1920 Harley Model F

[Robert Luland]

The picture of c and D on the rear cylinder. You are missing 2810-12 Upper rear cylinder mounting bracket. Bob L

[MMasa]

Part 3 fits into hole A on the rod. You are correct, it is part of the magneto advance/retard mechanism. Bob is correct about part 4 and also on the front fender mounting hardware. However, I too have no idea on the small screws. The spring looks to be the spring for the flip on the clutch pedal front side.
There are two separate brackets that fit on that rear cylinder stud. One points forward and is the frame mount bracket. The other faces rearward and the bell crank mounts to it.
Mark

[TechNoir]

Many thanks to Bob and Mark. That makes things much clearer. Plus also thanks to Eric over on CAIMAG who has also helped.

I am now clear on how things fit together and what bits I am missing. Its obvious now that I know, isn’t hat always the case!

I will assume for now that the 8 small screws are strays and put them to one side so as not to confuse me.

John

[TechNoir]

Re: 1920 Harley Model F

Post deleted. My PC crashed and I thought I had lost the previous reply. but then it reappeared after I had posted a second time.

[Tommo]

The spring looks like the one that tensions the front stand clip that mounts on the rear footboard bar

[TechNoir]

The spring looks like the one that tensions the front stand clip that mounts on the rear footboard bar

Tommo, thanks, I know the spring that you refer to. I have that spring and its in place and its a bit bigger than the one I was trying to identify. I am pretty sure the one I am looking for a home for is for the toe on the clutch pedal.

John

[TechNoir]

I havent got much done on the bike today due to having to do various domestic chores so I decided to give my workshop a good tidy up which it was long overdue for and sort out the various parts that I have and make a list of stuff to order.

While sorting out parts I realised what the 8 small screws are for.

Most people seem to have Corbin speedometers which I assume have a slightly different arrangement for the sprocket.



Also this sprocket has 8 clips to fix it to the wheel not 6 as has previously been suggested.


I looked at the clutch toe pedal and spring arrangement but I am a bit stumped. The shaft that I have highlighted in the picture spins freely so cant work out how the spring works. What is the hole in the shaft for also?



Thanks again for all the help.

John

[TechNoir]

Re: 1920 "F" Project

I looked at the clutch toe pedal and spring arrangement but I am a bit stumped. The shaft that I have highlighted in the picture spins freely so cant work out how the spring works. What is the hole in the shaft for also?

Forget that, I have worked it out.

John

[TechNoir]

I have another question that is related to one that has been asked loads of time on this board but I cant seem to find the answer to my query.

I know that the bike should be olive green and I have ordered a small amount of what I think is the right colour which I will try out on the new brake drum that I have.

However I also want to find out what colour the pinstripes on the bike should be. I am in the UK so dont want to order paint from the USA, I can get any colour mixed up locally but obviously I need to know what to mix before I can get some. This question has been asked a couple of times before but I cant see any answers.


Thanks,

John

[TechNoir]

Hello Folks, I seem to have lots of questions so please forgive me for asking another one.

I have ordered most of my missing control parts and they are on their way. One item that is out of stock at the 2 suppliers that seem to have it on their website is the Bell Crank Bracket.

Its not a big deal because it seems like a simple part to make. I have used a photo that I found on the net to make a cad drawing of the bracket and I think I have got the size of it close enough. (time will tell when I have made it and fitted it).

The bit I don’t know is the dimension from the base of the bracket to the centre of the pivot pin that the bell crank fits on. I am pretty sure that its not a critical dimension so I am happy to wing it but if anyone knows what this measurement is then that would be much appreciated.

Thanks

John

[kiwi tibbs]

Hi John,
not sure if you got the answer for the paint querry.
I found this on the forum, not sure if it's any help.
http://hdpaint.tk/colors/1927.html

Cheers
Tony

[TechNoir]

Re: 1920 "F" Project

Thanks Tony, I had seen that site.

I haven’t posted for a while but that doesn’t mean that I have been idle so here is a small update on paint.

Paint colours are a hot topic when talking about old vehicles. However I thought it might be simple for these 1917 and after J's and F's because everyone agrees that they are "Olive Green" but not the military colour.

