Curtiss V-8 motorcycle

The forty horsepower engine was the two carburetor version of the Curtiss Model B-8 aircraft powerplant, one of thirteen engines listed in the May 1908 "Aerial and Cycle Motors" catalog. The engine weighed {{Convert|150|lb|abbr=on}} and was offered for US$1,200 but it did not sell, in spite of the engine's notoriety from the speed record. An eight carburetor version of the Model B-8 was used in the experimental AEA Red Wing and White Wing airplanes that flew in 1908.

Curtiss remained "the fastest man in the world," the title the newspapers gave him for going faster than any vehicle, on land, sea or air, until 1911,Roseberry 1972, p. 57. when his absolute record was broken by the {{Convert|141.7|mph|abbr=on}} Blitzen Benz automobile. No motorcycle surpassed the record until 1930. Curtiss's success at racing strengthened his reputation as a leading maker of high-performance motorcycles and engines.Hatch 2007, p. 36.

It has been suggested that the literary character Tom Swift was based on Curtiss. Tom Swift and His Motor Cycle, the first of over 100 books in the Tom Swift series, was published shortly after the V-8 record setting run.

The record setting V-8 motorcycle is now in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.[http://www.nasm.si.edu/imageDetail.cfm?imageID=1553 "Curtiss V-8 Motorcycle."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906140855/http://www.nasm.si.edu/imagedetail.cfm?imageID=1553 |date=2010-09-06 }} Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Collections. Retrieved: February 24, 2011. The Air and Space museum lent it to the Guggenheim for the 1998 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition in New York.

The Curtiss OX-5 aero engine, a successor of the V-8 motorcycle engine, powered several United States civilian and military aircraft. More than 10,000 were manufactured.{{citation|title=Curtiss OX-5 V-8 Engine|publisher=Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19200008000|access-date=2014-11-05|archive-date=2016-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413074648/https://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19200008000|url-status=dead}}

• Motorcycle land-speed record
• Land speed record
• List of motorcycles of 1900 to 1909

{{Reflist|2|refs=

{{citation|publisher=Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum|url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19520060000|title=Motorcycle, Curtiss V-8|access-date=2013-03-22|archive-date=2013-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130210165914/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?id=A19520060000|url-status=dead}}

{{citation|url=http://www.motorcycle.com/events/1907-curtiss-v8-12898.html|publisher=Motorcycle.com|title=1907 Curtiss V-8 / Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: Glenn H. Curtiss|author= Paul Garson|date=June 25, 2004}}

{{Citation |url= https://archive.org/stream/scientific-american-1907-02-09/scientific-american-v96-n06-1907-02-09#page/n3/mode/2up |format=Internet Archive |magazine=Scientific American |date= February 9, 1907 |volume=96 |issue= 6 |page= 128 |title= The Fastest and Most Powerful American Motor Bicycle }}

{{Citation |url=http://pastexhibitions.guggenheim.org/motorcycle/motorcycle/1868-1919.html|title=Past Exhibitions {{!}} The Art of the Motorcycle (1868-1919 models) | publisher=The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation |year=2009}}

{{citation|title=Glenn H. Curtiss - 100 Years Ago|author=Trafford L.-M. Doherty|publisher=Glenn H. Curtiss Museum|url=http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/educational/glenn_curtiss.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414203405/http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/educational/glenn_curtiss.html|archive-date=2013-04-14}}

{{citation |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 22, 1907 |title=Racing Outlook Good for Autos at Ormond |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0D1FFA385512738DDDAB0A94D9405B878CF1D3 }}

{{Citation |title= Hell-Rider to King of the Air: Glenn Curtiss' Life of Innovation |first= Kirk W. |last= House |publisher= SAE International |year= 2003 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BMCmbp7JaioC&pg=PA57 |pages=57–60 |access-date= March 22, 2013 |isbn=0-7680-0802-6 |location= Warrendale, Pennsylvania }}

{{Citation|last= Setright |first=L.J.K. |author-link=L. J. K. Setright |year= 1979 |title=The Guinness book of motorcycling facts and feats |publisher=Guinness Superlatives |isbn= 978-0-85112-200-7 }}

{{Citation |title= Top 10 Weirdest Custom Motorcycles; Dimensionally challenged motorcycle mavericks |first=Paul |last= Garson |date= 15 September 2010 |magazine= Motorcycle.com |url= http://www.motorcycle.com/how-to/top-10-weirdest-custom-motorcycles-89959.html }}

{{Citation|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdXaa3a2rtEC&pg=PA44 |title= Standard Catalog of American Motorcycles 1898-1981 |first= Jerry |last= Hatfield |publisher= Krause Publications |year= 2006 |isbn= 978-0-87349-949-1 |page= 44 }}

{{Cite book

|last=de Cet |first=Mirco |year=2002 |title=The illustrated directory of motorcycles |publisher=MotorBooks/MBI Publishing Company |isbn= 978-0-7603-1417-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wNzyIcw2vxoC |page=116}}

{{cite book | title = Tom Swift & Company | last = Dizer | first = John T | year = 1982 | location = Jefferson, North Carolina | publisher = McFarland Publishing | isbn = 978-0-89950-024-9 | page = 35 }}

{{Citation |last1=Statnekov |first1= Daniel K. |year=2001 |orig-year=1998 |title=The Art of the Motorcycle |author2=Guggenheim Museum Staff |editor1-last= Krens |editor1-first= Thomas |editor2-last= Drutt |editor2-first= Matthew |editor-link2= Matthew Drutt |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |isbn=0810969122 |page= 107 }}

}}

{{refbegin}}

• Hatch, Alden. Glenn Curtiss: Pioneer of Aviation. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-59921-145-9}}.
• Roseberry, C.R. Glenn Curtiss: Pioneer of Flight. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1972. {{ISBN|0-8156-0264-2}}.

{{refend}}

• {{citation|url=http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org/museum/collections/motorcycles.html|publisher=Glenn H. Curtiss Museum|title=Vintage Motorcycles & Antique Motorcycles|access-date=2013-03-22|archive-date=2016-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417233410/http://www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org///museum/collections/motorcycles.html|url-status=dead}}
• {{citation|author=Cameron, K. |title=Creative Power: Glenn Curtiss: Inventor, Manufacturer, Racer, Pilot. |journal=Cycle World|date=April 2002|pages=90–92}}
• {{citation|title=Glenn Curtiss--fastest man alive!|author=Simanaitis, Dennis |journal=Road & Track|date=Sep 1997|pages=172–173}}
• {{cite episode|series=The Engines of Our Ingenuity|number=1693|title=Curtiss' Motorcycles|author= Dr. John H. Lienhard|publisher=University of Houston College of Engineering|year=2002|type=Audio, with transcript|url=http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1693.htm}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Curtiss V-8 motorcycle}}

Category:Motorcycles introduced in the 1900s

Category:Motorcycles of the United States

Category:Land speed record motorcycles

Category:Eight-cylinder motorcycles