Munich Oktoberfest 1930-2005

[Harleyson's]

75 Years of SILO-DROME (Motordrome) Riders

Oktoberfest 1930:

Gabriel & Rupprechts
Amerikanische Steilwand Todesfahrt
61 cu. in. Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
1930 Riders:
rasher Evans, Speedy Bob Lee and Curley Lou Cody
http://www.harleysons.de/ASTFMUE30a.jpg

Oktoberfest 2005

Original Pitt's Todeswand (est. 1932)
In Memoriam Peter "Pitt" Löffelhardt
2005 Riders:
Jagadh Perera (Sri Lanka) - Amando Nock (Switzerland)
Patrick Nock (Switzerland) - Dominik Dold (Germany)
3 Indian Scout 101, Baujahr 1928
http://www.pitts-todeswand.de/fotos.php
Only one day to go:
http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/index.php

[INLINE4NUT]

HARLEYSONS,
Keep the good stuff comong!

[HarleyCreation]

Those guys in 1930 definitely were drinking good German beer and LOTS of it.

The coolest Oktoberfest of all would have riding a brand spanking new Knucklehead to one in the late 1930s before the war began.

I wonder what all those BMW freaks would have thought?

"Schoen wie ein U-Boot, aber es ist nicht schnell genug...."

But I wonder: What was the top speed of a Knucklehead compared to a stock BMW of 1936 vintage?

Let's see once: Das Buch "Bahnstormer" sagt: "...the R17...was the lustiest motorcycle BMW had yet produced, developing 33 hp at 4500 rpm...with a maximum speed of 140 km/h (87 mph)."

The R17 was built in 1935-37 so the years are right. Only 450 made. Like the Knucklehead it was an overhead-valve pushrod engine BUT was only 734cc in displacement to the 61 OHV Knucklehead's 988cc.

Bill Davidson called the Knucklehead an "honest" 95 mph bike and Hap Jameson crowed that the Knucklehead was a "5,000 rpm" motor. So bike to bike it looks like the Knucklehead was faster, but with a decided displacement advantage. And I don't think that BMW built a stock bike bigger than 750cc did they?

But if the Germans had been ready with a bored out R17 (1000cc) when that imaginary gang from Milwaukee had arrived in 1938 for Oktoberfest (Art, Hank, Bill, Ed, Knuth, Squib, etc.) with a well-tuned Knucklehead it would have been quite an event. Plus a lot of beer drinking. Sounds like a good movie script to me.

I have a 1976 BMW R75/6 and that is a really nice engine. I have passed a LOT of Harleys with it on the highway, but was only passed by a Harley one time. And of course that inevitable guy wearing all-black leathers riding an all-black older yet BMW than mine without a windshield who always passes me between Minneapolis and Milwaukee.

Who is that guy anyway?

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Harley's Baby Years and More!
At the Creation

[Harleyson's]

4-Wheels for Oktoberfest

O.K. I will go with a 4-wheel Knucklehead to Munich !!!

Prooost

Fritz

http://www.harleysons.de/NeanderFritz.jpg

[HarleyCreation]

Re: 4-Wheels for Oktoberfest

Originally posted by Harleyson's
O.K. I will go with a 4-wheel Knucklehead to Munich !!!

Prooost

Fritz

http://www.harleysons.de/NeanderFritz.jpg

Wow! A Knucklehead Cycle Car. Wait until Werner sees this!

Fritz, what is that?

The "I-drank-too-much-beer-for-my-own-good" model Knucklehead?

Or doesn't that happen in Deutschland?

[Harleyson's]

The Ernst Neumann-Neander (N²) Fahrmaschine with the 1937 Knucklehead-Engine from Paul Weyres Racing-Sidecar Knucklehead.

