What is a production motorcycle?

[exeric]

Hi Herb, the S & S, Mcleod and Advance all made more than one motorcycle and sold them to
the public. But exactly how many may never be known. We only have the records of the
bikes that were registered and you know there had to be more. I don't know how strictly the
laws were enforced in 1910. And you really had to wonder if all these backyard tinkers and
small garages really built and designed their own motors. I sure wish we had photos.

Dick

Your last sentence makes me wonder when the Kodak Brownie was mass marketed. I believe that that was the camera that put photography into the hands of many people.

[Neil74]

Brownie was first produced in Feb, 1900. Most popular model sold between 52-67. ( Wikipedia)

[HarleyCreation]

I have long thought about the wonderful old photo albums of these earlier Milwaukee families that must still exist. If you had a motorcycle or car in the early days, you almost always had a photo taken of it and it went into the family album.

The problem with Milwaukee is that the early 1900s motorcycle neighborhoods in that city are completely demographically different today. Those original families are long gone and dispersed to Waukesha and other points of the compass. Unless they turn up by magic its tough to track them down. But some real photo gems of rare makes must still exist to be found. Gotta be.

[fillibuster]

here is a list that has some links and some names of makers of bikes from around the world.it's great for a rainy day. some bikes are new. some old take a look.
http://www.ozebook.com/a-z.htm

South Dakota certainly had more authors than manufacturers, and one recent author was Bob Karolevitz, who produced a book called Yesterday's Motorcycles, his account of motorcycles "produced" in USA prior to 1930. It might be in our library, at the foundation. I do have a copy at home.

[pem]

South Dakota certainly had more authors than manufacturers, and one recent author was Bob Karolevitz, who produced a book called Yesterday's Motorcycles, his account of motorcycles "produced" in USA prior to 1930. It might be in our library, at the foundation. I do have a copy at home.

I think you might be surprised to find out how many homemade motorcycles were made in
South Dakota. I certainly was when I looked into Wisconsin's history. I don't think there is a
book out there that accurately lists all motorcycles made in the U.S.A. Years ago I had a collection of motorcycle books that included many "encyclopedias" listing motorcycles and
they were just full of errors. I think it's time for a new updated version. But first we have to
get accurate information from all 50 states and that will take a lot of new research. Herb has proven that there is a lot of unknown information still out there if you know where to look.

Dick

[HarleyCreation]

Those lists...

Years ago I combined several of those lists of motorcycles built in the USA into one master list. Quickly I discovered a couple things:

The previous lists were full of mistakes and could not be relied upon; altho they were still useful.

The previous lists were also woefully incomplete. Like pem is saying, a glance at motorcycle regs in any state will turn up dozens of additional makes nobody has ever listed but were real and actually existed. Possibly some of these were made in decent numbers up into the dozens, but were only locally known and never advertised nationally. The Milwaukee Comet falls into that catagory.

[Chris Haynes]

My first bike is one that I have never been able to find any information on. It was a Globe Safety Scooter. As memory serves it was made in Chicago. Powered by a Continental Red Seal single 4 stroke engine. Built in the 1950's.

[pem]

Years ago I combined several of those lists of motorcycles built in the USA into one master list. Quickly I discovered a couple things:

The previous lists were full of mistakes and could not be relied upon; altho they were still useful.

The previous lists were also woefully incomplete. Like pem is saying, a glance at motorcycle regs in any state will turn up dozens of additional makes nobody has ever listed but were real and actually existed. Possibly some of these were made in decent numbers up into the dozens, but were only locally known and never advertised nationally. The Milwaukee Comet falls into that catagory.

When Chris mentioned his first cycle/scooter it reminded me of the Safticycle made in Sheboygan, Wi. Here is a tyical "orphan". Photo below. Date of photo is 5-16-1939.

At least one prototype was made. But I assume others were built. They went throught the effort of building a unique frame and steering device. Check out the handlebar. Pretty weird.

