21 J Kickstart lever finish

[MikeW]

Can anyone (one of you AMCA Judges out there?) advise me of the original finish of the kickstart levers of 1921 J Models. My 21 gearbox didn't have the kickstart mechanism attached when I got it and, of the two levers in the parts box which came with the motorcycle, one was parkerized and one had the remains of plating on it. I replated the latter and it is now on the machine, but I suspect it may not be correct.

I have seen nickel plated, parkerized, black and olive painted finishes on photos of restored 1921 machines, and well-worn, difficult-to-make-out, rusty finishes on photos of original motorcycles. I've not seen an original 21 "in the flesh", and here in New Zealand am a bit far away from Milwaukee to check out the 21 JD in the H-D museum, assuming it is in original finish and not an early restoration of course.

My assumption is that, by 1920, H-D management were only too aware of the changing and shrinking market for motorcycles, with the Model T Ford making the motorcycle cost-uncompetitive as family transport. Cost cutting in both production methods and materials would have resulted in fewer plated parts from then on, but identifying when this occurred in the 20-24 period can be a challenge. I suspect that changes could even have been made during a year's production run?

Any comment gratefully received.

[TechNoir]

Re: 21 J Kickstart lever finish

Mike, I have been told that it should be dull nickel plated although this is not a definitive answer. That said, my 20J gearbox had already been restored when I got it and the kickstart lever is painted olive.

If there is a definitive answer I would love to know too but my money is on nickel because it will be less likely to wear or chip off like paint will do on a part like this.

John

[Robert Luland]

I have a whole lot of factory photos and I can't find one that shows a nickel plated kicker arm on a three speed. There all painted black. The kicker pedal, return spring insert and the clutch pull rod cover are nickel but not the arm. Bob Luland

[TechNoir]

Bob, that's a great photo and confirms that my painted kick-start lever, which I thought was wrong to be painted is actually right.

Also the photo shows a couple of other details that I had been scratching my head about. Thanks. (Sorry to hijack the thread Mike)

John

[Tommo]

Fellas have a good look at that image.
Compare the dark colours on the bike with the main tank colour and then look at the kicker
It looks more like the main tank colour than any of the known black bits

[TechNoir]

Fellas have a good look at that image.
Compare the dark colours on the bike with the main tank colour and then look at the kicker
It looks more like the main tank colour than any of the known black bits

Tommo, I had already thought the same but didnt mention it. The exhaust we know to be black and shows much darker than the kicker. The kicker is a similar shade of grey to other parts that we know to be Olive Green so my guess is that that kicker is Olive.

John

[Steve Swan]

What a wonderful picture of such a gorgeous motorcycle.

[Robert Luland]

Pete, I think your on to something. That's a high def picture. You can really blow it up with out distortion. I just blew it up and I have to agree. It's the same color as the kicker cover. My eyes are shot. Bob L

[Tommo]

Now I'll really throw the cat among the pigeons.
If you look at the factory picture of a 1921 in the H.D. book "The Legend Begins" it appears that the kicker is plated.
I'm assuming that your photo is of a 1920 Bob so maybe 20 is painted and 21 is plated.
Nickel was short following the 1st World War and it may have taken until 1921 for supplies of nickel to return to normal and be available for industry.
There was a serious amount of nickel jacketed projectiles used between 1914 and 1918 and this made nickel expensive and in short supply.
That's my thoughts on it anyway.
I'll see if I can scan the 1921 image and put it up.

[exeric]

The bike in the picture Bob posted is a pre production 1920, but it has 1919 cylinders. I recognized the picture from Jerry Hatfield's book. I agree that the kicker arm looks to be olive green.

[MikeW]

Thanks for the input folks (and you're not hijacking the thread, John).

Peter makes an interesting point. Two factors were impacting on H-D production and sales in the 19-23 period - wartime shortages of some materials at the beginning of the period, and a shrinking motorcycle market at the end. In the "coffee table" publication "the H-D Motor Co. Archive Collection" the mostly unrestored 1919 J Model has a painted kicker arm; the arm on the 20 J is obscured; the restored 1920 Sport Model has a plated arm, which may or may not be as per original. The 23JD looks to be unrestored (or an early restoration) and has a painted or parkerized kicker arm. In the photograph of the same museum 23JD from the Pierce Colorwrite website, reproduced below (trusting I'm not breaching any copyright - no commercial interest on my part and a recommended website) the arm is clearly black.

Over time I've trawled through a lot of photos on the net of what purport to be original paint 21 and 22 J Models, and some certainly look to have the remains of dull nickel on them. So perhaps there was a short period when wartime materials shortages were eased, and before another round of William Davidson's cost cutting at the factory took effect, when some kicker arms were plated.

So, mainly painted (body colour or black?); with some early 20s possibly plated? Heavens knows how judges can be definitive about some of this stuff!

Eric, you are very knowledgeable about 1916 Js. What's your experience of kicker finish on these early models?

hdarchives07 (800x600).jpg

[Tommo]

Here's the image for 1921 from "The Legend Begins"
Make up your own mind.

[Tommo]

I've gone looking in my brochure collection and from the 1919 and 1921 H.D. Sales Brochures come the following two images
1919 is definitely plated but the 1921 one appears painted.
Look at the nickel plated kick starter return spring washer and compare its finish with that on the kick start lever and once again make up your own mind.

[TechNoir]

Re: 21 J Kickstart lever finish

Tommo, you reminded me that I have an original 1920 Dealer Brochure. Its a UK brochure but I doubt that the kicker finish differed.

On page 10 there is similar picture to your 1919 picture.



On page 8 there is a description of the transmission.



Here is the picture in the bottom right corner close up



The picture of the whole bike shows the kicker in a lighter shade than the Olive Green, much like the 1919 brochure. However the close up of the transmission shows it the same as the gearbox case which we know to be Olive. To confuse things the close up also shows parts that we know to be nickel plated also in the same colour as the kicker and the case so I don’t think the line drawings in the brochure are definitive.

These are drawings and not photographs so there may be some variance to the actual specification. Maybe the picture of the whole bike was drawn in 1917 and HD just used the same one for subsequent years until a significant variation in spec was introduced (which I think is very likely).

At the moment my money is on paint and I am erring towards olive green but I am happy to be convinced otherwise by the knowledgeable people on here. Has anyone got any more contemporary photographs?

John

[26harleyj]

12.jpgharley-davidson-j-l20t-6.jpg

Here are photos of two different 1920 model bikes. One of them went through an auction house and the other photo came from Ebay. It can be seen the brighter image shows the kicker to being the green color and the other is hard to tell but I would say black. So it might of differed on the person assembling the bike or if someone special ordered the kicker arm to be black. That part I'm not sure about but I hope these photos help.

Cheers,
Jamie