[Jim65]

Originally Posted by CarltonHendricks

c1905 Racycle Motorcycle Photo
6 1/2" x 4 1/4" inside window
9 1/4" w X 6 7/8" framed

Yesterday the Sacramento Antiques fair re-opened since the covid lockdown started…I think everyone was expecting an avalanche of great stuff…but no…the amount of dealers was a little sparse…and the quality wasn’t anything great…I didn’t find a thing…but at least it was something…we’ll worry about getting better later…just glad things are opening….So it wasn’t great…HOWEVER…Later I went to an antiques mall and found this photo of a c1905 Raycycle motorcycle…so I measured, photographed, and thanked the kid for getting it out of the case…and continued around the store…I enlarged the photos I took on my phone trying to see what make it was…you could barely make out the name but it looked like it said something cycle on the gas tank…I could kind of make out the word cycle in the last part of the name….but had to keep enlarging and guessing…I tried a few guesses on google. Finally the name Racycle came up and it matched…then it was just a matter of time before I found a photo of a Racycle and it all took shape…and I started understanding the photo and what I had…this is the third motorcycle photo I’ve gotten from the same seller…he’s one of those no-tech guys that doesn’t look stuff up… I generally like big photos at least 12” wide…so this is probably the smallest photo I’ve ever bought…but when you get back to the 1905 era that’s really early for motorcycles…and I don’t think there are lot of original ones around…admittedly I’m still learning about early motorcycles...and photos too for that matter…Some would not be happy about the worn frame…but that’s exactly what makes me happy…Finding a photo in the original frame like this with the original old wavy glass...makes it a lot more exciting than out of the frame…or in a new frame…you know from looking at the back it’s the real deal…

One of these Racycle motorcycles sold in Mecum five years ago in 2015 for...which was a giveaway compared to the c1912 Flying Merkel that sold the same year in Mecum for $423,500.00. Racycle and Flying Merkel were both made by The Miami Cycle Company of Middletown OH...Racycle started as a bicycle manufacturer...and like many bicycle makers they started adding motors...I believe Miami Cycle Company was later acquired by the Westfield Mfg. Co…It’s intriguing to me the orange paint on the Racycle that sold for $38,000.00, seen below…looks identical to the afore mentioned Flying Merkel that sold the same year…you can see photos of it in a feature I did on a Flying Merkel trophy…click here…

The one in your photo has 2 seats and 2 handlebars, motorcycle built for 2?