January 25th
Anton "Toni" Bauhofer born in Munich. One of the pioneers of German motorcycle racing, he won the German motorcycle road championship four times. One of his machines was the five cylinder radial Megola.
The Marvelous Megola
The Motor Cycle writes of the Eagle motorcycle range, and later of their magnificent 12hp V-twin.
Eagle Motorcycles of 1912
T. E. Lawrence led Arab forces at the Battle of Tafilah, which the official history described as a "brilliant feat of arms". For this action he was awarded the DSO and promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Lawrence and his Brough Superior Motorcycles
Ángel Nieto born this day. He won 13 World Championships and 90 Grand Prix races between 1964 and 1986 riding in the 50cc, 80cc and 125cc classes. Named an FIM Legend, only Giacomo Agostini and Valentino Rossi have higher tallies.
Ángel Nieto Roldán
Allan Burt died.
In May of 1998 three rare classic racers were stolen - AJS 7R, Matchless G45, and Matchless G50 - famous machines raced by Allan at the IOM and other venues, and worth a small fortune. To date the motorcyles have not been recovered. The story involves numerous stolen motorcycles and two murders.
Stolen Classic Racers