Imagine going 80 mph on a bicycle. Gilroyan Pat Dolan did Aug. 15, when he flew across the salty flats of Utah and shattered the World Land Speed Record in the 250cc motorcycle class during Bonneville Speed Week – and he did so on a 1920s vintage model crafted right here in Gilroy.
“Man, is it freakin’ fun,” said the 50-year-old owner of Sportsman Flyer, a motorized bicycle company operated out of Dolan’s home in southwest Gilroy that manufactures four different models of old-school motorized bikes.
The company is an all-around champion of the “locally made” mantra, sourcing as many parts as it can from nearby businesses such as Express Metals on Obata Way, which laser-cuts 1.5 gallon gas tanks to Dolan’s specifications for each bike. Heinzen Manufacturing, a food processing equipment plant at Mayock Road in southeast Gilroy (where Dolan is an engineer) does sheet metal work for the frames and other bike parts Dolan welds together. Mission Powder Coating on Alexander Street finishes production with custom paintwork on each bike.
“I try to keep it all local,” Dolan said.
After more than two years of what started as a hobby in his garage, the welder/fabricator-turned-motorized bicycle maker is hoping to put Gilroy on the map for something other than garlic.
“I knew I had a good chance at the record. I actually expected to go much faster. I reached 87 mph in some practice runs,” said Dolan, who suffered a last-minute engine malfunction that forced him to use a smaller, spare engine during the Southern California Timing Association-sanctioned event, held at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Tooele County, Utah.
The model Dolan raced, a sleek red number dubbed the “Bonneville Flyer,” topped out at 80.438 mph to ride into the record books. The previous record was 78.048 set in 2004 by a vintage Harley Davidson motorcycle.
During Speed Week, one of five major land speed events that take place at the Bonneville Flats, each competitor races against the clock. There are four courses for racing cars, trucks and motorbikes. The rider has one mile to get up to speed and is timed through the second mile before slowing down and pulling off the two-mile strip. Each competitor must complete two runs and their top times are averaged between the two.
Dolan is the one who races, but he doesn’t have all the fun.
“I test drive them all the time,” said Dolan’s wife of 12 years, Becky. She’s a motorcycle enthusiast who handles all the orders and shipping of the unique bike parts her husband custom makes for motorheads across the country. This includes gas tanks, drop-down handle bars and sprocket clamps.
The fact that he’s building bikes is something that still surprises Dolan, who considers himself to be more of a “car guy.”
Parked in his garage – part of which has been converted into his motorized bike shop – are three high-powered sports cars: a 1973 Pantera, a 1969 Corvette and Ford GT40.
“I’ve never been a motorcycle guy … so me getting into bikes is not something I planned on,” said Dolan, standing in the middle of his workspace surrounded by bike parts and models in different stages of production. “This whole thing came and found me. I’ve just been trying to meet the demand.”
The bikes are a handcrafted work of art, drawing the eyes with sleek curves, scooped leather seats, nimble-yet-strong 21-inch wheels and the finishing touch of a handsome logo.
It all started more than three years ago, when Dolan picked up a 1950 Schwinn cruiser bicycle and decided he was going to put a motor on it. He bought one and mounted it on the frame, but finding all the parts needed to re-create a vintage-style racing bike proved easier said than done.
So Dolan, a welder and fabricator by trade who has lived in Gilroy since 2001 and spent the last 20 years working as an engineer, got resourceful and decided to make his own parts. He drew up sketches and gave them to Express Metals. Once he got them back, he welded them onto the old Schwinn.
Six months later, he founded Sportsman Flyer and at last count he has crafted 35 motorized bicycles. They range from 100 to 130 pounds and three to 30 in horsepower, and sell for between $1,200 and $7,500 for the top-of-the-line Bonneville racer.
“It’s like riding a motorcycle, but it’s a little more of a vintage feel,” described Dolan of the feeling he gets each time he takes a ride on one of his contraptions. “When I’m out riding, I feel like I’m in the 1920s.”
Dolan had never planned on racing professionally. That didn’t cross his mind until one customer, Gunther Maier, of New Mexico, approached him in 2012 about putting together a motorized bicycle that could contend for a land speed record.
Not wanting to turn down any business, Dolan built the bike as requested and then accompanied his new customer to Bonneville Flats, where Maier obliterated the current the land speed record of 64 mph in the APF 175cc class by topping out at 73.526 mph.
“We had so much fun that this year I just had to go back,” said Dolan. “It’s so huge you can see the curvature of the earth,” he added, referring to the 30,000 acre, desolate landscape in Tooele County, Utah used for land speed events.
The following year, Dolan returned as a competitor. He strapped on his full racing leathers, riding boots and helmet, and astonished the crowd of thousands.
Still, “I don’t plan on quitting my day job,” said the modest engineer.
Word of Dolan’s nostalgic craftsmanship has slowly spread – even more so when Becky drew a crowd as she rode a Sportsman Flyer bike down San Benito Street during Hollister’s 2013 Fourth of July Bike Rally. An influx of orders started coming in for Dolan’s trademark drop-down handle bars, chassis frames and stainless steel gas tanks.
Soon, “all my spare time I was making lots of gas tanks,” laughed Dolan, sporting a long-sleeve black T-shirt with his company name down the sleeve. “I never expected to get into this little side order business. It just kinda happened. I just found a good use for my practical skills.”
The vintage bike bug has since spread to Dolan’s twin brother Rich, who lives in Pleasanton and has an old bicycle collection of his own. Not to be upstaged by his sibling, Rich decided to make his own motorized model. Now, the two brothers – who used to fix up and race muscle cars during their high school days – get together every now and then and race on rustic country roads.
Dolan currently has 15 bikes in progress.
“He’s building more and more, so I’m glad to help anybody out,” said Jim Spinelli, Express Metals owner who has made 100 gas tanks for Dolan. “It’s probably one of the neatest things I’ve ever seen.”
Dolan’s first motorized bicycle, the Schwinn, could not eclipse 30 mph and had a functional pedal crank, so it was considered street legal and could be ridden around town. Dolan described his first creation as similar to a 1918 motorcycle with a clutch that takes over for the pedal crank, which remains stationary, as the motor pulls the bike chain and turns the back wheel. But his vintage-style bicycles have come a long way since then.
