the first Harley's

[jurassic]

the first thing i noticed was the number on the inside of the intake manifold. early harley carbs had their own numbering system of 3 numbers.which ,from what i have seen, have no relation to the vin number on the engine.it appears that the intake manifold was also numbered like the carb.at least if a new carb is put on this engine ,we will know what to number it.

[HarleyCreation]

cory, i'll try and share as much as i can on this piece of harley history.thankfully the new owner is really excited about this engine ,and is willing to let me share this with some of the experts on this forum.the story he was told is that this engine was sold on ebay by the son of a southern california man in his 80's.this man and his family have been involved in the picture cars industry in hollywood for a long time. friends with bud ekins and his gang ,this man was drawn into the antique motorcycle scene ,as part of his business.he has said that he owned this 1908 motor for almost 50 years. one thing i really noticed is the quality of the casting on the davidson part of the lettering. interesting.

What a wonderful piece of H-D history! Looking at those letters and words on it, that thing almost does talk. Good story with it too.

It will be interesting to see if any of the internal parts are also numbered once it comes apart.

[HarleyCreation]

Herb, is that the earliest ad where they claim 1903 as their starting date? I don't recollect finding anything earlier. There are tons of ads from the early teens claiming 1901,02,03 as their starting date as you well know. Here's an ad from The Iowa Homestead 08-17-1911 claiming the bikes they built in 1901 are still running and they have covered 100,000 miles. Sound familier!

I hope you have a good new year. And write more articles please. I'm hopefully cured of
my Lymes disease so I'm ready to go exploring again.

Dick

Having had Lyme disease myself TWICE already, I know how awful it can be. Glad you are over it. Didn't the doxycline (sic) knock it right out?

Skimming the last chapter of At the Creation, it looks like they first began issuing the "1903" myth in 1908. The 1908 "advance bulletin" had the full story as we now believe it to be true and correct. From 1908 on there are numerous "fib date" ads. I just found another one the other day claiming bikes were built & sold in 1901. That one from the teens.

Working on early 8-valve racing story now. I hope it turns out well. Digging and digging for new info.

[c.o.]

Thanks for the info! It's always interesting to know a story behind such a piece of history. That casting on those letters is definitely well done. It harkens back to a time when craftsmanship at a factory meant something.

[jurassic]

cory, i'll try and share as much as i can on this piece of harley history.thankfully the new owner is really excited about this engine ,and is willing to let me share this with some of the experts on this forum.the story he was told is that this engine was sold on ebay by the son of a southern california man in his 80's.this man and his family have been involved in the picture cars industry in hollywood for a long time. friends with bud ekins and his gang ,this man was drawn into the antique motorcycle scene ,as part of his business.he has said that he owned this 1908 motor for almost 50 years. one thing i really noticed is the quality of the casting on the davidson part of the lettering. interesting.

[c.o.]

If there's any way you could keep us posted on the tinkerin' with this treasure it would be most appreciated!

[jurassic]

top motor mount has been made into a hole with a plug in it. also the top of the intake manifold where the throttle shaft goes has been soldered up.

[jurassic]

[c.o.]

Awesome!!!! It's good to hear that somebody....ie...."You" get to have a good look at that motor. I wonder if the buyer got any history with his purchase?

[jurassic]

timer's a little bent,probably from laying on the floor for so long.compression relief lever is still there.i wonder if the inside of the cam cover has numbers on it.

[jurassic]

2221

this nice little harley engine showed up in sturgis a few days ago looking for chassis parts. i guess the next best thing to owning it is being able to tinker with it. this thing is in really nice shape.it kinda looked like there was some corrosion on the ebay pics ,but its all just light surface scale. no rust either really.all the numbers look very good.

[pem]

Herb, is that the earliest ad where they claim 1903 as their starting date? I don't recollect finding anything earlier. There are tons of ads from the early teens claiming 1901,02,03 as their starting date as you well know. Here's an ad from The Iowa Homestead 08-17-1911 claiming the bikes they built in 1901 are still running and they have covered 100,000 miles. Sound familier!

I hope you have a good new year. And write more articles please. I'm hopefully cured of
my Lymes disease so I'm ready to go exploring again.

Dick

[HarleyCreation]

It's an ad for a motorcycle from W. Hoffman Motor Works out of Chicago. I can't seem to figure out how to capture the image at this point to post but for now suffice it to say that it looks a lot like an early Merkel and or H-D. Do you have info on this company in your records?

Yes, a fellow with some parts contacted me lately about the Hoffman motorcycle (also known as Chicago 400) and wants a picture of it. I have one from 1904. Possibly the same image you found. It also appears in Hatfield's book on American motorcycles but the quality is not too good.

[c.o.]

Cory I tried going there but it says "Not Found."

What is it exactly? Can you quote it?

It's an ad for a motorcycle from W. Hoffman Motor Works out of Chicago. I can't seem to figure out how to capture the image at this point to post but for now suffice it to say that it looks a lot like an early Merkel and or H-D. Do you have info on this company in your records?

[HarleyCreation]

Dick, I'm sitting here wondering if that's a MotorCo. ad with the garage name printed at the bottom or is it simply an ad from the garage that sold H-D's?

It's an H-D factory ad with the garage name at the bottom. I've seen the ad before with the factory name on it.

Dick, this is a good find. That dealer Pierson in Janesville, Wis. is new to me. I didn't know about him. But there were some races out there early and this might explain that.