Motorcycling in Canada - A Ride through Our History Part 6

Motorcycling in Canada - A Ride through Our History Part 6

Borne in St. Ulric, QC on December 10th 1879, Jacob DeRosier would move to Massachusetts at the age of four and went on to be one of the winningest motorcycle racers in history.

The wiry DeRosier started his racing career riding bicycles. In 1898m he got the opportunity to ride on one of the new French pace bikes owned by Henri Fournier.

They were large-engined two-wheelers that were used for pacing bicycles in an effort to help the riders achieve faster speeds.  Fournier agreed to let DeRosier try one and he demonstrated so much skill that he was hired to ride the machines at bicycle races in Paris.

In 1901, Jake who was considered one of the top cycle pacers in the US, met the co owner of Indian Motorcycles, Oscar Hedstrom. He was offered a job and a motorcycle to race.

DeRosier worked for Indian for a short time, but ended up becoming a factory sponsored board track racer.

DeRosier had not only won the National Federation of Americas Motorcycles Championship in 1908, but held every FAM speed record there was to hold in 1911.

It is rumoured that his departure from riding Indian Motorcycles was as a result of George Hendee being disappointed in DeRosier's showing at the Isle of Man TT in early 1911.  As a result, Jake DeRosier ended up riding for Excelsior.

Excelsior's V-twin, pocket-valve motor was nearly unbeatable.  At Chicago's Riverview motordrome, in August of 1911 an Excelsior set a record for the mile, burning up the boards at an average speed of 88.9 mph.

By September, the former Indian rider was in the saddle and not only did he win the feature event at Riverview, he set an unofficial world record for the kilometer, at a speed of 94 mph. With DeRosier riding, Ignaz Schwinn's motorcycle company, Excelsior quickly became a serious race contender. Excelsior was being hailed as the fastest bike on the boards! DeRosier's tenure at Excelsior proved brief.
Jacob DeRosier's career, which saw him ride in over 900 races, came to an end on March 12, 1912, he suffered severe injuries to his left leg and thigh at Los Angeles.

Enduring three surgeries, as doctors attempted to repair the damage to his left leg, he succumbed to complications of the last operation on Feb. 25,1913.  Jacob DeRosier was laid to rest in Springfield Massachusetts, the home of Indian Motorcycles. As his funeral procession passed the factory, it was to the flags of the Indian Motorcycle Co., being flown at half mast and all production at the plant was ceased. DeRosier was 33 years old.

Quebec has had it's share of talented riders!

Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki have many things in common.

They all got their start in Japan.  Of the four, Kawasaki was the late entry to Canadian manufacturing. Honda came to Canada in 1969, both Suzuki and Yamaha entered the market in 1973; Kawasaki did not arrive until 1982.

They all proved one thing, very quickly!

They could dominate on the racetracks of the world and one Canadian racer, Michel Mercier, rode all of them, winning many championships on each brand, covering 4 disciplines!

 

Michel Mercier - Pierre Nadeau, LA Tribune

Born in Thetford Mines Quebec in 1953, Michel, like many a young man began his racing career in motocross.  He won many a motocross championship and held the prestigious #1 Canadian National Ice Racing plate 5 times!

During his 18-year career as a rider, he road raced for 10 years, dirt tracked for 3 years, Ice raced for 7 years and motocross raced for 4 years and all of those years and races netted him:

25 Canadian National Titles

5 Canadian National #1 plates in Ice Racing

3 Canadian National #1 plates in Road Racing

People like Fred Deeley and Raymond Greff helped this great Canadian racer when he road dirt track. He was given a Harley-Davidson XR750 to ride in 1978 and he did not disappoint H-D either!

In fact this man, Michel Mercier was one of the first Bombardier team riders – in other words, he rode everything two wheels and did it like a champion!

Today Michel is the owner of Fast Riding School.  He teaches at Shannonville Motorsports Park.

No article on Quebec motorcycling would be complete without talking about the Gref family.
The Gref family is another of those families that has motorsports in their blood.

Charles Gref Sr. was born in 1912. His love affair with the motorcycle began in 1937 and by 1947 he was the Canadian Champion in the expert class of the Canadian Trials. He went on to be a director of the CMA and the president of the Montreal Motorcycle Club.

Raymond Gref - Moto Internationale

His son Raymond, a founding member and the first president of the Club Moto Saguenay spent over 50 years in the motorcycle industry. As a competitor whose racing career spanned 8 years, Raymond was only defeated once.

He went on to be a driving force in Quebec motorcycling. Not only did he found Moto International and Harley-Davidson of Montreal, but he was responsible for organizing many a race and could always be found promoting the sport.

Normand Gref, Raymond's brother won 153 trophies during his racing career. Today, Normand is the used motorcycle sales manager at Moto Internationale.

