Check this out......

[Chris Haynes]

Bruce told me he found it in Hemmings Motor News. It was missing handlebars and a couple other little things which Bruce quickly made. If I remember correctly he had never rebuilt the engine. It is the oldest running and ridden Harley-Davidson.

[c.o.]

I agree on the counterfeiting theory. Our hobby is becoming watered down with less than original machines trying to be passed off as the real deal. Oh, and Eric if I ever happened to stumble on a cool half million, and found what was to be assumed to be an original belt-drive machine, I would definitely consult the experts in this club before I parted with any money............but with the odds on getting a huge sum of cash any time in the near future being quite low, it's all merely a daydream......

Oh, and by the way does anybody know any history on Bruce Linsday's '05 machine? I'd be curious to hear how it came together. I'm surprised that it was never featured in the club mag. Or has it been?

[exeric]

I completely agree Chris. I seriously question every "original paint" bike I see. Ebay has so many original paint bikes for auction that it makes you wonder if anyone ever repainted a motorcycle.

[Chris Haynes]

It makes you wonder if someone is "seasoning" a reproduction chassis as we speak. Nothing does a better job of aging painted metal than the sun, rain, and temperature fluctuations. If you had an original genuine motor, which already has the right look and put it in a frame that was carefully aged for 5-10 years you could possibly fool a lot of people. Of coarse you would really have to know what you were doing and have a very intimate knowledge of the genuine stuff. Most importantly, you would have to be a person of low moral character. Just something to think about Cory, if you ever come up with half a million dollars and have your eye on a strap tank Harley.

I guess you missed the recent issue of the club magazine where they were showing you how to age parts. I consider it counterfeiting.

[exeric]

It makes you wonder if someone is "seasoning" a reproduction chassis as we speak. Nothing does a better job of aging painted metal than the sun, rain, and temperature fluctuations. If you had an original genuine motor, which already has the right look and put it in a frame that was carefully aged for 5-10 years you could possibly fool a lot of people. Of coarse you would really have to know what you were doing and have a very intimate knowledge of the genuine stuff. Most importantly, you would have to be a person of low moral character. Just something to think about Cory, if you ever come up with half a million dollars and have your eye on a strap tank Harley.

[c.o.]

That's a very interesting question Chris. I'm sort of the mindset, that as we all know it can take a very long time to make a bike correct. So given that, the more old iron on the road the better. That is as long as a fellow is honest about what he has and doesn't try to pass off a cobbled together bike as original. Unfortunatley there are folks out there that will take advantage of the un-educated and are less than honest about what they are selling. With e-bay and high motorcycle prices comes more "original" machines that really aren't. Everybody has a different view and I guess that's my two cents worth. I see that the bike mentioned here didn't sell, but he did add that it wasn't an original paint machine below his description. It was obvious to some of us, but some people would see the "older" looking paint scheme and just assume it came from the "factory". As far as the knuck or pan thing, it's quite a bit easier to find an original frame for one of those bikes than a belt drive Harley.

[Chris Haynes]

So if this bike was a restored Knuck or Panhead engine installed in a Taiwan Tedd rolling chassis what would you think of it?

[c.o.]

The way I look at it is do what it takes to make it operational and if the original stuff does happen to come along, then change it when you can. I mean your dealing with a motor that is nearly 100 years old, finding original pieces is a difficult thing to do.

[silentgreyfello]

I called the guy and he told me he bought a rolling chassis from Competition but the motor was completely orig. I have a '10 motor that I have been looking for an orig frame for eons, but no luck. I'll have to go the repro route if I ever want to ride it. Upside is Competition's stuff is very nice and accurate.

[c.o.]

You are completely right Chris. All one has to do is have a look at the Timeless machine that's being built in Texas............

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh0onxo63WA

http://www.timelessmotorcompany.com/vintage/

I still think something like this could be an alternative for folks that'll never get a chance to have the real thing.

[Chris Haynes]

Did you know that every single piece of that motorcycle is available as reproduction? He says he used repop parts on it. I wouldn't be surprised id everything besides the engine is repop. I asked the seller about it be he has refused to answer.

[c.o.]

Here's an ebay auction that fellow "early" freaks may want to have a look at..............some reproduction stuff here, but how does one get away from that these days???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA:IT&ih=003