Harley-Davidson's "Belated" or Correct (1904-1954) 50th Anniversary?

[DaveSwanson]

Bear, the picture of the 54 KH was taken recently at the museum. I believe it is an unrestored bike.

[bear54]

Bear, the picture of the 54 KH was taken recently at the museum. I believe it is an unrestored bike.

Hi Dave
When I was at the 100th, I think this bike was on display. If so, the one I saw was not the Anniversary Yellow but the later Champion Yellow. Tom Bolfert was there and he didn't know the differences between the 2. We talked about it for a bit and he thought this was the only yellow. I have seen the original paint a couple of times and it is more greenish. Also, the bike at the 100th had the wrong emblems as I think this one does (hard to see over the net). He didn't know the difference either as he had never heard anyone bring up the differences in the emblems. I believe the 51-53 emblems were stainless with the outer (top) surfaces rounded. The 54 emblems were brass chrome plated with "flat top" letters. I have a set on my 54 that were NOS in the unopened box with a -54 part number. I called Dr. Rosenblume once when I was doing the restoration and he had no idea of the two different emblems, he asked me to send him mine so he could see what I was talking about! Like I was going to do that...All to say if the emblems are wrong? then is the color wrong even at the museum? There was some talk that the K models didn;t change the emblems in 54 to the BT ones, they only lost the script line underneath. I could never get any answers on that one. I look forward to some of your guys thoughts on this one!
Cheers

[Blupacer]

Thank you Motor Company

I agree with JLI post !
The MOCO has cared about me as a customer for almost 47 years. I have recieved THE ENTHUSTAST since MAY 1962. What other company would keep in contact and It's free.
Just think about the number of employees and management changes in 100 years. Can you
gave a true history of your company for the last 20 years?
The MOCO has given me an identity (THE HARLEY GUY) and a place to go and meet good people. Sure I have seen all the changes in the MOCO that make some people feel left out.
But it is a business after all with employees and share holders to look after. I can go any were in the World and walk into a Dealer and feel at home. I still look forword to new models each year. I have seen old dealer go away (real bike shops) for super stores, but were have all the 5 and dimes and nickle ice creames gone? The TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING
STEVE

[c.o.]

Interesting take on things Steve. I haven't paid attention to new models from H-D since the Special Flame Job edition Wide Glide in 1985, but then again I don't like much that's new. Just a weird quirk I guess. I'm glad things have worked out for you with the MotorCo. It's obvious they've done something right along the way. We all know how long they've been in business that's for sure! I sure miss the ol' five and dimes though.......

[bmh]

Jurassic, How many pages are there to that announcement? Could you post the rest? I find it fascinating. One thing puzzles me though, the statement that the company was organized in 1903 and then states that 1954 is the Golden anniversary? Perhaps this was more about trying to prop up sagging sales than it was about celebrating a milestone. That whole letter just smacks of ad copy. Maybe things haven't changed as much as we think.

[jwl]

Since we are splitting hairs on this anniversary deal, here are my calculations. If the company started sometime in 1903 then according to my calculations at some point in 1953 they would have marked 50 years in business. If that day happened to be in the second half of the year then the 54's were on the assembly line so it is easy to see why they got the 50 year badge. Had the company prematurely started putting badges on the 53 models they would have had to have done that sometime in the last half of 52 as that is when the 53 run started. Some then would be saying that they had jumped the gun and were bragging about being 50 years old before they actually were. As the old saying goes, "You can't please all of the people all of the time".

[jurassic]

page 4

[jurassic]

Perhaps, and this is just a thought, the madalions were placed on the 54's to celebrate 50 years of production. This could not have been done in 53 as the 50th year of production was just then in progress. Perhaps the concept of not being able to celebrate a milestone untill it had passed led to some fuzzy math. I don't know, but if I had to guess who got it wrong my money is on AMF in 78.

brian's thoughts here ,i found interesting.was there a different way of observing an anniversary in the old days? i noticed the same thing in the 1929 enthusiast that chris posted.1930 marks 26 years of success ,yet we started in 1903.pretty much everything jwl said too.

[jurassic]

[jurassic]

actually the 1929 enthusiast states that the 1930 models are "backed" by 26 years of success.does that mean that for 26 years prior to the advent of the 1930 models the company was a success.? could the 1954 models be backed by 50 years of success. another interesting thing i noticed in the factory letter ,and the 29 enthusiast,is the stress on the "opening" or "showing".the 50th anniversary "showing" was on sept. 5 1953,almost exactly 50 years to the day of the 100th anniversary. was this showing ,in every harley dealer in the country ,the company's celebration?or was there a 50th anniversary celebration held somewhere?

[jurassic]

from chris's previous post aug 14 1953

[bmh]

Perhaps Sept 5th is actually the date it all began. Open house at the York plant has always been held around that time. Very curious indeed. Also Bear54 mentioned the tank emblems being different. I did some looking around at photos here and they did indeed change, although much earlier than 1954.It seems that chrome plated brass ones with the letters very much squared off on top were used until very early in the 52 season and then were replaced by what appears to be a stainless version with the tops of the letters rounded off. I have seen some of these emblems for sale at meets from time to time that appear to be bronze, very similar in finsh to the anniversarry fender medalion. Guess I always figured them to be unfinished repops, but now I'm not so sure. anyone know if the factory ever used these emblems? I've never seen them on a big twin but maybe a 1954 K model? or 125?

[bear54]

Hi Brain

Interesting find you have, but I wonder what about the flat top version that I had in an unopened box with a -54 part number? That would suggest that the "square tops" didn't come out until late 53 or 54?
Bear

[Jerry Wieland]

I have always seen the rounded off emblems on the 51 to 53's and the squared off emblems on the 54's - not to say it could not be different than that. Does the script for sure have 2 different numbers. I have never checked that.

Jerry

[bmh]

The blue tanks are on a mid year 51 in original metallic blue. note the sharp square tops and the brass peaking through under the chrome at the edges. The green set is on an early 52, while re-painted by the current owner in the mid 60's it has its original emblems. note that it now appears to be stainless steel and the tops of the letters are now rounded. The white set is on a late year 52 and now another slight change, the "on" at the end of the script are no longer flat letters but appear stylized in 3-D. The red set are on one of the very first 54's off the line and these are the same as the later 52 version. the very earliest 52's I've seen still had the brass version. The versions not mounted are some of the bronze ones I referred too earlier. These are modern re-pops sold by H-D. I have never seen a bike with a set like that on, but I also don't know why the Factory would re-pop something that was never used originally. Now that I've started looking this is what I've found. Most period photos don't have enough resolution to see these details to confirm any of this so all I have to go on are the surviving original machines.