Like his grandfather before him, Charles Gref Jr., the president of Moto International and Harley-Davidson Montreal had the motorcycling bug, only it found Charles Jr. much earlier in life.

At the age of 13 he had already won a number of trophies. He won the Miller Trophy, which in trials riding is the top honour in Eastern Canada, in both 1976 and 1977. His first win of the Miller Trophy came exactly 26 years AFTER his grandfather had won it!

Charles Jr. excelled in motocross, enduro, acceleration competitions and snowmobiling and the experiences he gained from being a competitor has helped him continue the tradition of Moto Internationale and Harley-Davidson Montreal being consistently top dealerships in Canada.

Quebec has produced so many inspiring motorcyclists, Yvon Duhamel, Duc du Four, Marc St Laurent, Pierre Corbeil, Paul Noiseux and many, many others.  It is no wonder that Quebec has one of the highest concentration of riders in Canada.


I hope you enjoyed our little ride through Quebec's impressive history of motorcycling.

Next time we begin exploring Atlantic Canada!


Interesting Historical Tidbits:

1901 - The Montreal Canadians are founded

1912 - Louis Cyr, born in Saint-Cyprien-de-Napierville QC the world's strongest man dies of Bright's Disease (Kidney Disease)

1922 - The first prototype snow machine called the Snowdog was engineered by Joseph-Armand Bombardier

1928 - Women became recognized as legal "persons" by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

1929 - Montreal QC becomes home to the third oldest motorcycle club in Canadian history, The Sports Motor Cycle Club (SMCC).

1931 – Canada's first television station, VE9EC, begins broadcasting in Montréal

1936 – Air Canada founded on August 11 as Trans-Canada Airlines.

1940 - Quebec is the last province (of the time period) to grant the vote to women.

1940 - Canadian, Fred Moffatt of General Electric invents the electric tea kettle

1941 - Legislation is changed to allow women to enlist in the Canadian Forces.

           45,000 + women volunteer for full-time military service other than nursing. All three services              establish women's divisions. 

1941 - Elizabeth "Betty" MacRae, Canada's first female neurosurgeon is born as is activist and folk                singer Buffy Sainte-Marie.

1942 - Montreal celebrates it's 300th birthday

1942 - The Women's Royal Canadian Navel Service (WRENS) is established.

1942 - Genevieve Bujold, a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the                    1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days is born in Montreal

1947 - General Electric invents the electric washing machine

1948 - Barbara Ann Scott becomes the first Canadian woman to win the World Figure Skating                         championships.

Research for this article
Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Charles Gref Jr.
1909, The Great Motorcycle Invasion by Mark Dill
American Motorcycle Hall of Fame
FirstSuperSpeedway.com
Findagrave.com
Indian Motorcycle Classics
Chronologie de l'histoire du Québec Canadian Encyclopedia - Women in the Military

Fastridingschool.com

LA Tribune



Disclaimer:

All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.

Motorcycling in Canada, A Ride Through Our History - Part 1

1895 Roper Steam Velocipede - thevintagent.blogspot.ca

Throughout the centuries, man has endeavoured to expand his world through the use of machines.

Man’s ever-innovative and inquisitive mind, coupled with his need to find new thrills and adventure, means the development of the motorcycle was inevitable. The early years of motorcycling are fascinating as they offer up some of man’s most bizarre experimental machinery!

Sylvester Howard Roper built the first motorcycle in 1868. It was powered by a steam engine, and was demonstrated at fairs and circuses.

Many modern motorcycle features, including the twist handgrip throttle control,  evolved from the innovations on this machine.

By the late 1880s, motorcycle development became influenced by the internal combustion engine that had arrived on the scene.

Hildebrand & Woflmuller developed the first production motorcycle in 1894, and theirs was the first vehicle of its type to use the term “motorcycle”.

Hildebrand & Woflmuller
Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition

Hildebrand & Woflmuller
Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition

In 1901, Royal Enfield revealed its first motorcycle; it came with a 239 cc front-mounted engine and a belt drove the back wheel.

From 1901 on, the burgeoning sport of motorcycle racing fueled innovations at a fast and furious pace and as a result, hundreds of motorcycle companies sprang up around the world.

Even Canadians got into the act of producing motorcycles.

The CCM (Canadian Cycle & Motor Company) produced the Lightweight Motor Cycle from 1908 to 1911, there are only three known left to be in existence and one of them is at the Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition in Vancouver.

Canada Post

In 1912, Toronto's Mercer Street was home to the Hendee Mfg. Co production plant. (In 1928, Hendee Mfg. Co. became known as Indian)

During the First World War, motorcycles began to replace horses on the battlefield. Dispatch riders carried communications pouches and performed reconnaissance missions.

