Frank Turano’s 1928 Brennan
Frank's 1928 Brennan
Sometimes the most beautiful aspect of an old racing bike is the mileage that it proudly displays.
This old Brennan has more than a few turns around the track under it’s green enamel paint. Frank Turano raced this bike throughout the 1930’s. He converted it to a regular road rider with an Osgear shifting system after the war (we have converted it back to original condition), and he continued to pile on the miles for decades. Frank’s long career with a total of 55 Six Day races suggests that this particular bike has at least 150,000 miles on it.
Brennan head tube bands
Not really "sealed" bearings...
Pencil-thin seatstays
Like most of the Brennan bikes in the museum collection, this one has the wrap-around bands on the head tube, and delicate-looking (but not actually delicate) seat and chain stays. The Brennan frame geometry made extremely long days in the saddle tolerable, and the predictable handling kept Frank safe and upright when he was exhausted or in the midst of the mayhem.
Movie star Joe E. Brown and Frank Turano 1934
Frank Turano with his bike
Frank Turano
Frank Turano worked as a stuntman and stand-in in the film “The Six Day Bike Race”. Frank did a couple of big crashes in the film, and in one scene he rode clockwise around the track and through the oncoming pack.
This was the bike he used during filming. It’s in pretty good shape for being the actual hollywood stunt bike.