Classic Spagthorpe:
Great Dane

The Great Dane was a prototype that collapsed under its own weight during centerstand testing at the Dunraven Proving Grounds, with the loss of all hands. The project was abandoned soon after, and the engineering records destroyed when the administrative offices were burned during the labor unrest that marked the venture's final years. Like pieces of the True Cross, parts of that Great Dane surface in estate auctions and bankruptcy proceedings all over the civilized world; but, like their religious counterpart, they are too large and too numerous to be parts of the original bike. And the lack of engineering drawings has been a thorn in the side of motorcycle historians for years. Those of us who eagerly await a "second coming" of the Spagthorpe will probably never know the rapture of laying eyes on Julian's one missing creation. Copyright © 2000, 2001 by The Spagthorpe Motorcycle Company®
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