I found this photo of a duel-carb Harley Knucklehead (I am pretty sure it is a Knucklehead) racer on the Internet and wanted to share it here.
Dual-carb Harley Knucklehead drag race motorcycle
No front fender, dual carbs (possibly British Amals), low bars, open primary, bobbed rear fender and where is the stock oil tank?
Also, check out the radical placement of the footpeg and clutch activator way back by the rear axle.
What else do you see that can add to our understanding of this bike?
When it comes to classic Harley motorcycles, what is there about dirty, old and rusty ones that make them stand out from the crowd? Park a couple of fully restored classic Harleys and one dirty, rusty one, and guess which will get the greater attention? Yep – usually the dirty one.
My “Crustoration” 1948 Harley Panhead as featured in in a step by step project build the pages of American Iron Magazine many years ago.
So just for fun, I thought I’d share some photos of dirty 1948 Harley Panheads – the first year Pan and last year production big twin vintage Harley with a springer front end. The Harley factory did offer a few 1949 Harley Panheads with springers, but they are quite rare.
The other side of my “crustoration” 1948 Harley Panhead after we found and added some crusty old saddlebags. I took this photo in Milwaukee at Harley’s 105th anniversary in 2008
A dirty and crusty classic Harley is one thing, but how about a rusty one? And they don’t come much more rusty than Dave Monahan’s Panhead I photographed and also featured in the pages (and on the cover) of American Iron Magazine a couple of years ago.
Dave Monahan’s rusty classic 1948 Harley Panhead
In spite of how it looks, Dave’s bike, which he totally rebuilt mechanically, starts up easily and runs like new. He likes to bring it to bike events, park it and walk away to listen to the comments.
Dave Monahan riding his rusty 1948 Panhead
Harley-Davidson sold Panheads from 1948 through 1965. In 1948 Harley produced 198 ES Panheads, 4,321 ELs, 334 FSs and 8,071 FLs. The E-series Panheads (61 cubic inch) retailed for $635, and the F-series (74 cubic inch) retailed for $650.
Wrench This ™ Panhead t-shirt sold at www.greaserag.com
If you like Panheads, here is a pretty cool t-shirt design from Wrench This ™ sold at www.greaserag.com. Click on Panhead T-Shirt for more info or to purchase.
It seems when I am overwhelmed with classic Harley project bikes and a long list of to do projects I stumble across a great deal on another classic Harley project. That was the case on this 1926 Harley JE that was advertised on a local Craigslist post.
Classic Harley 1926 JE project from Craigslist ad
I called on the ad, spoke with the seller and drove up to Rhode Island with a pocket of cash the following week. The photo above is what the bike looked like as purchased. I took that photo of this dusty almost restored old Harley twin in the seller’s driveway.
Classic 1926 Harley JE project as purchased.
It had seen a lot of work done on it a few years ago and then left to sit untouched long enough to get pretty dusty.
Rebuilt engine, but work was not finished on this 1926 Harley JE
The seller claimed the entire engine was rebuilt and ready to run many years ago. It has sat since then. It also came with a few boxes of spare parts. I trucked the bike home to clean and polish it up to see what I was dealing with here. I also oiled the top and bottom of the engine “just in case.”
Above it what it looked like after I spent a couple of hours washing, waxing and polishing the motorcycle from one end to the other. I also conditioned the leather saddle, inflated the tires and thoroughly lubed both the primary and drive chains. The correct primary cover was included with the spare parts.
There are a few other projects I need to finish before I start on this one.
The Kickstart Classic is open to all makes and models of motorcycles. But, in the past rides most of the riders were on classic Harley motorcycles.
Spectro Oils and GEICO are sponsoring the Kickstart Classic May 2013 event, which is now in its third year. This ride is from Charleston, SC to St. Augustine, FL.
We’d like to remind everyone that this event is open to all make, models and years of motorcycle. Stock or custom, classic or chopper. Motorcycles with kickers ride up front and electric start only motorcycles ride in the back to pick up any parts that fall off the old ones up front.
All riders and passengers need to register for the is ride ($100 per rider or passenger gets an event t-shirt, event stickers, free meals, special hotel discounts and event support), and we are limited attendance to the first 100 to register. Registration is free to all Motorcycle Cannonball riders (but they still need to register) who ride his or her actual Cannonball bike (2010 or 2012). Click here for the registration form.
If you’d like to meet up with our group but can’t join us for the entire ride, here is a listing of our planned stops:
Tuesday, May 14. Welcome Reception and Open House at Low Country Harley-Davidson in Charleston, SC.
