Great Cover! 1909 H-D V-twin Up Close and Personal

[HJahn]

Just got the Spring issue of The Antique Motorcycle mag. The cover has gotta be one of the best ever. There is something very futuristic looking (to me) about that 1909 Harley-Davidson V-twin. Almost like something out of a space ship.

Ain't it cool looking?

[Earl]

I love the early harleys. They were so symmetrical in layout and design. Wouldn't it be great to take a peak inside that cam cover.

Does anybody know, has the factory ever had that off for a picture?

[HJahn]

Flying Saucers

Yeah, the top of those cylinders look like flying saucers to me. And the way the intake manifold comes down with a "V" shape balances the V-twin cylinder layout. The exhaust pipes drop down from the cylinders very nicely too, and the exhaust ports with finning on the cylinders look so pretty. The magneto gear train looks to be a bit of an add-on, which it apparently was, but it also has a subtle "V" shape.

That Bill Harley had more than a little artist in him! IMO, this was their best-looking motor until the 1936 Knucklehead. They should bring this look back!

Don't know if the gear cover was ever off, but there appears to be a screw missing, so maybe somebody started -- unless it vibrated out.

Gotta wonder what the history of that bike is, and how many miles on that motor. Frame details show how heavy-duty those bikes were by then. Look at those (forged?) frame fittings and large diameter tubing!

Have you read the accompanying article on the early V-twins yet?

[HJahn]

Article on first H-D V-twins claims that some unidentified club member has a tank-strap style V-twin Harley replica under construction. If that's true, wouldn't it be great? None of that type seems to have survived. Even the MoCo doesn't have one. The factory's 1909 V-twin shown on the cover is NOT the tank-strap variety as these were made in the 1907-1908 model years.

It's possible, just possible, that Harley's first V-twin is rusting away in some farm junkpile or covered with dust in a farm hayloft.

One can dream, as I have seen some stunning Alladdin Cave caches of antique Harley-Davidsons in my time!

[Earl]

Originally posted by HJahn
Article on first H-D V-twins claims that some unidentified club member has a tank-strap style V-twin Harley replica under construction. If that's true, wouldn't it be great? None of that type seems to have survived. Even the MoCo doesn't have one. The factory's 1909 V-twin shown on the cover is NOT the tank-strap variety as these were made in the 1907-1908 model years.

It's possible, just possible, that Harley's first V-twin is rusting away in some farm junkpile or covered with dust in a farm hayloft.

One can dream, as I have seen some stunning Alladdin Cave caches of antique Harley-Davidsons in my time!

That Twin article was great!!!

And that club member who is recreating a strap-tank V-twin must be one patient dude, with a great interest in the early harleys, who can dream.............and is trying to make the dream come alive.........

Hopefully it won't be a schwinn with a honda motor........

but an attempt at taking what's known, and with a little reverse engineering...........

creating what the first V-twin most likely looked like.

I can't wait to see it !!!

[HJahn]

dem V-twins

It would take time and great effort to replicate one of those tank-strap twins. Probably years. But it would be a great labor of love and dedication to the memory of the real beginnings of Harley-Davidson. As we know from other threads on this forum, some others have tried to cop that origin legacy and traditon on the cheap.

Shame!

Did you see that crude sketch or doodle in the article? From Bill Harley's college notebook?

Do you think that really could be a rough daydreaming sketch of a V-twin layout?

It does kind of look like it....

[Earl]

Re: dem V-twins

Originally posted by HJahn
It would take time and great effort to replicate one of those tank-strap twins. Probably years. But it would be a great labor of love and dedication to the memory of the real beginnings of Harley-Davidson.

Did you see that crude sketch or doodle in the article? From Bill Harley's college notebook?

Do you think that really could be a rough daydreaming sketch of a V-twin layout?

It does kind of look like it....

Quite possibly Bill Harley saw somebody else's twin motor, and was doodling, because the lecture was boring, and trying to figure out, ok, now how did they do that......

He has struck me as a very practical man.
By that I mean, he didn't reinvent something that was already done. He was aware of what was on the market, and what worked, and what didn't work. He used what worked.

For example,......how many times have you read that Bill Harley "invented" the leading link front suspension. That's even written in the MoCo's own "official" publications.

The truth is, he didn't. He didn't have to invent it, because the Sagar front end was already on the market. It worked, so he used it, and made the early Harley machines a comfortable riding experience.

[HJahn]

Good description of Mr. Harley. Somewhere I heard they later had a motto: (I'm talking the original real pre-AmF Harley-Davidson now), something like: "We might not always be first, but when we do it, we do it right."

That seems more or less true. Because H-D didn't invent the loopframe either, or like you said Earl, that style spring fork. But it appears to me that after H-D adopted the Sager spring fork, then Bill Harley improved it. He kept the basic design but beefed it up for 1908. It's my hunch that Sager didn't do that update on it.

Something interesting I read that Sager backwards is Regas, and you see that name on early motorcycle stuff. I think on rear springing like the Milwaukee Merkel used.

Too bad these early motorcycle pioneers didn't leave a better record. That little doodle that looks sort of like a V-twin cylinder layout was in some college notebooks of Bill Harley's. There must have been motorcycle design notebooks from the same period. I wondered what happened to those and the original drawings? Just thrown away? Still floating around? In some Milwaukee attic?