the first Harley's

[rousseau]

It's probably in this room somewhere. I shot these pics through a door in the "employees only" archives area.

[c.o.]

I see you had the opportunity and took it... I'd have done the same thing!!! Thanks for the inside shots!!!

[c.o.]

http://www.bikerhotline.com/eventcov...dster_s_7.html

[IRON]

Harley BuckBoard motor brochure...

[c.o.]

So that's what the other side looks like!!! Thanks for posting it!!! I believe there is one in the museum in Milwaukee but I'd be curious to know if any others are out there.

[Chris Haynes]

Vince Spadaro of San Bruno, CA has an H-D engine with pyramid shaped cast iron cases. A single cylinder flathead. The bottom is flat and it has mounting tabs on it. Possibly a later version of a buckboard type engine. Harley-Davidson is cast in to the cases.

[IRON]

Not too many years ago, a Harley BuckBoard motor was found at a junk yard in LaCrosse Wisconsin. LaCrosse is in western Wisconsin on the Mississippi river.
I'm pretty sure that is the BuckBoard motor on display at the Harley museum.
It wasn't too long ago that it was found - there might still be more out there, somewhere.

[c.o.]

Not too many years ago, a Harley BuckBoard motor was found at a junk yard in LaCrosse Wisconsin. LaCrosse is in western Wisconsin on the Mississippi river.
I'm pretty sure that is the BuckBoard motor on display at the Harley museum.
It wasn't too long ago that it was found - there might still be more out there, somewhere.

All we can do is hope!!! I'd be freakin' if I stumbled across something like that in the junk heap!!

[c.o.]

I was searching for some early stuff on the net and stumbled across this... http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JDcbSjkgH-...0/DSC_0134.JPG I can't recall for sure but I didn't think there were any known photos of the '03 diamond frame experiment. I wonder where the builder got the vision.

[Old n Rusty]

strange,i think the mill has a rocker arm for the intake valve too

[c.o.]

It's definitely somebody's interpretation. I can just imagine the stories of how "I saw the very first Harley!" I wish a person could read the write up on the ground below it. Hopefully it mentions that it's somebody's attempt at reproducing a legend from the past.

[pem]

Ya hey, youse guys! I just came across an article from 1906 that says Harley-Davidson raced a tricar at a race in Milwaukee at the State Fair grounds. Now my interpertation of a tricar is a motorcycle with one wheel in back and two front wheels. But it could also be the other way around. Or not! Or it could be a vehicle that looked like a cyclecar but with only one wheel in the back. OR???????????????????????

Anyway the article says Walter won the race against Ralph Sporleder who was on a two wheeled machine. That there were six starters and the three wheeled machine(s) were allowed two minutes over the others. So it looks like there was more than one tricar racing but don't know the other brands if there were any. This is the first time I can ever remember hearing that Harley-Davidson had a tricar in 1906. Anybody else ever heard of this?

Dick

[c.o.]

Dick!!!

That is too bloody cool!!! In fact that conjures up some pretty hairy images!! A tri-car at speed could be pretty interesting! I had not heard of such a machine that early but there must be something to it. Where are ya Herb???

[pem]

Hi Cory, all I can tell you is that is what the article said. Harley-Davidson had at least one tricar in 1906. It is the only reference I have ever heard of. That would have meant that Perry Mack was most likely involved in designing that also. I know of no photos or drawings that would back up the article. I try to imagine what it would have looked like.

I also found another clue that Perry designed the first production Harley-Davidson motor. In a MotorCycling and Bicycling magazine of July 30, 1919 is an article about the Briggs & Stratton motor wheel. In the article they say Perry "has given the better part of the last fifteen years to the study of the gasoline motor construction". 1919 - 15 = 1904. 1904 is when HD most likely had their first functioning motor according to Herb. We know Perry was there in 1905 for sure.

In another article from "The Automobile" magazine of January 15, 1914, they talk about the Mack motor and how Perry "has had a long experience with air cooled motors and also friction drive having used them on a car which he built himself some 6 years ago and which is still running". 1914 - 6 = 1908. We knew that he was involved in an "automotive" project but didn't know what exactly it was. Now we do. I beleive I have a photograph of this one
at least.

Hopefully someday we can find that elusive photo of the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle taken on Chestnut St. and now the 1906 tricar too.

later

[23JDCA 808]

You might try Googling Harley Davidson tricar 1906
I found one reference at USPS Servi-Car History | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/info_8654448_usp...#ixzz1bG5qfjPl
“The Tri-Car: In 1908, the Postal Service experimented with three-wheeled motorcycles, the forerunner of the Servi-Car, for mail. According to the U.S. Postal Museum, these vehicles solved the problem of where to put the mail, but they did not perform well on rural roads and the USPS eventually abandoned the plan to use them. They motorcycle and sidecar combination held up better on long rural routes, though maneuvering with the sidecar took skill and the amount of mail a carrier could handle was limited.”
Indian had ad for their “Tri car” before 1906.
http://motorbicycling.com/attachment...-tri-car-2.jpg