racers came to the aid of his widow, raising the needed funds to pay off the debt on her home.