HD JD I-beam fork facts

[Chris Haynes]

I wonder why not one factory photo ever showed them in 28-29 pictures.

Tom,
Most of the factory photos were taken of either prototypes or very early production models. If something changed after that, most times, is no photo.

[Tommo]

Tom,
Most if not all of the 2 cammers that came to NZ were raced on the beach or the grass and most period photos of these bikes show them fitted with either 1920's style forks or the early narrow 1914 style forks.
My feelings are that the serious racer would have taken one look at the weight of those forged forks and taken them out and replaced them with the lighter earlier type. As brakes of any kind were not allowed when beach or grass track racing here in NZ this would also help to make the riders mind up as to whether or not he ditched the I beam forks.
I only know of 4 sets of I beam forks surviving here in NZ and only about the same number of 2 cam motors so maybe NZ only got 5 to 10 2 cammers in total.
The last HD racer Percy Coleman rode was a 2 cammer which he switched top ends in to suit the tracks and events he was racing in. 8 valve for out and out speed or FHAC for endurance.
Percy Coleman, Tui Morgan and Doug Collison always talked about their Harley 2 speeds and until very recently we couldn't figure out exactly what they meant. Most photos of the Coleman 8 valve show a cross-over drive that is achieved by using a single/45 style gearbox.
Now all grass track racing in the early days was from a dead engine start and each rider was allowed 2 pushers to get him started but if he had a high enough gear ratio to achieve race speeds his 2 pushers couldn't push fast enough to get going, solution fit a gearbox.
The rules were that if you selected a higher gear of any kind during the race you were not allowed during that race to select a lower ratio so only one gearchange was ever needed in a race.
All grass track and beach races were in an anti-clockwise direction and racing forces with a left-hand side drive tended to pull the frame on that side witch resulted in the tendency of one or the other of the chains coming off. I don't know who was the first to use a gearbox with cross-over drive but pictures do exist taken in 1928 showing Percy Coleman with such a set-up and this solution helped to keep chains on.
Recently while chasing down a Smiths rev counter I was in an old workshop not far from where Tui Morgan lived when I spotted a single gearbox in the corner and asked the son of the man who had set up this workshop if it was for sale.
His reply was that his dad got it from an old guy down the road ( I suspect Tui Morgan) but that it wasn't much good as second gear was all messed up in it but if I wanted it I was welcome to it as nobody else wanted it.
I couldn't that 2 speed home quick enough and when I opened it up all was revealed. On the layshaft cluster gear all the teeth had been ground off 2nd gear and now the penny dropped on this 2 speed the old guys were talking about.
The 2 pushers push off with the bike in low gear to enable easier starting and once the rider has wound his bike up to maximum in that gear all he has to do is hit the kill switch and pull the gear lever right back into his racing gear and he's away.
What I'm trying to say here is most if not all of those bikes would have been grabbed up for racing here in NZ, it is very likely they didn't even get out of the importers warehouse and were allocated to the racing guns of the day who in turn modified them to suit our racing conditions. There's even pictures of a Banjo case 8 valve motor in a 1828 teardrop tank frame so the guys were up-dating their 8 valves into a later chassis with a gearbox in an effort to keep up with the competition.
This is a hell of a long-winded way of saying that, in NZ at least, most of the new bikes that would have been fitted with I beam forks most probably were modified before they ever left the showroom floor and consequently no photographs exist.
I hope this all makes sense and is of interest and not too far off the subject.
Carl,
I'm sorry if this is not the sort of thing you were looking for.

[Tommo]

OOPS! I got a WITCH in there instead of a WHICH but I'm sure you all know what I mean

[exeric]

You are a treasure Tommo.

[c.o.]

You are a treasure Tommo.

You can say that again.

[big jesus 151]

Hail to Tommo !!

Hello Tommo,Carl here, as pilot of the #3 JD boardtrack team, racing a forged I beam fork, I cherished every word. Thank you very much !!!! Carl Estes Big Jesus 151 Pusherman Racing

[koanes]

The info about the racing transmission solved a mystery for me. Years ago I had a 29C model HD project. I bought a transmission for it at one of the major meets, and when I peeked inside I saw that the second gear on the cluster had been very cleanly ground away. The grinding was done not with a pedastal grinder or a sidewinder, but by a professional with proper machinery. I assumed it was done as a repair to keep the trans in service after a broken gear tooth, but it was too nicely done to be a backyard repair. Relative to the fork, I have a friend in Denver with a 1929 2-cam project purchased from Elmer Sumpter, a Los Angeles area Harley dealer that packed up his stuff and moved to Phoenix, Arizona in the sixties. Elmer told Pat when he bought the bike that the I-beam fork was used on the factory hillclimb machines. Elmer was a character, but he was a very good source of info and parts on 20s+30s machines. I hung around a bit when he'd let me, and it was fun to watch him deal with people. He always told people the part he was selling was the last one he had, when in truth, I had just seen him sort through a half dozen or more to pick out the worst one to sell.

