Koslow

[Barry Brown]

bitza

[LouieMCman]

Man of few words.

Louie

[Barry Brown]

sorry for the crappy picture. I had the bike at Brookfield and Davenport a couple of years ago. Took me a few years to build it. started out with a Koslow ohv conversion of a flathead HD 80 , squeezed it into a vl frame , Flanders bars and risers, ( did you know Flanders was an expat Canuk from Saskatchewan?),heavily modified super x cast alloy tanks, period tachometer in dash, oil tank is an air dryer from a Mack truck. tach drive off #2 cam, strutted vl fork with double Brough Superior style dampers. twin front brakes activated by Vincent type balance beam. star hubs laced to 19" vl rims, hand made stainless battery box and primary with 2 row chain and tensioner, 36 up style 4 speed, modified forward frame mount cop shifter, John Cameron inspired Ford hub cap stainless vented derby, roller rockers, evo pistons ( displacement just under 84", ) balanced, headlight is a spun brass spot taken off the roof of my 1936 Ford fire emergency rat rod. Crocker "limp dick" tail light" .Crocker magnesium tool box with custom made tribute plaque to Harry Buck who traded me the Koslow engine for a Militaire engine! twin Linkerts on individual manifolds . twin port exhausts ( 4 pipes, I styled the left two after the Harley 45 European road racer pictured in Wright and Hatfield) , Dan Pugens WR pillion ( a work of art made with old HD saddle bag leather ) , hand made rear ss fender canes and brackets, plus way more! was a fun project and is a blast to ride Thanks for your interest. way more than you wanted to know eh? Cheers, Barry
PS Koslow was a hill climber , tuner and employee of Henderson/Excelsior in Chicago. the conversion was made mainly for midget race cars but may have been used in a few hill climbers as well. The heads are similar to the OHV Gene Rhyne/Petrali "all conquering" machines but bigger. On the way to Davenport I stopped at The Koslow bicycle shop which is still in Chicago and showed Koslow's grand and great grand kids the bike. It was pretty emotional all round, a very satisfying culmination of a lot of work.

[LouieMCman]

Saving up the words for the reply I see. Nice Bike.

Louie

[c.o.]

A couple years back I happened to be out east and was lucky enough to get to have a look at that beautiful machine. Barry even fired it up and showed a couple of us what it sounded like going down his lane-way. I have thought since that I would like to be near the side of a highway when it blasted by! As always, "Cool bike Barry"!!!!!!!!!!!

[c.o.]

Oh, ya that Fire Engine is pretty durn cool too!!!

[AdminGuy]

Lets see some more photos of the engine Barry. Neat.

[Barry Brown]

Here's the timing side. I designed and made a pattern ( my first attempt at this ) and had a set of footboards cast in bronze with the Koslow logo . The rubber dust covers over the lifter blocks are Harley servicar master cylinder boots, they are a perfect fit. I made the pushrods and oil lines from stainless. I have a rare Bosch Magdyno that is designed to go in the generator cradle and was used circa 1937 on some New York City cop bikes. I am thinking of running this as well as the battery and coil to facilitate two plug heads.

[Barry Brown]

drive side. took me a day to make that one convoluted pipe , butt welded scrap pieces together. hand made the air cleaners, they have K&N filters inside. I tried to make them look like the old KR flat track filters. most of my metal came from the local scrap yard

[darrylri]

That looks like an early 30s BMW R11 in the background of the first picture. Seems like you must have quite varied tastes! ;-)

[B. Rodencal]

I saw the bike at Davenport and have to say I was in awe! Some guy kept squeezing the front brake and calling his buddies to see it. I asked him if the bike was his and he said no. I proceeded to tell him "Well then I wouldn't F***in touch it or you might end up with the owner giving you a mouthful of teeth!" If I would have known it was yours Barry I would have done it for you! Awesome bike. period!

[Barry Brown]

Hey thanks for the sentiment, we all know the feeling of seeing someone screwing around with a bike that is not their own but I kinda built the Koslow so it will look even better with scratches, dents and lots of dirt, I hate cleaning spokes!
YES, you are very close on the Beemer but it's an ohv R16 , circa 1932, I am not prejudiced , I like all great old and the occasional new iron.

[koanes]

I had a chance to get up close and personal with a Koslow engine recently. Some friends had purchased it from a fellow that said he was an engineer that was involved with its construction An interesting piece for sure. It was some kind of Harley Davidson-Koslow hybryd, using a VL right case, and a left case of Koslow manufacture. The heads and cylinders were unique (they were cast by Modern Casting, same outfit HD used) but used knucklehead rocker arms and were fitted with 2 MR3 carburetors. All of the Koslow unique parts were very heavy duty. When were these motors built? Barry, was there ever a Koslow motorcycle built or is your homebuilt the one and only?

[INLINE4NUT]

Barry nice as it gets but move back to Labelle Provence its safer !! HAHA! Merry Christmas !!!

[Barry Brown]

AS far as I know Koslow never made a complete bike. He was mostly involved with making go fast parts for Super X hillclimbers and of course the Harley ohv conversions which I believe were initially intended for midget race cars. I would love to be proven wrong if someone finds a comoplete Koslow bike in a barn somewhere!