Triumph Motorcycles provided the allies with over 30,000 of its newly created Type-H bikes in World War I. Dubbed by many as the first “modern” motorcycle, the Model H by Triumph was the first motorcycle to be produced without pedals.

1922 Triumph Model H Yesterdays Antique Motorcycles

By 1920, Harley-Davidson had become the largest manufacturer of motorcycles with dealers in 67 countries, although it lost that spot for a number of years to German owned DKW in early 1930.

After World War II, as part of the reparations for the war, Harley-Davidson in the US, BSA in the UK and MMZ in Soviet Union were given the plans for the DKW RT125.

In the US the motorcycle became known as the Hummer, in the UK as the BSA Bantam and in Soviet Union as the M-1A Moskva.

Although many manufacturers in the US had sprung up to build and sell motorcycles, by 1931, only Harley-Davidson and Indian were still standing.

From 1931 until Indian closed its factory in Springfield Mass., and Royal Enfield took over the name in 1953, Harley-Davidson and Indian were fierce competitors.

From: harleyhummer.com

Here is a short list of some of the oldest American motorcycle marques:

• Indian (1901-1953)
• Pierce Arrow (1901-1913)
• Curtiss (1902–1910)
• Harley –Davidson (1903-present day)
• Excelsior (1907-1931)
• Iver Johnson (1907-1916)
• Henderson (1911-1931)
• Ace (1920-27)
• Crocker (1936-1941)

The early 1900’s were an exciting time for the fledgling motorcycle community in Canada and Harley-Davidson Motorcycles played a huge role in that excitement and the growth of motorcycling as a sport and a pass time.

In 1907, Vancouver BC became home to the very first gas station in Canada; it was an Imperial Oil station. This would prove to play a significant role in the growth of motorcycling in Canada, and BC in particular, as the lower mainland of BC and Vancouver Island became hot beds for the sport.

• In 1912, the Victoria Motorcycle Club became one of the first motorcycle clubs in Canada.
• In 1913, Fred Deeley Sr. moved to Vancouver from Bromgsgrove England. In 1914 he opened a bicycle shop. He began importing BSA (Birmingham Small Arms Co) motorcycles.
• In 1917 he began importing the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It was around 1922 when the bicycle and motorcycle portions of the Deeley business became separate entities.
• Fred Deeley Jr. founded the Lions Gate Motorcycle Club in 1922 and took over operations of the motorcycle division of Fred Deeley Motorcycles in 1925. Today the Lion’s Gate Motorcycle Club is known as the Greater Vancouver Motorcycle Club.
• In 1935, 15-year-old Trev Deeley joins his father’s business as an apprentice mechanic.
• In 1953, he takes over the business. Today, Trev Deeley Motorcycles is the fourth oldest Harley-Davidson dealer in the world.

Without a doubt, motorcycling in Canada would not have evolved into what it has today if it had not been for the Deeley’s, Fred Sr., Fred Jr. and Trev.

Some historical tidbits on the expansion of motorcycling in Canada:

• 1919, the first retail dealership in Alberta opens up in Edmonton
• 1936, Prairie Harley-Davidson opened up in Regina Saskatchewan under the helm of Grant Budd.
• 1945, London Ontario becomes home to a Harley-Davidson dealership thanks to Percy Poole.
• 1949 Laurent B. Groulx opened Pont-Viau Motorcyclettes in Ville de Laval, Quebec, Quebec’s first Harley-Davidson dealership.
• 1969 was a year that would change many things in the Canadian Motorcycle Community. It was the year that Honda Motorcycles officially entered the Canadian market!
• 1973, both Yamaha Motors Canada and Suzuki Canada are founded.
• 1973 is also the year that Deeley Harley-Davidson became the official importer and distributor of Harley-Davidson motorcycles in Canada

I hope you enjoyed this little history lesson.

I also hope you will join us as we begin the quest to find Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community.

Community Futures of Alberta, 

Belt Drive Betty Media, EastLink TV and a whole host of motorcycle media sponsors have gotten together to create over $60,000 in marketing packages to be shared by 12 communities!

The Grand Prize is a $35,000 marketing campaign!

It truly will be a contest of Exploration, Discovery & Community Pride! 

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider

Resources for this article:
The Vintagent
Wikipedia
Wilson, Hugo (1995). The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. Dorling-Kindersley
Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada
Hope 1842 dot Com
Harley Hummer dot Com
Honda Canada
Yamaha Canada
Suzuki Canada
Ian Chadwick dot Com
Canadian Motorcycle Hall of Fame
Allan Johnson, CVMG
Terry Rea, Motorcycle Historian





Disclaimer:
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. The Belt Drive Betty Blog makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site & will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.