The America Travel Industry came to town but one person had a little time out in a special place.

My friend Erik from Eaglerider head office was in town for an event called  Visit USA. This is where our American cousins work hard trying to convince us to visit them. I also pick up all the material for trips to the USA which I offer to my clients with Ride The World (Australia) .

This trip, I thought I would introduce Erik to some motorcycles he had never seen or hear of.

Crokers - An interesting history

Known as the 'Deusenberg of motorcycles,' the Crocker is the definitive American motorcycle - hand-built, powerful, and fast. Very much a Hollywood "hot rod", the Crocker was created in and shaped by the culture of pre-WWII California, by former Indian motorcycle engineers Albert (Al) Crocker and Paul Bigsby.

When the road-going V-twin debuted in 1936, Al Crocker challenged world dominators Harley Davidson, boasting superior technology, performance, handling, and raw power. In fact, he famously advertised that if any of his bikes were ever beaten by a standard production Harley or Indian, he would refund the owner's money.No refunds were ever requested.

Al Crocker, ceased motorcycle production in 1942 when the war effort put a shortage on critical materials. Indian and Harley received contracts with the US Army for military motorcycle production and Crocker got a contract with Douglas Aircraft making aircraft parts. That became a more lucrative business than Al Crocker ever enjoyed with motorcycle manufacturing and in 1942 Crocker Motorcycle became Crocker Manufacturing. Crocker later sold out to a company named Borg Warner. Al Crocker died in 1961. Designer of many of the components, Paul Bigsby, went on to fame as a designer of guitars and particularly of the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.

Today there is a revival of the brand on both sides of the Pacific and where I took Eric was 1346 Venice Cafe and Bar which holds special events. The cafe bar is named after the original address of Croker Motorcycles at Venice Beach California. The owner of  1346 Venice Cafe and Bar, Chilli is teh driving force behind the Croker in Australia.

Here are the videos about Chilli the owner of the venue and Crockers.

1346Venice's mission to share the story of Crocker. Click here.

See Chilli and Les 'the engineer' rebuilding the Crocker Click here.

Paying homage to Al Crocker and Paul Bigsby, 'Long Live the Crocker' Click here.

Here are some photos from 1346 Venice Cafe and Bar.

It's the latest and is still under evaluation.

Almost the perfect fit.

The gear lever is on the other side of the tank.

On display an original in a glass case or is it room?

Another original in the collection.

And another.

A parting view as it was time to leave.

The details of 1346 Venice Cafe and Bar can be found at:

Webpage www.1346venice.com/cafebar . The no longer open daily or serve food.

Facebook www.facebook.com/1346VeniceCafeandBar

Instagram http://instagram.com/1346venice_syd

Thank you to Chilli, Sahmila and Wendy for allowing me to share this special place.