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Motorcycle chariot racing is a motor sport that combines motorcycle racing and chariot racing.
The first competition of the sport was held in the U.S. as early as 1922, and gained popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, further inspired by the 1925 film '' Ben-Hur''. It went largely (although not entirely) extinct after that, although exhibition rigs are still made and driven.
One early event was held on June 4, 1922, at
Motorcycle chariot racing is a motor sport that combines motorcycle racing and chariot racing.
The first competition of the sport was held in the U.S. as early as 1922, and gained popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, further inspired by the 1925 film '' Ben-Hur''. It went largely (although not entirely) extinct after that, although exhibition rigs are still made and driven.
One early event was held on June 4, 1922, at Idora Park
Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement P ...
in Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
:
Races might also have been held during the 1920s at the old speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
(the old speedway at , not the modern Charlotte Motor Speedway
Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...
). After the early events, the sport was further developed in Australia and quickly spread to Europe. In 1925, Pathé News
Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...
filmed an exhibition race at Crystal Palace Park
Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground located in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace which surrounds the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building. The Palace had been relocated from Hyde Park, London after the 18 ...
, London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
A typical early vehicle configuration was a rider on a motorcycle pulling a chariot and charioteer who were essentially ornamental. A 1922 short piece in ''Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...
'' describes this configuration. This soon developed into a configuration with two riderless motorcycles steered by a single charioteer using reins. Steering was sometimes done with reins attached to the throttles (the charioteer steered by controlling the relative speed of the two motorcycles), and sometimes with rigid extensions attached to the handlebars. Modern rigs may have foot pedals for speed control, the reins used for steering the front wheels.
References
{{Racing Motorcycle racing by type