Now in the newspaper article it was a running model developed in St. James, Minn. so was it
a Wisconsin bike or a Minnesota bike? It had a 1.2 hp Briggs & Stratton engine that was
most likely designed by Perry Mack and a two speed automatic transmission. 125mpg with a cruising speed of 30mph. It was priced at under $150 and was shown all over the country.

But it never went into production in Sheboygan. I seem to remember seeing a Safticycle
somewhere but I can't place it. Was it produced somewhere else?

Like Herb said there have to be dozens of these additional makes that nobody ever listed.

Dick

[c.o.]

Dick, you mentioned 48 additional bikes prior to 1914. I wonder if any of the early ones sported one of H-D's motors?

[pem]

Dick, you mentioned 48 additional bikes prior to 1914. I wonder if any of the early ones sported one of H-D's motors?

Hi Cory, don't know. You would have to assume that somebody must have used an old
Harley motor that they found laying around. Without photos or paperwork we will probably
never know. I'm sure somewhere are photographs of someone's grandpa and his old homemade motorcycle that he made when he was a teenager. Some collector may already have photos like that and doesn't know what he has.

Case in point is the tractor my dad made when he was a teenager on the farm in the 1940's. I have the book he used to build it and some photos somewhere. You will never see another one like it. Later, it sat behind my grandpa's machine shed for as along as I can remember and may even still be there. I remember as a kid we used to climb all over it and sit behind the steering wheel. Of course being dumb ass kids we smashed the spark plugs and gauges.
Now it's too late to ask my dad about it.

p.s.I found the book. It is Victor Page's 1919 edition of "The Modern Gasoline Automobile".
It was a christmas gift to my grandfather from my grandmother in 1919.

Dick

[Chris Haynes]

In the 1907 Milwaukee City Directory you will find the listing for Harley-Davidsom Motor Company. Manufacturer of Motorcycle and Marine motors.

[HarleyCreation]

I have a seen an old photo of a circa 1908 or so motorcycle with a Harley motor. The photo was sent to the Harley factory or to one of the founders. It looks a lot like a stock Harley but not quite. On the back was written: "This is the motorcycle that so-and-so built with one of our motors." No doubt there were many other home-builts with factory motors, H-D and otherwise.

Dick, that's a great story about grandpa's old home-brew tractor. That's a collectors item too! What brand did he build it out of?

[pem]

I have a seen an old photo of a circa 1908 or so motorcycle with a Harley motor. The photo was sent to the Harley factory or to one of the founders. It looks a lot like a stock Harley but not quite. On the back was written: "This is the motorcycle that so-and-so built with one of our motors." No doubt there were many other home-builts with factory motors, H-D and otherwise.

Dick, that's a great story about grandpa's old home-brew tractor. That's a collectors item too! What brand did he build it out of?

I'm gonna have to check the photos and see if I can tell. I'm pretty sure it was a flathead.
It's been something like 30 years sicne I last saw it. I'll post the pictures when I find them. My sister has a couple and she is gonna send me hers.

Dick

[c.o.]

Thanks Herb... You've confirmed my suspicions. It seemed to me that it could have been a likely occurence given that H-D sold powerplants in the early days....

Dick... I too would like to see Grandpa's tractor!!!

[pem]

Thanks Herb... You've confirmed my suspicions. It seemed to me that it could have been a likely occurence given that H-D sold powerplants in the early days....

Dick... I too would like to see Grandpa's tractor!!!

Hi Cory, I finally found the photo. And I was wrong about my dad building the tractor. My grandpa built it. The photo is from 1929 as far as I can figure. My dad is sitting on the tractor and he is about 5 years old. Photo was taken behind the machine shed on my grandpa's farm by my grandmother. Thankfully my grandma took photos of everything. Hundreds of them over 70 some years. Thanks to her I have some real nice photos of dad and my uncle on their motorcycles. And I have the camera my grandmother used for all those years. She would never buy a new one and used her Kodak Brownie Camera till the
day she died when she was 94.

later