Black Hawk Motorcycles

[Chris Haynes]

A friend of mine recently dug up an engine for a Black Hawk Motorcycle. I have never heard of anybody who had an original Black Hawk Motorcycle. He would like to build a motorcycle around it. Does anybody know of any parts for this rare bird? Anybody have any information what proprietary parts were used in their construction?

[bobbyt]

There was an article on rebuilding a Blackhawk in the club mag, around the fall of 2004. The
chief engineer for Blackhawk had been the the chief engineer at Excelsior previously.

------------ Bob Turek
#769

[c.o.]

You might want to try this guy Chris... http://flashbackfab.com/other-vintag...912-blackhawk/ That's very cool that an engine showed up!

[Chris Haynes]

Thanks guys.

[duffeycycles]

There were three known motors , two found in Rock Island dump by Blackhawk wives!The one restored was Gagan and incorrect according to Mike Smith[Who had one from the dump]..My friend just sold one this week[from the dump]
Smitty & Bob McLean said a complete sold in the early 70s in CA..This pic is SF CA Dealer
Blackhawk.jpgblackhawk mc.jpg

[duffeycycles]

chris -national museum anamosa has a BH catalog

[sirhrmechanic]

I am confused... is the Blackhawk an Indian model? Is it a racing team? Were they motors made by Indian for the Blackhawk???

Neat any time a rare piece surfaces. I'd love to know the back story of the company and the bike(s) they built. Can someone fill in the blanks?

Cheers,

Sirhr

[fillibuster]

I am confused... is the Blackhawk an Indian model? Is it a racing team? Were they motors made by Indian for the Blackhawk???

Neat any time a rare piece surfaces. I'd love to know the back story of the company and the bike(s) they built. Can someone fill in the blanks?

Cheers,

Sirhr

Built in Rock Island Ill. Guess in the 00's. That makes them "dinosaurs".
I have a book, "Yesterday's Motorcycles", by Bob Karolevitz of Mission Hill SD, which gives short description or just an advertisement of about 200+ different-named motorcycles manufactured prior to 10930. The Black Hawk add is shown full-page on page 100. Wish my scanner was up.

How about a little distraction here? If I brought a current-day publication to the AMCA Library, would they have trouble with "rights" to offer it for downloading or review? Would we need author's consent?

[duffeycycles]

BH built '12-'13?The SF dealer was Indian and BH.

[c.o.]

It seems to me that they may have ran from '11-'14. Is this similar to the ad you mentioned Phil? It was easier to get to my stack of ads than it was to dig out my copy of "Yesterday's Motorcycles"! It's been awhile though and I should round it up for another read through. Oh, and I'm thinking you just might need the "author's consent".

[fillibuster]

That's the one, Cory! ... and I like the book! Does bicycle stuff too, good primer.
Author must be deceased by now, but I will attempt to get permission. There are a few connections in the neighborhood, and the author is local in SD.

[duffeycycles]

amoto3.jpg
The whole pic that sold for about $280 ebay

[c.o.]

That's a cool photo.

[silentgreyfello]

A friend of mine recently dug up an engine for a Black Hawk Motorcycle.

I don't know if "dug up" is the correct term! It was sitting in an AMCA member's living room for many years, and prior to that in Smitty's shop in Rock Island. If you are going to build a bike around the motor, DO NOT copy Pete Gagen's. There are so many incorrect things.

[Paulvenne]

It would be interesting to know what is correct/incorrect. Might help others in these more difficult builds. I salute it either way since my primary objective is always just to get a bike together and running and then address the perfectness issues. Look at paint for an example. Has anyone ever done an authentic paint job on a pre 1916 bike. Not that I have seen. And what about spark plugs and wires and fittings? I noticed that the Bosch ZEV has a rubber boot over the wire as it comes out of the Bakelite fitting. Never seen one restored though.