Albert Crocker (1887–1961) was an American

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

and the founder of

Crocker Motorcycles The Crocker Motorcycle Company is an American manufacturer, based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Albert Crocker. Located at 1346 Venice Blvd, Crocker produced a series of kits and whole motorcycles between 1931 and 1941: an overhead-valve ...

. His innovations had a substantial influence on the

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

and racing business.

History

College and racing years

Crocker graduated from Armour Institute, part of

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, with an engineering degree. His first job out of college was with the Aurora Automatic Machine Company; he worked in the motorcycle division, engineering new products. Although he was an engineer, he loved motorcycles and racing, competing in and winning many endurance contests. In late 1910, Crocker left Aurora, and was employed by

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

as a traveling salesman, covering "Kansas, Nebraska, and part of the adjacent states in the interests of Indian motorcycles."

Marriage and move to the West Coast

Crocker's personal life was deeply affected by the 1912 accident in which the famous board track motorcycle racer Eddie Hasha was severely injured in a race and died from his injuries shortly after. Crocker later met Hasha's widow, Gertrude Jefford Hasha, in 1912, while both were working at the Indian branch in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. They were married in 1913 and had one son also named Albert. In that same year, Crocker took over the Indian motorcycle dealership in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. The dealership functioned as a distributor for several Midwest states. Eventually, however Crocker moved to Los Angeles.

Crocker motorcycles

In Los Angeles, Crocker moved into a former furniture store on 1346 Venice Blvd to sell and repair used motorcycles.Los Angeles Business Directory, 1928 Al Crocker and Paul Bigsby in 1931 introduced a dirt track racing motorcycle. Crocker invented the Crocker single-cylinder speedway bike. It became the bike of choice for many of the best riders on the Pacific coast when speedway racing was at its height. Crocker ultimately built about thirty speedway bikes. He later sold his Indian dealership and moved on to create Crocker Motorcycle Company in a small factory at 1346 Venice Blvd in downtown Los Angeles.

The Crocker Twin

In the mid-1930s, Crocker and Bigsby began to work on a heavyweight, high-performance, overhead valve, v-twin motorcycle and in 1936 the first Crocker rolled out of the factory. Crocker knew there was a good market for high-speed touring bikes, but even he was surprised when he received more orders than he could possibly fill for his new 1936 Crocker "Small Tank" 61 cubic inch 1000 cc Hemi-Head model. The Crocker Twin was widely regarded as the fastest production motorcycle in the world. In 1939 Crocker introduced a new and improved model named the Crocker "Big Tank". However, as Crocker was producing during the height of the Depression, it became increasingly difficult for him to manufacture vehicles in small quantities, and in 1942 he abandoned production of motorcycles altogether. Al Crockers son worked in the Crocker Motorcycle factory machining oil pumps and other parts on weekends and between School. In 1998 Al Crocker Jr. attended the induction of his late father into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame and accepted the medal on his behalf. Al Crocker Jr.now lives in northern California with his wife Mary Jane. They and their entire family attended both the 2006 and 2007 "Legend Of The Motorcycle" Concours d'Elegance at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay California where the brand his father created over seventy years ago was one of two featured marques. Today Al enjoys a close relationship with the team at the resurrected Crocker Motorcycle Company. Many Crocker Twin motorcycles are still in existence and are among the most highly prized collectible motorcycles today. Crocker parts are still sought after and coveted. The most recent conservative estimate of the value of an original Crocker in restored condition hovers between $225,000 and $300,000 U.S.

The company

The Crocker Motorcycle Company of today was resurrected in 1997 by Michael Schacht and Markus Karalash to produce the two original models, the Big Tank and Small Tank models that were manufactured by Al Crocker in his factory at 1346 Venice Blvd in Los Angeles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Albert 1882 births 1961 deaths American motorcycle designers