Intersting information

[Steve Little]

Hi. Here is an intersting story and a couple of original Harley drawings:

http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/harley-davidson_pre-teen_v-twin_jd_flathead_knucklehead_panhead_shovelhead_designs?page=0%2C0

Regards Steve

[c.o.]

Thanks for the link Steve!!! Interesting indeed! It's a sad story re-told but what a great find at the "tiny hole-in-the-wall gift shop in Milwaukee"! I wonder where the rest of the drawings are?

[Chris Haynes]

Thanks for the link Steve!!! Interesting indeed! It's a sad story re-told but what a great find at the "tiny hole-in-the-wall gift shop in Milwaukee"! I wonder where the rest of the drawings are?

In the furnace.

[c.o.]

In the furnace.

O.K. I should have specified... I was referring to the other drawings that survived.

[Chris Haynes]

O.K. I should have specified... I was referring to the other drawings that survived.

I guess you need to use the link and read the story again. In it you will find "Recognizing the importance of the original drawings, Hall and Smith struck a deal for the entire motherlode.".

[c.o.]

Yup, you are correct there. I was just wondering if there are any other drawings that were made public other than the ones made available in the article.

[Slojo]

Incredible ! I sure could have used the frame print while building the Ghost for M/C Cannonball.
Joe

[Slojo]

In 2003 John Harley (a true gentleman) accompanied Bruce Lindsday Calvin Burnett and I around Milwaukee during the 100 year anniversary celebrations. Among our several Milwakee tour stops we visited was the shop where William Harley's work was displayed, these very engineering prints we are now viewing. The prints we saw were produced and signed by non other than William S. Harley. William also was an exceptional artist, his drawings of Ducks and other wild life fowl were displayed. William's ability to draw was second to none from what I have seen in my years.

Following the art shop stop we rode our bikes (1905 HD single Bruce, 1911 HD double mine and 1915 HD twin Calvin) to the cemetery where past Harley family members have been laid to rest. Parking our bikes on and near the ground that holds in time the great men behind the Harley of Harley Davidson. Herb Wagner accompanied this event and recorded it on film, where are you on this Herb?
Joe

[HarleyCreation]

In 2003 John Harley (a true gentleman) accompanied Bruce Lindsday Calvin Burnett and I around Milwaukee during the 100 year anniversary celebrations. Among our several Milwakee tour stops we visited was the shop where William Harley's work was displayed, these very engineering prints we are now viewing. The prints we saw were produced and signed by non other than William S. Harley. William also was an exceptional artist, his drawings of Ducks and other wild life fowl were displayed. William ability to draw was second to none from what I have seen in my years.

Following the art shop stop we rode our bikes (1905 HD single Bruce, 1911 HD double mine and 1915 HD twin Calvin) to the cemetery where past Harley family members have been laid to rest. Parking our bikes on and near the ground that holds in time the great men behind the Harley of Harley Davidson. Herb Wagner accompanied this event and recorded it on film, where are you on this Herb?
Joe

That was a great day. John Harley and his wife Kate were happy and proud that we wanted to visit "grandfather" a the cemetery.

When you think of it, William Sylvester Harley really is grandfather to all of us who have loved his machines over the years going back to that first 1904 prototype--and no mistake!

Funny, but I just commented on my "Det." thread about this Harley-D blueprint holocaust. I had heard of it from an old guy. But this cache of 250 wasn't the only stuff saved. I myself have one or two small drawings another old guy gave to me from some that he saved. But mine are not very good ones. No motors or major parts. Just small stuff. But I think I picked one or two with 1936 part numbers on them.

Gee, I wonder why?

I'd be curious to know if there are names on these drawings identifying who actually created them. The parts themselves are fairly well known to us, but less so the men behind them. Old Bill Harley had a staff of talented men who have largely been lost to history because they were rarely spoken about or given publicity. In my work I always try to identify these other guys when possible and esp. did so in my major work on the 36EL development: Doerner, Kuehn, Thoma, Featherley, etc.

That was also the first time Lothar A. Doerner got credit as Bill Harley's right-hand man and a guy Kauper described as an "engineer's engineer."

Doerner had a real history. He was a U-boot engineer in the Kaiser's navy (Kriegsmarine) during WWI. After the war ended, he came to the USA and H-D hired him right off the boat in Milwaukee. He was Assistant Chief Engineer under Mr. Harley and in charge of EL design before it was approved by Mr. Harley himself. That U-boot background led me to wonder if the compact EL design was partly Doener's influence (Supreme EL Beauty="like the well-packed innards of a U-boot.")

If you ever ride the Great River Road (Hwy-35) in Wisconsin south of LaCrosse, pause in the little town of Victory and have a beer in Doerner's memory. Because he was killed there in early 1937 while on a test trip riding the new models with other engineering and experiemental department guys from H-D when he struck a pothole in the road.

Old Bill Harley was truly a great great man and we owe him a lot, but he had other greats working for him too, and their names or initials may be on some of these old drawings.

[Chris Haynes]

Bruce Palmer III is in Milwaukee and he visited the graves of the Founding Fathers yesterday.

[BEK]

Here's a picture of the event.1905 HD Brucegrave.jpg