Kevin and I had the very unique opportunity to see and hear a 1913 Sears Dreadnought Deluxe motorcycle this morning here at he Barber Motorsports Park this morning. This weekend Barber is hosting their 12th annual Vintage Festival and while there are plenty of “old” motorcycles around the facility and grounds right now, this particular bike is a living piece of history.
It is estimated that there are only ten of these bikes in existence at this time with one of them currently residing at the Guggenheim. For this weekend at least, we know where a second of those ten are. As we walked the paddock this we came around the corner facing the BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta tent. Out front we saw Bill Kurtz, a master technician and vintage specialist for the dealership with the Dreadnought already started and running.
Kevin was keen to find out more about the bike, which at the time we had no idea what a treasure it was, so he walked over to discover more about the Dreadnought and Bill. We had a great conversation with Bill and Kevin is busy writing up his thoughts to be published here later this weekend. We have some video footage of our time with Bill too but it was very loud in the paddock so we’ll see what we can make out. In the mean time here are a couple of photos of the machine and the man in question.
