Traub Motorcycle- Mystery of 1916 Motorcycle

Years back, In 1967 in Chicago, a plumber while doing renovations of an apartment building accidentally tore down the brick wall and surprisingly he discovered a vintage motorcycle with advanced machines fitted in it far beyond that time where he found motorcycle bearing 1917 plates with a name "Traub".

Elderly owner of the apartment building said that his son inorder to not to return to World War-I, he had stolen a bike before going off to WWI. 

"From where the bike came from and who made it remains unknown. Found hidden in a bricked-up wall 40 years ago, the 1916 Traub motorcycle is still a mystery  to this day." 

Traub is considered to be rarest motorcycle in the world is now displayed in the Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. 

After the discovery of Traub, it was sold to  to Torillo Tacchi, a bicycle shop owner in Chicago who later sold it to Bud Ekins who was famous as Steve McQueen’s stuntman in the late 1970s. The Traub was later sold to collector and restorer, Richard Morris, who then sold it to Wheels Through Time Museum curator, Dale Walksler, in 1990. It has been on permanent display in the museum collection ever since.

When asked about the engine components to Walksler, who owns the world famous Wheels Through Time classic motorcycle museum in Maggie Valley, N.C., he enthusiastically replied, 

                 "Everything inside the engine is just magnificent. The pistons are handmade, and have gap-less cast iron rings, the engineering and machining being simply years ahead of their time." 

Features Of Traub:

- Hand-built, 80 cubic-inch side valve engine, has the ability to reach speeds in excess of 85 mph with ease.

- Three-Speed transmission.

- Rear Brake, dual-acting system with a single cam responsible for pushing an internal set of expanding shoes, while pulling an external set of contracting shoes (this single-cam/twin-brake system has never been used on any other American motorcycle in those days).

- Two clutch levers.

- Hand lever that sits alongside the fuel tank on the left-hand side.

- Lever gate for the shifter is also unique.

- Two separate neutral positions, which are marked on the shift mechanism with a zero. These are found between first and second gear, and between second and third gear.

- Power is provided by a  crafted 78ci V-twin engine with a 4in stroke.

- Adjustable crankcase breather and the engine fasteners, which are unique to the Traub.