H-D Twins 1908 - 1909

[Steve Swan]

[Ross]

Nice pics Steve...Just to be clear..the first twin Harley sold as a Production bike and not an experimental bike was the 7D..1911 Twin...I have tracked down 8 examples over the years and all 8 have an A suffix after their either 3 or 4 digit numbers...Singles have been spotted in single, double, and triple digits as well with and without an A suffix..Herbert Wagner's theory based on his incredible research is there may have been around 800 twins or "DOUBLES" as they were known..I have seen some factory pics of the 1911 twin that never went into production as well with wrong sparkplug arrangements etc..This era of Harley has always fascinated me..I am hoping the likes of a Herbert Wagner might continue is great research post 1908 ish after his Book..".AT THE CREATION."..In the mean time he has written some great articles for the AMCA magazine..like the recent Curtiss story....I miss Lonnie Junior's contributions in this area from years ago on the forum ..... R.I.P.

[Steve Swan]

Ross, thank you so much for your participation and comments! Excellent to have your annotations to what you have learned in your own personal research as well as from other sources.

I've read Wagner's book 3 times and each time a i pick up something new.

i simply posted these pics because of what they purport these machines to be and to stimulate some conversation on the forum. i shall post more of this so-called 1908-1909 era; i do realize the first production twins were not available until 1911.

Are the machines in the pictures i am posting the same as 1911, or are these pre-production prototypes of 1908 and 1909 or are these fakes?

Also, I will continue posting for each model year of twins up through 1929. i have gathered quite a few pictures...

[Ross]

Interesting question..Fakes..hmmmm...Never heard they actually had a running 08-09 twin..HD did produce a 1909 with atmospheric heads and it just wasn't up to snuff compared to the intake over exhaust that Indian( twins) had been producing for several years with great success..I was told they destroyed the 1909's and went back to the drawing board and the 1911 HD 7D came on the market...The museum has one example of the 1909 BEEHIVE that never went to market...I have heard some comments regarding that example but I'm not qualified to tell it's complete history from 1909..Of the current 8...1911 doubles out there...6 in the USA 1 in Canada and 1 in Europe I have seen 7 of the 8 in person and most had to have parts fabricated to have them complete and running. I know that was the case with mine...But we did run it down the road at good speed and it ran well. Brakes...well that's another story..try stopping at 50 MPH with a bicycle style coaster brake...

[Steve Swan]

Thanks, Ross! i appreciate your help making this thread interesting in a way that i am unable to! once conversation seems to have died down on the 08-09 years, i will start a new thread on 1911 machines and look forward to more of your thoughts and experience.

[Steve Swan]

Thanks, badger for the memories! Actually, it would seem my memory of 4 years ago might be better than my memories of around a year ago... Dear Lord, am i becoming senile...?!? You are correct, i did post pictures. Oh well, give me an "E" for Effort! Thank you for your comments about the Nov.1907 trade magazine. Always good stuff!