not only that, but the fact he made his parts out of basically scrap metal.
according to the site, he was known to cast his pistons in the sand AT the beach
built the con-rods out of catapiler axles and heat treated them
built the cylinders out of cast iron gas pipes with cut peices of aluminum shrunk onto them.
and considering that the stock engine would only do 55mph, that thing was insane. he built his own twin overhead cam design for it, and basically built everything from the ground up. what's nuts is the fact that he did 200mph in a 1920's motorcycle, WITH the stock style block, and HOME BUILT PARTS.
you tell someone to do that now-a-days haha.