auction sale result - harley racer

[HarleyCreation]

Less "Freak" more "Home Brew"

Thanks Eric.

It's a relief learning those are Peashooter and not 4-valve heads. That makes it less of a "freak" (sorry for the demotion Harry) and more of a poor man's OHV "Home Brew." Altho I have never seen period pictures of one on a "J" road bottom, one can easily imagine some happy speed enthusiast of the day working in some shop adapting Peashooter or 30.50 Single components. This would give him an OHV V-twin when Harley was still only (c1926) building the nearly unobtainable 8-valve.

In little color book and elsewhere we have documented such Home Brews beginning in 1926-'27 when Oscar Lenz and Ralph Moore "picked up the pipe" and then modified Peashooter OHV components on a V-twin base, although the ones I have seen always used the 2-cam bottom. Then in 1928 H-D made a few such 2-cam/OHV hillclimbers before the 29-DAH motor came along, and Bill Knuth took it another step further with his "Knuth Special." But someone, somewhere, probably did what Harry did in his "fun" bike using a road "J" bottom and Peashooter OHV tops.

But since Peashooters were 21-inch and "J" motor was a 61-incher while the auction blurb says "74," what is the true displacement of this motor? What pistons are in it? What mods were made to the heads and how? What cylinders are on it?

This would be good stuff to know about an interesting modern Home Brew that must have provided lots of fun ("viel Spaß") while it held together.

[Eric MATHIEU]

Open your eyes those are peashooter heads on the freak bike not 8 valve.
"Fast Harry" knows how to build cool race bikes with character. "The Freak" is fast as hell against the WRs but he kept blowing up the bottom end on those weak JD cases. Now he races "The Monster" 2 cam 8 valve. No one stands a chance even when he races with the Sidecar and his wife in it the other guys look like they are standing still (and I mean Norton Manx & stuff like that not our slow WRs)
Eric

[rwm]

some where i have a weslake jawa 4 valve pushrod head.i lways wanted to try it on a hack up jd cylinder. i just can remember where i put the 4 valve head

some 30 years ago there was at least one JD , in Sweden I believe that had been converted to an 8 valve by dropping on a pair of Rudge 4 valve top ends. I recall reading that it was just about a direct fit. It always sounded to me like a great way to build a poor man's 8 valve as Rudge had a very successfull and well designed setup

[HarleyCreation]

his 8 valve top end looks like some sort of aviation top end. the heads come off of the cylinders.

Really?

Then it's even more of a curiosity and we need the full story!

What are you looking at to see that stuff?

This is what I've been saying. Once we know the truth and provenance of a given machine, then we can have fun learning its real history no matter if it was built yesterday or 80 years ago.

Like fabercycle said: "It is what it is."

PS: Is this motor an 8-valve or a 4-valve? The pictures are very small and reading the blurb again, it's rather vague and confusing in the details.

[rwm]

his 8 valve top end looks like some sort of aviation top end. the heads come off of the cylinders.

[HarleyCreation]

Harry's 8-valve "J"

yes Tom Faber is right,i built this bike to having fun on europeans race tracks to beat WR´s before getting the 8-valve upgrade
watch the video of the OHV freak bike,also have some pics inside the engine if somebody interested
Harry
founder of the Racedepartement Germany
http://www.myvideo.de/watch/3019587/...perimental_OHV

Harry:

Bitte, kannst du bei uns die Geschichte deine sehr interassant Freak acht-klappe modell "J" OHV "fun" bike erzahlen?

Ja, inneres & andere Bilder von diese Motor wird viel Spass zu sehen!

It would be great to hear the history of this job. Where and how you found the bike or parts; the build-story; and the performance you got out of it.

What was its solo top speed? How much speed was gained after the 8-valve top was plopped down on it? If you ever dyno tested it, how many revs did it turn wide open?

Grussen nach AMCA Deutschland und H-D Race Department Germany aus der USA!

[8 valve]

auction result

yes Tom Faber is right,i built this bike to having fun on europeans race tracks to beat WR´s before getting the 8-valve upgrade
watch the video of the OHV freak bike,also have some pics inside the engine if somebody interested
Harry
founder of the Racedepartement Germany

http://www.myvideo.de/watch/3019587/Harley_1926_experimental_OHV

[HarleyCreation]

"if i have to explain it you wouldn't understand"

Good one Fritz!

Or as I've said about early H-D: Until somebody explains, nobody will ever understand.

[HarleyCreation]

Sarge, I already tried to make it clear, this was a contemporary race machine, that's why it has the modern throttle twist, because race rules require a spring return throttle, I'm sure the carbs are Dellorto's with a remote float bowl, because they're on a crazy 'gas spilling' angle. Bonhams is obviously a owner or two away from the real story, so maybe they don't know sh_ _ .

Even if they "lost" the history of this freak, the auction house should know enough to describe the bike honestly: i.e. modern parts, repro components, etc. When they don't do that it raises suspicions.

[HarleyCreation]

had the top end been real, the top end alone would be worth 10 times what the whole bike sold for.thats how rare real harley 8 valve top ends are.

That says it all and why this motor looks odd and even silly to me. Or in the lingo of the day, a "freak."

A very rare and exotic 8-valve "type" top sitting on a poor-man's bottom. Even 1920s home-brews using modified Peashooter heads and cylinders had the more efficient and faster acting two-cam racing bottom. This motor is at odds with old racing photos and looks like it was slapped together with an exotic repro top and the only bottom the builder had, the common cheap road model. It's like mating a thoroughbred to a plow nag. Doesn't make much sense considering what we know about early racers. As a modern-make parts bike for speed thrills it's fine, but it's not an authentic Harley racer restoration or replica.

Until the auction houses accurately describe these machines, it's up to enthusiasts to discuss them. And why not? Look how much good we've learned about early Harleys doing that.

[jurassic]

so if by chance i had a real 8 valve lower end,and heck even a real frame,and i buy a new 8 valve top end ,and spend the time to make it completly undetectable. then will it pass amca guidelines?

[jurassic]

now i understand ,the amca is just demanding a higher standard of excellence from repop frame builders. i agree,most repop frames take days of filing,grinding ,and hand shaping to make them undetectable.most restorers skip this painful task.

[Harleyson's]

Mystery Black Widow

"if i have to explain it you wouldn't understand"

[Sargehere]

You have to wrap your mind around the fact that if it looks exactly like the original it's "okay," just like any other repop part. IF it has the hallmarks, the casting numbers as the were, and where they belong. What is stopping is our ignoring "pretty good" repop frames, thereby "passing pretty good" frames on to our descendants as originals, certifying a Winners' Circle of Excellence bike as "exemplary of the marque, model and year that it was built," diluting and muddying the waters for later generations. It's all in what you can see, or don't see, which is all that it can be.
How do we do that? By passing our knowledge, now on to apprentice judges, creating our next generation of marque experts. And the more documentation the better that we can write down to guide them. That's the only way it can be.