The Engine So Fast Officials Refused to Believe It (1915 Cyclone)

In 1913, a small, cash-strapped Minnesota company called Joerns Motor Manufacturing built something no other American factory could match: the Cyclone, an overhead-cam V-twin motorcycle engine so advanced it wouldn't become standard practice for another eighty years. Factory riders were clocked at speeds racing officials refused to certify, convinced the numbers were simply impossible. At the center of it all was board-track legend Don Johns, who pushed the brilliant, fragile Cyclone to its absolute limits including one unforgettable run at the legendary 1915 Dodge City 300. The company couldn't make the math work, and folded within years, leaving fewer than 300 Cyclones ever built. Over a century later, a fully restored 1915 Cyclone sold at auction for $1.33 million, becoming one of the most valuable motorcycles in history. This is the true story of the fastest, most fragile motorcycle America ever built and the rider who dared to ride it flat out.