Name the bike

[ricmoran]

How about some pics?

[amsracing]

I saw a new friends bikes yesterday...He Has a original 1911 single Thor chain drive.... original family owned with the only 1914 Arizona (1st year for bikes to have plates in Az.) License plate I've ever seen he told me his Dad had ridden it to Collage back in 1914 and it quit running they got him a car and hung the bike in the rafters of there machine shop for the next 50 years...it's in a room now with other restored bikes,along side a 8 valve Indian Boardtrack racer a 1911 HD single,a Thor twin and another red Thor single.....currently working on his Henderson inline 4 what a collection just a few miles from my house...lucky man to have thease ...he also won the Famous Riddler (top Hot Rod in the USA) award for his 32 duece coupe a few years back...he's a great man with a vanishing skill....seeing the past and being able to bring it back thanks Jay Tee.....your the best! Dave Boydstun AKA grasshopper

[ricmoran]

Hey Denis, thanks for that...lets see which toon are we shooting for?

[denismccarthy]

Here's a little bit of stuff Ricmo





And here are a couple of links: http://motorklasik.co.cc/tag/thor/

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Thor_Model_CM_500_cc_AIV_1911.jpg

Hope that helps! See ya in the funny papers!

Denis

[ricmoran]

Thanks guys for all you detective work on this.

[c.o.]

Just a slight hijack with apologies in advance.... Denis, have you stumbled across the Warwick yet?

[denismccarthy]

Hey Ricmoran

I'll run it up the flag pole here at the Museum for you. I does look like a Thor... I'll get back to ya!

Denis
(Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum)

[rwm]

Mike!!! It's a 1912 what?

cory i have never seen a 1912 WHAT

[c.o.]

Mike!!! It's a 1912 what?

[motorheadmike]

Its a 1912.. 1912 is the only year with the front end reiforcements , the outrigger bars can be seen in the photo. I have the same machine in parts ..

[ricmoran]

Yes there is interest when a family member rode back in time.

I've been doing a little bit to promote early riding when the opportunity presetns itself. In Hawaii, there are few of the classic and even less early bikes around.

Met a young fellow at the HD dealership, he advised he was in proces of doing valve lash check on his V Rod. I was in the same process so he asked if he could see what was up with doing this.
We met because of my Knucklehead sitting in the parking lot and he has interest in early iron. He's in his late 20's.

So we rode yesterday and when we stopped at Punchbowl - Memorial of the Pacific WWII, Korea, Viet-Nam military members memorial , we talked about our ride around Round Top while visiting the cemetary.

He was asking about how the clutch works along with braking as the previous ride is through some great S's and other challenges. So I told him to sit on the bike and I'd show him how to place his feet. He is tall, about 6'6" so he was having some issues but figured it out. My wife said to me, show him how to start the bike, so I did, then once started, said to him, take it around the park for a spin.

Needless to say he got a kick out of it, the same way my son did the first time he rode the bike.

Both came away with the same "I gotta get one of these".

There is a lot of interest with younger riders to be sure, and with that, the more interest, the better.

His next request was "when you do work on the bike, can I hang around to pick up tips on what to do".

Trying to upload vieos to You Tube of the ride mentioned above and if it works I'll post a link shortly. Seeing your avatar, and knowing others are in winter, the ride is through a tropical rain forest and mountains on Oahu.

Thanks again for the help.

[c.o.]

Ahh... I just get a little obsessed with this stuff is all. Glad to hear there is interest in this old iron on other forums.

[ricmoran]

Tom!!! I was initially swaying toward Miami but thought that the front end on the picture ricmoran posted was a little different and went in the "Thor" direction. When jurassic posted the '11 ad I focused on the frame and paid no more attention to the front end at that point. Sorry ricmoran, I may have led you astray. If it's a Miami, it could be as late as 1916. Here are a few pics of a '15 Miami for a little reference... http://providence-ri.americanlisted...._18633759.html The fork still looks a little different to me. I wish that I could get a better bearing on the engine position. That would clear things up a bit. Goshdarnitt.. I'm stuck!!!

No need apologize, it is all in good fun. The fellow that asked over at the V Rod forum, most if not all folks over there ride newer Revo technology, so this stuff lightens and brightens their world as well. With that, who knows maybe one or two of them or hopefully more get interested and head this way.

Thanks again for figuring this out for the fellow rider.

[c.o.]

I was waiting for you to chime in Louie!!! What do you make of the picture that was posted at the start of the thread?

[LouieMCman]

Cory your link shows a 1916 Miami that was for sale and later sold by Dave. The 1915's were all battery models, I beleive, I have a data base with a number of Miami's the latest being a chain drive motor. The picture is my 1916 Magneto model, all the Miami front ends were the springer type unlike the Thors.