This Mr. Neander was a very interesting personality who was both a gifted artist and an innovative constructor and engineer. Among his many designs were very progressive motorcycles built with a „standard type“ chassis made from hardened aluminum that accepted engines from 150 cc to 1000 cc. From 1930 on this chassis was used under license by the Opel Company to build their Motoclub motorcycles until WWII.
But what interests us here are the so-called "Fahrmaschinen" which he started to design by the beginning of the 1930´s. Mr. Neander never titled these vehicles merely cars, for him they rather were motorcycles on 4 wheels - „Cyclecars“ - built with the intention to motorize the public that could afford a motorcycle with sidecar but preferred a car-type 4 wheel construction . He even used the name „Volkswagen“ in this context.
To prove the qualities of his constructions he frequently participated in races where he personally or one of his employees piloted the Fahrmaschinen.
At the race track he have met Mr. Paul Weyres, HD-Racer from Aachen, Germany at that time. Paul Weyres sucessfully raced them to the German championship in the 600+cc sidecar class. When the Knucklehead came out in 1936 he had found the perfect hauler for his Flexi-Sidecar. Another happy year followed with a 1937 model, again hacked, but since 1933 dark clouds were gathering above Germany when the Nazi regime overtook power. One of the first actions of Hitler and his brown and black buddies was to rise taxes on import vehicles skyhigh so only very wealthy people could afford to buy a Harley-Davidson at that time. When this was not enough they decreed in 1937 "that no German racer be sitting on a foreign motorcycle during races in Germany. Bummer. Imagine what this meant for a dyed-in-the-wool HD enthusiast like Paul Weyres. Fortunately, if there´s a decree there´s always a way to evade it and our shrewd man from Aachen found it with Ernst Neumann-Neander´s Fahrmaschine. In 1938 he approached Mr. Neander and convinced him to build one of his Fahrmaschinen with a Knucklehead engine as the power unit. When the implantation was completed Paul Weyres had tricked the Nazis with the covered engine because in this way he was still able to race his beloved Knucklehead. The factory Linkert carburetor was replaced with an Amal counterpart for alcohol use and in this configuration the machine developed 60 hp. Power transmission to the front wheels was managed with a 4-speed Hurth transmission and drive chains. 270 kgs were the combat weight of this fine little monoposto racer and the first race track actions were promising. But as we all know, the war was close and when it started in 1939 it immediately ended all racing and future plans for one of the few American-German pre-war „joint ventures“.


Here is a Original Picture with Paul Weyres in the Neumann-Neander Knucklehead Fahrmaschine

[INLINE4NUT]

Ahhh! German engineering at its best! Knucks have always been my favorite Harley, and Ive owned quite a few still have a very nice 47 FL with Goulding sidecar and the warrenty card! keep up the interesting posts! I look forward to them



PS: I sure would like to have one in my toy box!

[AdminGuy]

Pete Gagan is going to have to do a "Rode Test" article with one of these up against a 1100cc. J.A.P. Morgan.

The Fahrmaschine is really interesting. Does one exist in North America? Colorado?

[HarleyCreation]

Gosh, what else does Fritz have in his bag of Harley tricks?

At first glance I thought that was some modern-built contraption with an early Knucklehead motor, but it's another vintage machine with cool looking artillery wheels on it!

Excellent machine!

Interesting history too about the fate of Harley-Davidson racing in the Third Reich. It's a miracle that this Knucklehead Cycle Car survived the war and all the bombing and destruction.

Fritz, do you know how it did manage to survive?

In the salt mines with the other "art" treasures?

I used the term "cycle car" for this machine because around 1913-14 there was a brief industry in the USA to built lightweight 4-wheeled vehicles with motorcycle engines and motorcycle components that were called cycle cars. They were not too successful and died out shortly, but with the price of gas today maybe they should try to stage a comeback.

Motorcycle greats like Perry E. Mack and Joe Merkel briefly became involved with the cycle car craze because it was seen to be the next big thing; only it didn't turn out that way. Probably another victim of Ford's Model T.

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At the Creation