1929 dl

[papa53]

I have an opportunity to purchase a '29 DL project. the bike is 98% there, missing electronics, horn & lights. frame is good, no broken fins on the cylinders or broken cases, tranny is good, no broken teeth or cases. Motor turns freely. I have restored a '34 VLD recently, but nothing older, anything I need to be looking for. price is good, in my opinion. (under $5K us$) any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[Shovelhead68]

Hi papa what I can say is I’ve been going to swap meets and such since the mid 80s and have never seen a running DL ,so it’s ether pretty rear or difficult to complete .That being said I would buy it if it’s in the budget

[duffeycycles]

'29DL has many unique parts.Has to be one of the toughest production Hds to build & maintain.The unique parts fetch pretty good money & sell fast.

[papa53]

THanks for the insight on this. the good news is the current owner has already done the hard work with the cases which have been fully rebuilt, bushes etc. the bad news is he still hasn't made a final decision, I have looked at the collection of parts he has and it appears that virtually everything is there, he also has a 1920 Harley Board track racer that i'm finding appealing as well. if I acquire either I will post what I get

[Steve Slocombe]

Yes, stuffed with one year parts and really hard to restore from a basket case. You'll need Johnny Sells' book, and putting the 350 cc clutch and gearbox in a 750 cc bike was never going to be a good idea, never mind the weedy forks and frame on the early ones and the vertical generator. But Harley sold a lot of them in '29, with many going overseas. Here in Europe the Dutch guys have some parts and we have one Winners Circle bike in the Chapter, restored from a very original bike. I think Harley were rushed into the 1929 D by Indian increasing the capacity of the 600 cc Scout after Excelsior brought out the successful 45 cubic inch Super-X in 1925. It's curious that Indian then made the same mistake with the one year 1933 Motoplane, putting the Scout engine in the single frame.

[camsaure]

I just noticed that there is a decent 29 DL square toolbox listed on Ebay. I bet they are not too easy to find.

[Steve Slocombe]

The 1929 DL toolbox is being reproduced if eBay prices are too fierce.