In 1948, a group of us were riding down to a TT race outside of Wabash, Indiana. We all were riding British bikes, Matchlesses, AJS, Nortons, and one Panther.
Nelson Preston, the local AJS, Panther dealer was leading the group as we were riding south on dual lane highway 24. Riding at a easy 60 mph, we came up on a rider on a Harley 61 . Nelson pulled up alongside of the Harley rider and noted his speedometer. The Harley's speedometer was showing 70mph, our Smith's were clicking back and forth between 59 and 61 mph. The Harley's speedometer started not at zero but 10mph. I guess braggin' rights even back then.
Any way, Nelson waved, leaned over and turned off the Harley's ignition switch on the tank and pulled out the key. Man, the Harley disappeared behind us immediately! We rode another 1/2 mile and Nelson turned around and went back to the Harley rider, now at the side of the road, and threw the key to him.
The Harley rider never caught up with us ( a good thing!) and we rode on down to the TT rally outside of Wabash.
Here's a picture that I took . Note the shifters on the tanks. The course was a closed 1/2 mile dirt over hilly terrain and those Harley riders were damn good running the course.
