Design innovation has been closely associated with the motorcycle for most of its 150-year history. The earliest motorcycles, however, were not so much designed as built. Nonetheless, they embody characteristics that align with their countries of origin. Functionally, motorcycle designs drew influence from a mode of personal transport they superceded: horses. British motorcycle design quickly…
Continue reading » “The Crocker motorcycles: Built for speed”
Co-curators Charles Falco and Ulton Guilfoyle welcome you to the exhibition ‘The Motorcycle: Design, Art, Desire‘ — their videos featured here explore the absolute highlights from the motorcycles on display. RELATED: Browse the FULL LIST OF MOTORCYCLES RELATED: Read more about THE BIKES ON DISPLAY Showcasing 100 spectacular motorcycles drawn from Australian and international collections,…
We focus on the achievements of CeDora (Eleanor Seufert), a pioneering stuntwoman. Throughout her 11-year career, CeDora performed on a specially commissioned Indian Single 1908 in the Globe of Death, an enclosed sphere of steel in which riders defy gravity by riding in loops in all directions. In a promotional article from the time, CeDora…
Continue reading » “Indian Single 1908 owned by pioneering stuntwoman CeDora”
The Henderson Four machines were the largest and fastest motorcycles of their time, and appealed to both sport riders and especially police departments who favored them as they were faster than anything else on the roads. Not long after production began, in 1912 Carl Stearns Clancy (1890 – 1971) decided to choose a Henderson Four…
Continue reading » “The Henderson Four: The largest and fastest motorcycle of its time”
Engineer Rex Tilbrook (1915-77) first built an all-Australian motorcycle in 1947, and from his Adelaide factory from 1950, the first production roadsters were sold, identified by oversized fuel tanks to cover the distances typically travelled in Australia, after originally producing a range of motorcycle components and accessories, as well as the Tilbrook classic sidecar to suit…
Continue reading » “The last Australian Tilbrook motorcycle”
The introduction of today’s battery-powered engines has changed the fundamentals of motorcycle design. Although internal combustion engines have driven most motorcycles since the first commercially produced models entered the market in 1894, even then visionary inventors recognised the benefits of electricity over gasoline. In subsequent years, however, electric motorcycles were only considered at moments when…
Continue reading » “The Motorcycle: The future generation is electric”
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.