Long Long Ago and Far Far Away

[INLINE4NUT]

Thank You for your menories!I was lucky enough to have been to the factory more than a few times and found something new and exciting every time there !!! To have worked there would have surely been a wonderful memory for a MC nut !!

[HarleyCreation]

John Nowak was with the MoCo for an eternity. He wrote the Knucklehead service manual and all the photos of hands doing things to parts in the book are his hands. He was the MoCo's number one troubleshooter. He was the Dean of the Factory Service School and a long time instructor there. He also laid out and put the York Plant into operation.

John was also a really great storyteller and made everything funny and a little bit crazy, which is how things were run around that motorcycle Factory. He started in 1936 (a landmark year) and went right on thru AMF. He was Harley-Davidson motorcycle to the core. His nickname was "Mr. Motorcycle." My buddy, who had John as instructor in the H-D Service School around 1977, told me to go look him up and I did. John's hands-on experience was incredible and you'll notice Bruce Palmer gives him credit in his restoration book so Mr. Motorcycle's knowledge in part lives on.

A really great guy!

[HarleyCreation]

John,
You may have worked with my Dad,Rollie Stopar,he was in that dept. for 55 yrs

Wasn't Rollie #2 after Joe Geiger with the longest total working history at H-D? (Joe had 63 years and 11 months at H-D and I missed talking to him by 6 months!)

I met Rollie too. He was another great guy.

[Chris Haynes]

you'll notice Bruce Palmer gives him credit in his restoration book so Mr. Motorcycle's knowledge in part lives on.

A really great guy!

Bruce called John every Saturday morning for months on end. They had long conversations about motorcycles and a lot of great stories mixed in. Bruce had the foresight to record these conversations. I keep telling him he should publish them as the Nowak Tapes. I know I would buy a copy.

[40 Nuck]

No kidding ... would love to have a read of the Nowak Tapes ... I assume he's no longer around?

[Chris Haynes]

No kidding ... would love to have a read of the Nowak Tapes ... I assume he's no longer around?

John passed several years ago.

[68 shovelhead]

Off The Subject

but does anyone know anything about HD milage reward pins i was looking for some parts in my dads cabinets he was a wrench and state cop in il i found his vest and there were two milage pins the bot look to be made of brass one id the bar and shield the bar is painted red says harley davidson.. the top hal od the sheild is natural brass/copper has the numbers 25,000 the botton says mile club. there is a small bike hanging by 2 small links of chain and the details make it look like a rgid with leather bags th second on is a solid pin with a bike on the bottom you can clearly see the bads are smooth it has shocks and the seat sits higher. it is bronze also on the top is the 1966 tank emblem black and the middle says harley davidson above and below the yhere are two plainly brushes pyramid shaped brass colered in the middle of the black backround below that its all a royal blue with it saying through the middle 100,000 mile club tht and the bike are the brass color any info any one??? Phil oniytruth@aol.com

[Ohio-Rider]

Never mind....

[milw.pirates]

Wasn't Rollie #2 after Joe Geiger with the longest total working history at H-D? (Joe had 63 years and 11 months at H-D and I missed talking to him by 6 months!)

I met Rollie too. He was another great guy.

was Joe Geiger the guy that worked in the office?

[HarleyCreation]

was Joe Geiger the guy that worked in the office?

Yes. Joe Geiger was old Bill Harley's personal secretary. To see Mr. Harley you had to go thru Joe Geiger first. He was also in charge of all the Harley-Davidson engineering drawings. Probably nobody would have had more inside stories about Bill Harley and the engineering dept than Joe Geiger.

I don't know of anybody who falls between Geiger's 63 years and 11 months and Rollie's 55 years of service at H-D. I'll bet they are #1 and #2.

[HarleyCreation]

Bruce called John every Saturday morning for months on end. They had long conversations about motorcycles and a lot of great stories mixed in. Bruce had the foresight to record these conversations. I keep telling him he should publish them as the Nowak Tapes. I know I would buy a copy.

John complained about Palmer calling him every Saturday. "He talks for hours!" he said, but I could tell he was very happy that somebody appreciated his knowledge.

I have tapes from John too. Some I think that I still haven't transcribed. Plus tapes of many other old guys from H-D mostly all now dead. Lots of untapped new material if I ever find the time and the inclination to transcribe it all.

[Chris Haynes]

but does anyone know anything about HD milage reward pins i was looking for some parts in my dads cabinets he was a wrench and state cop in il i found his vest and there were two milage pins the bot look to be made of brass one id the bar and shield the bar is painted red says harley davidson.. the top hal od the sheild is natural brass/copper has the numbers 25,000 the botton says mile club. there is a small bike hanging by 2 small links of chain and the details make it look like a rgid with leather bags th second on is a solid pin with a bike on the bottom you can clearly see the bads are smooth it has shocks and the seat sits higher. it is bronze also on the top is the 1966 tank emblem black and the middle says harley davidson above and below the yhere are two plainly brushes pyramid shaped brass colered in the middle of the black backround below that its all a royal blue with it saying through the middle 100,000 mile club tht and the bike are the brass color any info any one??? Phil oniytruth@aol.com

The mileage awards were announced in the December 1951 Enthusiast. The first person to qualify for the 100,000 mile pin was David Rankin of Wichata Falls, TX.
There have been several different styles of the pins. Some years ago H-D turned the Mileage Award program over to H.O.G. Unfortunately any miles you had earned with H-D were dropped and you had to start all over again with H.O.G.

[milw.pirates]

Yes. Joe Geiger was old Bill Harley's personal secretary. To see Mr. Harley you had to go thru Joe Geiger first. He was also in charge of all the Harley-Davidson engineering drawings. Probably nobody would have had more inside stories about Bill Harley and the engineering dept than Joe Geiger.

I don't know of anybody who falls between Geiger's 63 years and 11 months and Rollie's 55 years of service at H-D. I'll bet they are #1 and #2.

You are correct, Joe was no. 1,and Dad was no. 2,the only differance was Dad was the,no. 1 union employee,there are no others between.