Mighty fine 1909

[jurassic]

[jurassic]

Very Cool Bike. I have never though, understood how anyone could say such a thing. That Engine could have been taken apart in 1921 for some reason or another, and to look at it today, EIGHTY EIGHT years later, it could like like it has been together Forever.

the motor on the bike has definatly been apart since it left the factory.i just meant that it does not look like it was taken apart recently ,although it looks like the engine was removed recently. by recently i mean in the last 50 years.

[Earl]

aside from being a 1909,this police bike has some unique features. notice the motor pulley.it appears to be some sort of centrifugal force clutch.what i couldn't understand is how do you pedal start the bike,with no way to engage the clutch.then i noticed the addition of a hand crank hole on the cam cover.this bike also has left hand throttle.there is also a nifty little battery kill switch on the left side of the tool box. on the rear left of the bike there is some sort of bracket mounted to the frame ,that i think may be some sort of belt guide.check out the reinforced rear stand.the bike also had a rear wheel drive gear for the speedo.the speedo was missing ,but thanks to dave lietner was replaced with a perfect example.it looks like the motor was removed from the bike at one time ,but it was never taken apart.all i did to the bike was install the speedo , fix a broken stud on the pedal crank ,add new inner tubes,and some other minor sorting out.something interesting to note is the police lettering.although you can barely make it out in the photos,if you look close,you can see that the gas tank pinstripe stops at the police lettering and makes it way around the top and bottom of the lettering.in my opinion this lettering was done at the factory,and i believe all the other modification were too.this machine now belongs to john parham ,and is on display in anamosa.

Hi Lonnie,
I saw this bike in person when it was under plexiglass at the LaCrosse Harley dealer. Because the bike belonged to the LaCrosse police department, I thought the wierd motor pulley might be some sort of power-take-off for accessories, like maybe an accessory water pump to help the fire department fight a blaze or something like that. When I saw the bike, they had the belt tensioner set up installed upside down and mounted so it really didn't do anything. I even sent them a picture of an '09 single so they could see how it was supposed to be. Glad to see either they, or you, finally straightened that out. Nice bike !!!

[Slojo]

Not quite as fine 09

The 09 left hand throttle is interesting; when I set up my 09 throttle and spark controls the cables were deliberately crossed over from side to side in order to keep to the standard arraignment. My 09 was set up to be a rider and the last thing one wants is confusion while riding. The plug on the right side of the motor appears to be standard on most 09 HDs although there are so few examples to view, its actual purpose to me is uncertain as there is not adequate support for any type of crank starter. Johns 09 is surely a treat to see I shot several photos at Davenport in order to help me with bringing my 09 up to the standard this machine sets. At that time the bike did need some straightening out and Lonnie has done a fantastic job. I will attempt to get photos of my not quite as fine 09 to follow this post.
slojo

[c.o.]

It looks pretty fine to me! Awesome bike Joe!!