Otis Chandler "1907" Harley in Fall Issue

[silentgreyfello]

LH decal '13hd

Same 13 hd, RH side decal. Sorry, getting off subject here!

[silentgreyfello]

here it is

[B. Rodencal]

Admin... Sidecar loop front mount point.

[jurassic]

Re: other side

Originally posted by jurassic

a few observations,notice just under the battery box on the front of the rear fender,two holes,there was once a toolbox on this bike.also notice that the top motormount ,the belt tensioner gate,and the bracket that holds down battery box are painted gray.most cobbs and repros nickel these parts.

[jurassic]

Re: 2113

Originally posted by jurassic

from this picture you can see how the nickel brackets definatly detract from the overall lines of a near perfect recreated chassis on an excellent original engine and carb.the four founders were successful because they had very good taste,and enough skill to create an exceptional motorcycle .you look at the 1908 indian,it could never even compare to the harley,the excelsior was a little better but not like the harley.this bike must have turned some heads in its day.

[silentgreyfello]

Nub

"what is the cast nub coming out of the back of the neck stem for? Nothing is attached? In between the top and bottom frame tubes. Just curious."

I have wondered that as well. It is a tapped hole. I have never seen anything in the hole on any of the bikes. I am guessing that you could put a bolt in there to tighten against the fork neck to act as a steering damper. Just a guess, though.

[B. Rodencal]

As I said, it is a tapped hole for the front support rod on a sidecar chassis. They appear I believe around late 05-06.

[AdminGuy]

Wow, Cool - thanks Bill. And a photo. Awesome.

I cringe just thinking about sweet momma bouncing down the rutted dirt road in that wicker hack. Perhaps why not commonly seen. Also lack of HP.

Great work putting the photos up Lonnie. But women have always been drawn to the red bikes. More sex appeal.

[jurassic]

red bikes

just a pic of a 1908 red bike,it looks so whimpy i'd be afraid to sit on it,much less take it up the hillclimb,also note the fabled sager "attachment",kinda overkill on this machine that already has a sprung fork.

[jurassic]

1908

[Earl]

Re: Re: testing posting pics 2194

Originally posted by jurassic
i still love this bike,notice how the striping is pretty much dead on,still got the bar and shield though.the belt tensioning lever has been kinked and moved in front of the cylinder.the coolest thing is definatly the discreet hole in the coil,this was the very first harley ignition switch.the rider would insert his "key" into the hole and connect the two terminals between the battery and the coil.also notice the two small rust spots just under the vin number,they match the two marks on the tool box.was something mounted here?

Hi jurassic,

First I thought that the two spots on the motor case were where something like a Lang clutch/two speed was attached. But in looking at some Lang set-ups in "At the Creation", the levers are in a much different position. So now I'm at a loss. Don't know what to make of those attachment points, other than your observation that they are similar to the ones on the tool box.

??????

[HarleyCreation]

2194: Factory's 1908

Originally posted by jurassic
something about this motorcycle still interests me.just some observations,notice how the front fender is out of line with the wheel,and a little tweaked,it also looks like the wheel is running closer to the frame than the other 1908's,and why is the top motormount bent.in this picture, at this angle,it looks a little like the neck on the frame is kinked down a bit.this would all point to the wrecked bike theory.but they did repaint the whole bike,possibly replacing the fork ,and the front wheel,but didn't straighten the frame.or the top motormount.although it looks to be original factory paint,it appears different from 2037,the tank decals have the later 3 color type ,and different shaped letters.also i have seen no strap tanks with the bar and sheild logo,when did this logo start?the striping on the fork is perfect but for a later style,it also has the fender stripes on the top of the ridge instead of on the edges of the fender.the bike was obviously used alot after it was painted, from the wear it shows.

That appears to be real-world evidence that we're looking for. A friend emailed me and said the frame looked bent to him too.

Harley claimed "first use" of the Bar & Shield was in May of 1910 (all uses; not necessarily plastered on a bike). So again we find something else not correct for this 1908 model.

Most likely this bike was wrecked early, reforked and repainted, and has been in its current configuration since at least 1924 and perhaps considerably longer since we know it wasn't ridden much after H-D acquired it sometime around 1919.

[HarleyCreation]

Re: front fork

Originally posted by silentgreyfello
I think you may be right, Jurassic. It does appear that the frame on 2194 has been bent. Also, with the closeups, it appears that the fork is an '1910-11 style.

Additional proof is always nice.

[HarleyCreation]

Bill Harley's Practical Genius

Originally posted by jurassic
the four founders were successful because they had very good taste,and enough skill to create an exceptional motorcycle .you look at the 1908 indian,it could never even compare to the harley,the excelsior was a little better but not like the harley.this bike must have turned some heads in its day.

That was what impressed me too when we went back and immersed ourselves in the events as they actually happened and the bikes as they actually appeared on the marketplace early in the 20th century.

Because the Harley was a SECOND generation machine (a 1904/1905 motorcycle and not a 1901/1902 motor-bicycle) it leaped ahead of the Indian which was still basically a bicycle-like 1901 design. The Harley-Davidson had a whole different design philosophy than the Indian and the many Indian clones and it didn't take early riders long to realize that fact and rush to Milwaukee.

Bill Harley's practical genius seems to have been to adopt the ultra-modern Merkel loop-frame chassis and then adapt to it an Ole Evinrude type engine of larger size and industrial durability. Adding a belt-tensioner that worked made a practical easy-riding mount. Then they built it robustly like something out of the West Milwaukee railshops where most of them had worked.

Probably most of those first Harley's were actually made in those railshops and not in Pa Davidson's backyard woodshed!

Of course in later years it made a much better advertising MYTH to brag up the woodshed and push this brilliant 1904/1905 machine back into 1903, 1902, and even 1901! That really rubbed Indian's nose in it and maybe served to divert any Merkel claims of a copy-cat bike built down the street right there in brew-town Milwaukee.

That's why it was so much fun and rewarding researching and writing the Creation book. The true events were new and exciting and not told in any previous history of Harley-Davidson, "official" or otherwise.

So many myths were busted we can't count them all!

PS: Before they tore the old West Milwaukee railshops down, my brother and I hopped the fence and explored this abandoned complex of 1880s(?) buildings. Talk about a haunted house! Got photos too!

[AdminGuy]

OK, ya got me.... I gotta agree with that.