Saturday evening post

[kval]

I really don't want to speak for Kevin or officially interpret the handbook but this question usually comes up at the Judge's Breakfast before every event. I think what Kevin means is that the bike should have all the original equipment that came with a "canned" option package, like a Deluxe Solo option group, no substitutions as you say. Things that were strictly add-ons are treated as I mentioned above. So, a bike that did not originally come with saddle bags could have anything that was available at the time.

But, after looking at the cover photo that Barry posted earlier, I would also guess that there are limits. Just how much is TOO much is another question.

Mike

Mike
you are correct, an accesory that was available in the time period and does not detract from the bike is OK that one that Barry posted would be hard to find the bike under all that stuff I wonder how many batteries it takes to run all that

[Rubone]

Herb,
Here are a couple pics of some old Brookfield bags. The smaller one is the common size on rigid machines, the larger is typically mounted to a Duo-Glide. The big one is large enough to basically put a '60s fiberglass bag inside with room to spare. They are truly big!
Robbie

[schmittm]

Kevin once mentioned that an accessory is an add on and shouldn't replace an original part.

I really don't want to speak for Kevin or officially interpret the handbook but this question usually comes up at the Judge's Breakfast before every event. I think what Kevin means is that the bike should have all the original equipment that came with a "canned" option package, like a Deluxe Solo option group, no substitutions as you say. Things that were strictly add-ons are treated as I mentioned above. So, a bike that did not originally come with saddle bags could have anything that was available at the time.

But, after looking at the cover photo that Barry posted earlier, I would also guess that there are limits. Just how much is TOO much is another question.

Mike

[Chris Haynes]

Nothing should occur Herb, those items are accessories. According to the AMCA Judging Handbook an accessory should not add or subtract points during the judging process.

I'm sure Kevin will jump in here and clarify this but it has always been my understanding that accessories are completely ignored during judging unless they are totally inappropriate for the bike or the year of manufacture. You shouldn't have 1962 stuff on a 1952 machine, but things that were available and offered for sale when the bike was new are perfectly OK.

Mike

Kevin once mentioned that an accessory is an add on and shouldn't replace an original part.

[c.o.]

How about this on the cover of Walneck's, November 1992. Brookfield saddle looks nice but the rest????? ( I like cabbage cutters)

What the hell was the builder of that monster thinkin'? I've seen cabbage cutters work on less cluttered Pans but the trend of seeing how much you could bolt on a bike is lost on me...

[schmittm]

what would then occur?

Nothing should occur Herb, those items are accessories. According to the AMCA Judging Handbook an accessory should not add or subtract points during the judging process.

I'm sure Kevin will jump in here and clarify this but it has always been my understanding that accessories are completely ignored during judging unless they are totally inappropriate for the bike or the year of manufacture. You shouldn't have 1962 stuff on a 1952 machine, but things that were available and offered for sale when the bike was new are perfectly OK.

Mike

How about this on the cover of Walneck's, November 1992. Brookfield saddle looks nice but the rest????? ( I like cabbage cutters)

[HarleyCreation]

Panhead "Leather Dressers"

Brookfield bags and seats were pretty common in the Chicago-land area in the 60s. I suppose they were big with the dresser fans in the 50s too, but I was too young to notice !

A friend of mine bought a set of three in the later 70s for his 53 FL. He was big on vintage stuff, and the bags added a lot to the looks of his machine They were really heavy and looked like they'd stop a .22. point blank.
VPH-D

That's good info.

Mine ended up in West Bend, Wis., not too far from Chicago. I can also remember when I still was a chopper freak seeing a pair of BIG white fringed saddlebags with a matching seat hanging up in Pater's H-D in Racine. I would guess they were another pair of these Brookfield/Otrusina jobs, but in size extra-large.

Yes, mine are very heavy thick leather. I agree, good looking too. Makes early rigid Pan into "leather-dresser" and increases motorcycle as iron horse metaphor. Tex bike falls short in that respect.

I wonder when Brookfield company folded and what happened to Mr. Otrusina? We know they were still making Brookfield bags in 1958 when Harry Molenaar got that postcard ad, but how much longer did it last?

I suppose leather bags went out of fashion once hard bags came along. Being hand-crafted of leather they must have been big buck to make. Due-Glide shocks probably messed them up some too. Not water-proof either. But they sure made a loveable bike. Not yet the over-accessoried FLs of the later '50s & 60s but not the sparse Knucklehead look either. A kind of in-between style that didn't last long and apparently did not catch on nation-wide. Possibly a Midwestern thing.

The big long fringed bags to my eyes are a perfect addition to the massive and gleaming Hydra-Glide fork and the most useful windshield. Not to forget the little "purse" mounted above the handlebars. Such an FL looks perfectly balanced from stem to stern. Tasteful and not garishly overdone. Highly rideable under all road and weather conditions too.

No cheap gewgaws needed or cabbage cutter bumper utensil. But this being Wisconsin cabbage cutter would be good for making sauerkraut from roadside cabbage field on long ride to go along with brats & beer!

[HarleyCreation]

I was merely poking fun at how austere AMCA restoration requirements have destroyed so much priceless history.

....Cotten

Excuse my ignorance, but how does that apply to these Brookfield (Joe Otrusina) saddlebags and seats?

That is, if a guy had an otherwise correct Panhead with a set of these long-fringed bags and a "fat" fringed Buddy Seat and then entered it for AMCA judging in the correct class, what would then occur?

[vph-d]

Brookfield bags and seats were pretty common in the Chicago-land area in the 60s. I suppose they were big with the dresser fans in the 50s too, but I was too young to notice !

A friend of mine bought a set of three in the later 70s for his 53 FL. He was big on vintage stuff, and the bags added a lot to the looks of his machine They were really heavy and looked like they'd stop a .22. point blank.
VPH-D

[Chris Haynes]

Stelling & Hellings went out of business many, many years ago. Their store in Burbank, CA still had their signage on it till a couple years ago.
Tom Faber is repoping some of their stuff.

Interesting observation. What is the Stelling ? and Helling story? I noticed a neat pair of Stelling risers on Dale Walksler's "Jules Verne" bike at Eustis last year. They must be nearly unobtanium.

[T. Cotten]

Every time I thought I found a set of Flanders bars on a machine, they turned out to be Hellings. I still don't know the difference.

Lots of wonderful Flanders risers out there, though!

....Cotten

Speaking of cool period accessories how about Earl Flander's handlebars ? Have you seen what they are paying for those things these days? Jim Dennie just got $1200 for a bent set , off to Japan. Trivia fact , Earl was from Saskatchewan but he wasn't a "Saskatchewhiner" ( Steven Colbert) , got smart and moved to Los Angeles in the 40's.

[T. Cotten]

I was merely poking fun at how austere AMCA restoration requirements have destroyed so much priceless history.


....Cotten