Wednesday, May 15. Leave from Charleston and ride to Savannah Harley-Davidson in Savannah, GA for lunch and an Open House. Then ride to Golden Isles Harley-Davidson in Brusnwick, GA for a dinner reception and Open House.
Thursday, May 16. Leave from Brunswick, GA and ride to Adamec Harley-Davidson @ Regency in Jacksonville, FL for lunch and an Open House. Then ride to St. Augustine, FL in time to enjoy the Riding Into History events over the next couple of days.
The Kickstart Classic will be lead by Buzz Kanter of American Iron Magazine, and Dale Walksler of Wheels Through Time. Dale and Buzz are also the Grand Marshals of this year’s Riding Into History.
Another random classic Harley photo. I have always loved the feeling of freedom in this photo of me riding my 1915 Harley-Davidson.
Buzz Kanter riding his 1915 Harley on the first Motorcycle Cannonball ion 2010.
This photo was taken at Coker Tire’s headquarters on my way riding across the US on the first Motorcycle Cannonball ride in 2010.
Another wonderful classic Harley-related post from Panhead Jim’s excellent blog http://www.ridingvintage.com
The young men (and classic Harley sidecar rig) in this picture are members of the Flying Squadron, a unit of the American Red Cross in Great Britain during WWI. Made up of more than a dozen young men, the Flying Squadron was on duty 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Even after dark, two members of the Squadron were always on active duty with the others “on call” if a problem should arise. All Red Cross calls that were made after midnight were routed to the Squadron’s direct line.
Due to the nature of their “missions” and the times in which they occurred, the Flying Squadron was allowed to do whatever was necessary without pre-approval from higher ranking members of the Red Cross. This led to some interesting solutions to the many problems they were faced with. One such episode took place at the end of WWI, when London was overrun with American and British soldiers with no particular place to go or proper lodgings.
The Flying Squadron’s solution was to open up the Red Cross buildings and use them as temporary barracks once the staff had left each day. Soldiers were given food and blankets before being escorted to an office chair, desk or spot on the floor to sleep. Then they were awaken early each morning and fed as the Flying Squadron converted the rooms back to offices. It seems this went on for some time before the rest of the staff at the Red Cross had any idea what was going on.
Members of the Flying Squadron used a variety of vehicles to carry out their duties around London, including the Harley-Davidson motorcycle pictured above, equipped with a sidecar. They prided themselves on being able to make it to any call within 3 minutes and you can bet that motorcycle could be heard roaring through London in the middle of the night as they rushed to help those in need.
In honor of this week’s Daytona Bike Week roadraces, I thought it would be fun to share a rare Harley roadracer from the late 1920s. Here is Paul Weyers on what might be the only original Harley DAR factory road racer.
Paul Weyers on a DAR Harley factory road racer motorcycle
This purpose built classic Harley racer was sent to Europe and was quite successful. It was a special built one-off motorcycle featuring a 45 c.i. overhead valve DAH motor.
This motorcycle is built around a 45″ DAH hillclimber overhead valve engine .This was Harley’s first bike to have a recirculating oil pump. Paul won many races in Europe on this motorcycle
In looking at this photo I have to wonder why the factory left the cylinder tool box on the I-beam forks, but no lights. Also note the unusual foot clutch mechanism.
I’d like to post some random photos of some of my classic Harleys over the years. Some I still have and some are long gone. I can’t keep them all.
1936 Harley EL Knucklehead and Buzz Kanter
Here is a photo of me and my 1936 Harley EL Knucklehead in the snow of New Year 2013. I love this bike and do not ever plan on selling it. Not many real 1936 Harley OHVs surviving these days. And most of these classic Harley ELs are buried in museums or private collections.
Thanks to Panhead Jim for allowing us to share parts of this excellent post on Harley Knucklehead production data from his blog http://www.ridingvintage.com/
Note: These production numbers are based on fiscal rather than calendar year model production numbers. To date, Harley-Davidson has not released an official listing of production numbers by model year.
For the 1936 model year, Harley-Davidson released a completely redesigned motorcycle which was powered by an all new 61 ci OHV (Over Head Valve) engine. This engine was nicknamed the “Knucklehead” due to the shape of the rocker covers, which some thought resembled the knuckles of a clinched fist. It had many advancements over the earlier side valve engines, but most importantly it was the first Harley engine to use a recirculating oil system. Harley’s engineers took advantage of this consistent source of pressurized oil and built an engine with higher compression, larger valves and a shorter stroke. The result was an OHV engine that produced 40 bhp at 4,800 rpm. Compare that to the larger 80 ci side-valve engine of the same era that only produced 39 bhp. The Knucklehead Era lasted from 1936 through 1947 models.
1936 Harley OHV Production Figures
1937 Harley OHV Production Figures Continue reading
