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After several years of saving I finally decided it was time to get my dream bike. Yes, a nice old Harley. A 1935 VLD in fact. Well, not using a whole lot of smarts I spotted one on the web (ebay) and just had to have it. I called the guy a couple of times and had seen that he had ran it through Mecums auctions in Las Vegas in January and was going to do it again in June, so I talked my brother into driving with me to get it. Oh, I was so mesmerized by the shiny red and black paint, single seat and springer forks. I just had to have it. I made several huge mistakes when buying anything and probably the biggest mistake is trusting someone that I didn't know. This bike was put together to sell, it definitely wasn't intended to ride as I quickly found out on the few rides I took it on before I started my complete tear down. First time out a couple of nuts and bolts came off and on my final ride a wire to the coil had come off. During my half mile push home the light bulb in my head finally turned on, maybe I should go over the whole bike and see what else is loose or not right. I didn't know a whole lot about VLD's, in fact, nothing about Flatheads, Knuckleheads, Pans, Shovels or any other beauty that Harley Davidson put on the road in the early days. Fortunately shortly after I got my bike I was told about AMCA's Dixon event. Drove about an hour and a half and spent the whole day with so many GREAT people that truly LOVE old bikes. Lucky for me there were several guys that where eager to talk to me about how much enjoyment I will have owning, riding, learning about, and of course working on my bike. As I take more and more of my bike apart, I continue to find things that were broken, left off or just put together with no grease, because they didn't care. I know all of this sounds bad, but the last couple of months have been a great learning experience and I'm sure the next several months will even be better. Again lucky to have gone to Dixon, so many guys pointed me in the right direction......"get Steve Slocombe's book, get Johnny Sell's book, get in touch with Dave "Rat" at Harbor Vintage, get in touch with Tom at Replicant metals" . Well, all those guys were right, the books really are helpful, especially for a guy like me, who knew nothing and still has A LOT to learn about vintage Harley Davidsons. As for guys that truly love these bikes, I couldn't speak more highly of Steve Slocombe, Dave Scherk and Tom Feeser who all I have called more than once to bend their ear. Most of my parts have come from Tom and Dave, just because they are here in the United States. I'm sure Tom from Replicant metals is close to blocking my number and red flagging my e-mail as much as I have contacted him. Well, time to get outside and work on the bike! Gonna include a couple of pics. of what she looked like when I got her and what she looks like now. Happy ridin'!
Chessie Jake
Chessie Jake
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