Vintage Pics of the Day

[JoJo357]

*M.A.D.*




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[Rubone]

Hope these aren't too depressing. Lot's of good parts left on these bikes, but I'm guessing they ended up in the scrap heap back then. Bummer!

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Motorcycle accident at the intersection of North Orange Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 1931 3.jpg

I doubt it, they were worth too much at the time for parts especially in commercial use. Note the obviously used bare frame in the background of the repair (PD?) shop as well as the crunched post '33 fender on the floor in the box. The bikes were being salvaged.

[EricOlson]

I doubt it, they were worth too much at the time for parts especially in commercial use. Note the obviously used bare frame in the background of the repair (PD?) shop as well as the crunched post '33 fender on the floor in the box. The bikes were being salvaged.

That's good to hear. There's something inside me that hates the thought of any bike, car, tractor, mechanical device, etc. not being used to the end of it's functional life. And then hopefully rebuilt and put back on the road.

I had a couple more pictures I was trying to post with those two, but the site wouldn't let me upload them for some reason. I'll try again.

Damaged Motorcycle After Near Fatal Accident. The rider, Donald Clark, collided with a car driven by James Ryan. Clark suffered a fractured skull. resize.jpg

1940 knucklehead and sidecar, waiting for repairs at Murray's Harley-Davidson in Sacramento.jpg

[Steve Slocombe]

The crashed white bike with front end damage could be a 1932-33 VL with the long perforated fishtail muffler, front tool box and early mudguards. It might be CHP because of the flimsy cylindrical first aid box at the rear, the Pyrene fire extinguisher bracket, and the right hand mounted Hedberg siren to support California industries.

[BigLakeBob]

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[BigLakeBob]

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[EricOlson]

The crashed white bike with front end damage could be a 1932-33 VL with the long perforated fishtail muffler, front tool box and early mudguards. It might be CHP because of the flimsy cylindrical first aid box at the rear, the Pyrene fire extinguisher bracket, and the right hand mounted Hedberg siren to support California industries.

Steve, I think you're right that it was a CHP bike. That picture came from an online archive from the University of Southern California, so the California connection makes sense. The details say that the photo's are dated 1934, and for those who are familiar with the name, the car was being driven by the owner of the See's candy company. The archive contained a few more pictures, including some of the car that the bike collided with.

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[Steve Slocombe]

I see the auxiliary external light on the crashed Police bike Corbin, and 21,000 miles in 2-3 years is some steady patrol work. The CHP was an important customer for Harley, and had a fleet of around 600 bikes in 1935. You can see them being tested to 100 mph at vlheaven.com. This was a time when bikes were faster than cars, so they were used aggressively to pull over speeders. The newsreel commentary is lost, but was presumably to warn car drivers not to speed or they would be caught.

From the several VL frames hanging from the ceiling in the picture, it looks like they recycled at least some parts. The Harley dealers did the servicing but the records are lost. I restored twelve 1935/6 machines as CHP bikes, all cranked up to a recorded 100 mph on the rear stand. One 36VLH is still at wheels Through Time museum for those interested. Statistically one of those restorations really did serve as a CHP bike, but which one?

[JoJo357]

*M.A.D.*


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[BigLakeBob]

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[BigLakeBob]

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[JoJo357]

*M.A.D.*


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[BigLakeBob]

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[BigLakeBob]

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[ammorest]

If I'm not mistaken, the two rows of bikes in a big room was Harley's collection housed at their Capitol Drive engine plant near Milwaukee. I was there in 1970. Pretty impressive! In about 1973 when they moved the Juneau Avenue operation to York, Pennsylvania the bikes were moved there. They set up a small museum there with some bikes and the rest were put in a storage building on the premises. Several years ago they reorganized the York facility and the collection went back to Milwaukee. Now some of them are on display in Harley's museum in downtown Milwaukee. Worth seeing.
Dave