A horizontally opposed flat twin is not exactly the first engine configuration that springs to mind for flat track racing, but the 1929 Douglas DT was the dogs bollocks of it's day - and many consecutive years thereafter. This brochure was picked up by our vintage shingle antenna Mick Phillips, via our friends (step-cousins twice removed) at Classic Bike Magazine.
'Manufacturer to His Majesty the King' and 'By appointment to the King of Spain' you don't get accolades like that for motorcycles these days. 'Due to its low centre of gravity, even weight distribution and perfect balance, it can be "broadsided" at angles that would mean a spill with a single-cylindered mount. Power as silky sweet as that of a turbine. It accelerates with a snap and a surge. Speaking of this acceleration one well-known rider said that it was akin to being sucked up by a gigantic vacuum cleaner... If you have aspirations to Dirt Track fame, do as the Champions did - get the right machine - the Douglas.'
Why were those piss-pot helmets always so tall? - the retro Davida ones aren't quite so comedy. I guess they were originally developed for human cannon balls, and impact was only ever TDC. According to MP "Racers always carried several rounds of bread and dripping, and a flask of tea in their helmets."
BP
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