1915 jd help

[MMasa]

Duffey is correct. The Berling was used on 1918 and early 1919 models.
Tommo, I could use a set of those Berling pickups for the magneto on my 1919 Harley opposed twin Sport model. PM sent.
Mark

[duffeycycles]

HD went back to Bosch because of reliability problems with the Berling-same thing Eric has found

[BoschZEV]

HD went back to Bosch because of reliability problems with the Berling

Is there a quote from HD factory records that shows this, or is it a guess based on the fact they went back to Bosch? The reason I ask is the assets of Bosch were seized by the U.S. during WWI and sold off at a very attractive price. This was the subject of a Federal investigation a few years later. Anyway, having paid very little for the assets, the owners of American Bosch likely would have been in a position to sell their magnetos at a lower price than other manufacturers could. Without more information about the switch back to Bosch this seems a more plausible reason.

[duffeycycles]

Read it somewhere ,I wasn't there

[MMasa]

My understanding is that Harley switched to a Dixie for 1917 and then the Berling for 1918 and part of 1919.
It may have been due to forecasted availability issues with the Bosch because of hostilities or it may have been because of the German sounding name Bosch. In my opinion,the Dixie has a better design concept due to the way in which the pole shoes move with the advance/retard mechanism. I'm not sure if the execution is as sound as the design. I'm not a magneto expert in any way but I can see the merits of the design.
Why did they switch back? Cost? Quality? Don't know.
Mark

[exeric]

Read it somewhere ,I wasn't there

I read something as well Duffey. I recall it was a very detailed article about the political, and financial complications of having a factory in an enemy country. Something like what Ford, and GM had to deal with when Hitler repurposed their factories. I hope it wasn't an article by Harry Sucher