After 105 Years, We Have Solved the Mystery of The Rarest Motorcycle in the World.  

Owosso, Mi. - This is the story of the 1916 Traub Motorcycle that was found hidden behind a brick wall, in a Chicago Suburb in 1967. Who was Traub? Where was he from? Why does no one know him? Where are all his other motorcycles, and why was this motorcycle hidden behind a fake brick wall?  

Detectives have been working on this mystery since the motorcycle was first found in 1967. Still, after watching a video today of what the owner of the bike now knows and then putting it together with the other pieces posted by historians and other mystery hunters, we were able to take all the pieces to this puzzle and then put them all together in chronological order.  

This is not just some bike someone built in their garage. This bike according to Matt Walksler, head curator of Dales Wheeles Through Time, had this to say about the Traub, "This bike, no joke, could have changed the course of Motor Cycling."  

Gottlieb Richard Traub was born on 23 March 1883, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. His parents were Luise Traub and Christoph Andrew Traub. His parents were from Germany. In 1910 the U.S. Census shows that Gottlieb now going by the first name of Richard lived with his mother and two siblings in Chicago Ward 16. At that time, his occupation was listed as Tool Maker.  

Traub was a devoted motorcyclist and machinist until he died in 1952. Traub worked as a toolmaker in a factory until he served in the United States Army WWI. After returning from the Army WWI, Traub decided to pursue his avocation and passions full time. He identified as an experimental machinist. 

Traub opened and ran a motorcycle shop out of his garage at 1520 North Pauline Street in Chicago, where he created some of the most state-of-the-art motorcycles in the early twentieth century. According to records, Traub had a small machine shop in his backyard.  

By 1910 the machinist was well into building experimental far in advance of the time motorcycles.  

In 1907, Traub wrote a letter to the editor of Motorcycle Illustrated, published in the July edition. The letter and photo describe his homemade four-horsepower motorcycle with specifications like the motorcycle that was discovered in 1967: 

"Dear Sir, Please find the enclosed picture and specifications of a motorcycle made by myself throughout engine and all. I worked on this cycle about one year, putting in the time only between 7 pm and 11 pm. I also worked on Sundays. 

 Its specifications are – Wheelbase, 55 inches; tank capacity, 3 1/2 gallons gasoline, 1 gallon oil, sufficient for 125 miles; power, 4 horsepower; bore and stroke 3 1/4 by 4 inches; auxiliary gasoline tank, 1/2 gallon; speed, more than the roads will stand; perfect grip control; throttle and spark motor is geared 3 3/4 to 1; it has a cycle chain with washers and does good service; has never troubled me yet, and I rode all of 1,500 miles." 

On his World War I draft card, Traub lists his profession as a self-employed experimental machinist. Traub died in 1952. 

Motorcycle Classics explained more of the specifications of the 1916 Traub as it currently exists: 

"Stepping around the left side of the bike, the careful observer will notice two clutch levers. There is a conventional foot-operated mechanism, and also a hand lever that sits alongside the fuel tank on the left-hand side. The lever gate for the shifter is also unique, operating what could have been the first three-speed gearbox on an American motorcycle. Even more, the tranny also features two separate neutral positions, which are marked on the shift mechanism with a zero. These are found between first and second gear, and between second and third gear. 

"Power is provided by a beautifully crafted 78ci V-twin engine with a 4in stroke and a 3 7/16in bore, yielding an engine capacity of 1,278cc, which was large for the time. The majority of big displacement motorcycle engines from the Traub's era were around 1,000cc (61ci). Using a side-valve arrangement, the top of the cylinders feature a gas primer valve, although Dale notes this is not really an unusual feature. What is unusual, however, is the adjustable crankcase breather and the engine fasteners, which are unique to the Traub and whoever built it." 

In 1967 a plumber was working on a residence a few houses away from where Traub had once lived and ran his business. The plumber had to repair a leak and started following the pipe behind what he found was a fake brick wall. As the plumber removed bricks to get to the leak, he noticed that behind this wall was a small narrow room where a perfectly preserved motorcycle was setting.  

As you can imagine, the property owners were shocked that they had a motorcycle with a 1917 plate sitting in their home.  

The hunt was on, for no one had ever heard of a Traub Motorcycle. As former owners were contacted, one elderly man confessed to knowing about it. He stated that his son had stolen it and before going into the military to fight in WW1, he had hidden it behind a fake brick wall.  

The man stated his son was killed overseas and that he never divulged to anyone that the bike was hidden behind a brick wall his son had laid up.  

IN 1967, a Chicago motorcycle dealer named Torello Tacchi exchanged his $700 Suzuki for the Traub.  

In 1972 stunt rider Bud Ekins bought the bike and then sold it to Steve McQueen. McQueen then sold the bike back to Ekins, and Ekins sold it to California bike collector Richard Morris. Morris put the work in it, and after doing some repair and modification on the engine, it was then sold to Dale Walksler in 1997 to add to his "Wheels Through Time" Museum collection.  

Matt Walksler stated in a video that after they received the bike, they went thoroughly through it and that they still ride it today. 

Walksler stated, "The bike is far ahead of its time, but it is not without its kind of shortfalls." 

Walksler said that Morris put a lot of work into it and drove it for two thousand miles while he owned it.  

When the now named Dale's Wheels Through Time Museum received it no one knew anything about the providence of the bike.  

Walksler stated once they put the bike on exhibit that, they asked the people coming through if anyone knew anything about the bike. Tips started coming in, including a photo of the possible Traub Bike Shop.  

We now know that Traub had built the bike and had gone into the service when the neighbor stole the motorcycle and then hid it before he went into the service. We know that that bike may have been stolen while Traub was off for a year or two because Traub never filled out a police report once he came home. The neighbor was killed overseas and never did come home.  

There were some discrepancies on the original address that Traub was showing as living but that was corrected when researchers discovered that the City of Chicago renumbered every building in 1909. 

What a story, a bike that had a three-speed transmission when all others had a single speed and was even built as a superbike of its day goes missing and no one knows anything about this bike that was far ahead of its time when it was found.  

What happened to Traub? He never built another bike but instead built custom telescopes when he got back home from the Great War. Traub aged, people forgot and Traub died in 1952. Now only today some 105 years after Traub built his masterpiece has it reappeared so that people today can appreciate his genius.  

https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-american-motorcycles/traub-motorcycle-zmmz07jfzraw/ 

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=890358191877852 

https://www.dynojet.com/blog/the-curious-case-of-the-1916-traub-motorcycle 

https://moneyinc.com/the-mystery-of-the-1916-traub-motorcycle/ 

http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2019/02/in-1967-chicago-plumber-tore-down.html 

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cold-case-research-theft-rarest-motorcycle-world-dr-ken-german 

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62031810/gottlieb-richard-traub