Glenn Curtiss and the V8 motorcycle

I posted a photo the other day of the Curtis V-8, here's the story. 

Curtiss worked an Aviation manufacturing Company and was chosen to build an engine for a dirigible, he designed the V-8 for that lighter than air ship.

To test his new engine he attached it to a reinforced modified bicycle frame and took it to the beach for official time trials. The motorcycle with it's 269ci, 4410cc dual carburetor power-plant hit 136.36 mph. It was January 24, 1907. With that test run Glenn Curtiss became the holder of the title the fastest man on earth. he went faster than any motorcycle, car, or airplane at that time. The record would stand for 10 years until it was beaten by the Blitzen Benz automobile at 141.7mph. Another motorcycle didn't beat the record until 1930.

The motorcycle is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of Science. 

As a side note, the day he set the record it took him over a mile to stop the bike since the brake was the curved bar (seen above), attached to a triangular metal plate which rubbed on the tire.