The site that you mention states that 1920 paint is "Olive Drab 1917-1921 Deep Green Stripe. AKA Military Drab "


What I have also found with a bit of googling is that Steve Slocombe from VL Heaven has posted on this forum that he has found a colour that is

"olive green is the Rover car colour called 'Seaweed' which you might still just find. The ICI paint code is 10C39/P420-0857"

Great thinks I, I can use that. Unfortunately I tried quite a few paint suppliers and they all looked at me with a blank face saying that such a colour was not in their records.

Also I need to know about the pin-striping. Steve has helped out again and pointed me in the direction of 2 books as follows:

"Inside Harley-Davidson by Jerry Hatfield, page 49 says 'The most obvious change to the 1922 V-Twins and singles was the switch from Olive finish with broad coach green striping...'

The Legend Begins' for 1920 says 'All models were finished in military olive drab with a deep green stripe on the tanks, tool box and fenders."

This is useful but doesn’t give me an exact paint colour and doesn’t mention the edges to the stripe.

I looked through the documents that came with the bike and found the following: (note it is in 2 halves because the paper is bigger than my scanner. If anyone is interested I can scan it in one at work and put it on here in one piece)






Interesting stuff, the previous owner seems to have corresponded with Leon Landry in the late 1980's and Leon has replied with his thoughts on colour scheme. (I really appreciate the time that people like Leon put into helping his customers, remember this was in the days before the internet and computers)

Leons document says that the main colour is "Olive Green" and goes on to say "This is a high gloss enamel and a far cry from the army color used in 1917" These comments echo similar comments that I have read on this and other online sources.

The document also says:

"TANK STRIPING. (from 1917 to 1921) is done in PULLMAN COACH for the main body and edged with Pea Green on both sides with a hair line stripe of Black in the centre. This stripe is 3/4" in width when completed."

This document confirms what I already knew but its nice to have it confirmed. The reason that I say this is because there are 2 areas on the bike that have reasonable remains of original pin-striping. One area is on the tank under where the speedo bracket fits and also on the rear mudguard where the rear rack fits.





Also the rear of the original tanks have a great sample of Olive green.



So rather than spend any more time pondering I took my original paint samples to a very good small independent paint company that i have used before and they have mixed me up some colours that should be a good match.

The irony is that I want the paint to cover my right hand tank which is in bare metal at the moment, however once it is painted my intention is to then try to make the paint look old, worn a battered to try to fit in with my left tank (I am not sure how successful I will be, we shall see). The guy in the paint shop went out of his way to give me all of his tips to get a flawless finish which I accepted gracefully even though a flawless finish is not what I need.

John

[kiwi tibbs]

Thats brilliant John, I'm glad you got the colours sorted.
I have only just seen this, I would have popped up the road to a little paint shop and asked about the colour code for you but it's sorted.
That pea green colour do you have a code for that that the paint shop mixed? I would really like to get some of that.
Keep the progress coming.
Tony

[TechNoir]

Re: 1920 "F" Project

Thats brilliant John, I'm glad you got the colours sorted.
I have only just seen this, I would have popped up the road to a little paint shop and asked about the colour code for you but it's sorted.
That pea green colour do you have a code for that that the paint shop mixed? I would really like to get some of that.
Keep the progress coming.
Tony

I am glad you liked the thread Kiwi tibbs.

I was hoping to have had it on the road by now but for various reasons i am behind schedule but hopefully not too far off. I have a few things going on in parallel so once I get to a milestone I will update this thread.

Re the Pea Green. I used a small paint shop that I have used before and the guy that owns it used his colour photo spectrometer to get an idea of the paint but then mixed it up and did a sample. Then he compared it to the original and made some small adjustments to get it as close as possible. (I have been told by more than one paint shop that a colour photo spectrometer doesn't always get it exact). So therefore I don't have a specific code for the paint.

If you want I can paint a small sample chip for you and post it to you. I haven't got to pin-striping yet but it shouldn't be too long before I do.

[kiwi tibbs]

Hi John, that would be great.
I'll pmyou my address.
There is no rush as tomorrow I have to fly back to NZ for my mums funeral.

Cheers
Tony