[Perry Ruiter]

I have in my collection a number of Parts Book Supplements, some of which are factory dated but most are not. They are HD printed loose leaf leaflets that were posted to the dealers with the intention they were to be glued into the appropiate Parts book.
One such leaflet is headed "1928 Parts Book Supplement", it is a single page, printed on both sides and in the section headed "Parts Used on 1928 H Motors" there is a short introductory paragraph that reads as follows;
Quote;
The following parts are the same as used on L motors for 1928; cylinders, pistons, rings, pins, connecting rods, bushings, flywheels bare, carburettors. These H models are fitted with narrow tanks, solo handlebars, forged front forks and small wheels (25 x 3.85) as standard equiptment. All other parts are the same as used on standard models unless listed below.
Unquote;
This is the only reference I've ever found of the J model I beam or as they call it the forged front forks. Like the narrow tanks there is no part number reference that I have been able to find but an old Jones Brothers employee ( Jones Brothers were the NZ importers) reckons these parts were included in a special parts book that covered the racing stuff and that only importers got copies of it.
Somewhere on this site is a copy of this supplement that I sent to the then Admin guy and he put it up on line for me.
As Perry says so much was lost during the change over and those involved have got a lot to answer for.
Hope this helps.

As that supplement sounds like something I would have kept a copy of, I went hunting on my hard drive. I came across a scan of a two page 28 supplement and I thought I'd found it. BUT - while it's virtually identical to the one that Tommo quotes above, there is no mention of a forged fork (possibly implying the forged fork was added sometime after March 1st 1928, the date of the supplement) ... Perry

[Tommo]

Here's a couple of photos that you won't have seen.
If I can get them up they show Harry Mangham in 1929 with a Jones Brothers 2 cam racer and a close-up of the power-plant.
I'll expand if I succeed in getting them up.

[Tommo]

Well what do you know it worked. Maybe the old chap is learning.
If you look closely at the motor photo you can see a single / 45 gearbox that has been tilted on it's side to fit in between the tyre and the seat tube. A fairly large gearbox sprocket is fitted and a clutch pedal is visible above the footrest.
Now all this looks very professionally done and while not wanting to take anything away from the local mechanics/engineers of the time it all looks more like a factory job rather than something done here in NZ.

Koanes,
My 2 speed is a professional job that I suspect was done at the factory before the cluster gear was heat treated because if you rub a file over where the gear has been removed it is very hard suggesting the whole cluster was hardened after the teeth were removed. The second gear teeth on the mainshaft sliding gear appear to have never been in mesh also suggesting that this modification was done at the factory using new parts.

Have a look guys and I'd be very interested in your thoughts on the subject. Is this a factory job or just a Kiwi lash-up.
If anybody can put these photos up full size please go for it as the detail in the originals is exceptional

[c.o.]

Tommo......Great pics! Here's the powerplant pic blown up but I didn't do the other one. I see that it has a zoom feature on it when you open it. It opens up to an amazingly large, clear image. I wouldn't do it any justice trying to post it larger. Thanks for sharing this stuff. I too am eager to hear more on this subject!

[Tommo]

Now heres a shot of Percy Coleman on one of his 8 valves.
The quality of this image is not the best but it does show once again the 2 speed gearbox we are talking about.
I'm not going to post any more of my images as I intend putting together a book in scrapbook form that will include all this stuff and if I post it all here none of you will want to buy it because you will already have it all.

[c.o.]

Good thinkin' Tommo! Those pics are quite desireable to an old photo junkie like me! Count me in for a copy when you get your book done!

[rwm]

i'll take one also. great photos

[koanes]

I sold my 29 project and spare parts to John Parham. I imagine he still has it all. It would be interesting to compare that trans to the one you have Tommo. Thank You for your generosity in sharing info and pictures.