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Looks a little short to operate it safely.....
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Oakley Frogs........Comment
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Happy Excelsior owners.........Comment
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See.........Harley and Indian riders can get along...........
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This may have been posted before, but I couldn't resist.......
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Question about the crossbar on the handle bars. Was this specific to certain makes or models, say a police bike? ...billComment
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I always thought a crossbar was added for strength when using a sidecar............Comment
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I'm not sure it added all that much extra strength but it sure was a convenient place to mount stuff. Where else would they have put that acytelene tank, or auxilliary lights?
Didn't they also call those "Hollywood" bars?, I think it was because they had all the glitzy stuff bolted to them......
mikeComment
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Im not sure what the bike is in the photo, it could be an ACE which was Built by Henderson who was the founder of the First Henderson Company. On the first Hendersons It was intended that the passenger sat in front of the Driver.Hand grips were fitted to the cross bar for the passenger to hold on too. It’s possible that they just carried on fitting the cross bar because they had always done it like that ?The must likely reason is the length of each bar was over 2 foot 6 inches, the cross bar was fitted for strength. Just think how much leverage there would have been at the point where the bar entered the centre casting.
PeteComment
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I recon it's about an '18 or '19 Henderson , see the tool box on top of the tank , I think the cross bar was purely for strength , Excelsior also used a cross bar as did Ace and many others , KenComment
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Ken . I did not see the tool box It looks like there are head light mount castings on the front of the handle bar centre casting which made me think Ace But if that is a tool box that could make it a henderson K .
PeteComment
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Hi Pete , just been going through lots of pics of Ace's and Hendersons as well as Excelsiors and others , looks as though you could be right with those headlamp lug positions but the tank and 'tool box' do not look Ace , I suppose someone could have put an extra tool box on the tank or perhaps it's a sandwich box , pity the picture isn't showing more of the bike but good picture anyway , hope they keep coming and hope people make comments on them too , KenComment
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I believe it's a post 1920 Henderson because 19 and earlier had a bellcrank that exited the handlebar as part of the control assembly. I think cross bars were commonly used on many early motorcycles because handlebars were made long for rider control and leverage on rough roads. Long bars tend to flex if they are not braced. Handlebars on early Harleys are not braced but I don't think they needed it. H-D bars are the most rugged and well made handlebars I have ever seen on an early motorcycle. The most interesting thing about H-D bars of that vintage is, they are formed from one piece of flat sheet steel. How they were made would be a noodle scratcher for any engineer today. I love the picture that c.o. submitted of the two girls by the '33 H-D. If you look at the Enthusiast magazine of 1933 you will see those girls posing more innocently. This picture is a bit more provocative and opens a window of speculation. Thanks for posting these great pictures !Comment
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Hey guys,
You wanna see some old pics, check this site! www.geocities.com/crhighperf/flattrack.html www.geocities.com/crhighperf/flattrack.html (hope I did this right to make a hot link) These are a bunch of shots from San Jose and the Bay Area, late '40s. Although these pre-date my era by a few years, a lot of these guys were still around when I stated riding in the mid/late sixties. Sam Arena was our local HD dealer in San Jose, and we bought 45WR parts from Tom Sifton, others had small "garage buisnesses". Have to say I wish I'd spent more time just talking to these "old guys", but what do you know when you're a punk kid? If you go to the bottom of that page and click on "home", it will take you to a page where you can go to some more great pics of hillclimbers, Daytona 200, and various early shops. Enjoy!
Doug.Comment
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Thanks Doug,
I can't get enough old hill climber photo's. Hill climbing was one of my biggest passions 40yrs ago. All us 4 stokers trying to complete and win against all those fancy, smancy 2 stokers. good times for sure.
How come I'm not seeing any old ice racing photo's.? I can remember my uncles from Detroit racing their sportster with the nails in the tires on the Detroit river. As I grew older I never had the guts to try that, so I did the next best thing. Hill-Climbing!Comment
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