Off-Topic: Old Harley's

[blueldr]

George, do I understand you have a '34 Harley Davidson? Do you also have a substancial aluminum "cup"? As I recall, from my misspent youth, the speedometer on that model was mounted on the top of the gas tank to an elevation of about three and a half inches above the top surface of the tank. This is, under normal circumstances, about ten inchs directly ahead of an incredably delicate portion of the male anatomy. In the event of any sort of really, really abrupt stop, this had a tendency to convert the male rider into a soprano, in less than the blink of an eye! Have you ever tried to talk, with a straight face, to a two hundred and twenty five pound male soprano that rides a motorcycle? It's ridiculous! Please be prepared, Buy a real good "cup".

[GAHorn]

Ha! Yep. I got one. But the speedo isn't the trick as far as I'm concerned. The hardest thing for a "modern" cyclist is to get used to the "suicide clutch" and hand-shift.
It was a gift from another pilot, my mentor when I checked out in jets. Insurance wouldn't cover me (or my co-pilot) until I got 100 hours in the machine (a HS-125-3ARA) and I had no use for this old man who was going to sit on the jump seat and watch over us. After all, I'd been to Flight Safety. I had my rating. I knew it all. (I realize it's difficult for anyone to believe I had such an attitude, but ....go along with it.) ;Þ
Beryl was the best thing that ever happened to my career. He taught me more the first day than Flight Safety had taught me in a 3-week course! (FS is OK if you want to know systems, etc., ...but to get the machine from A to B with pax, and the pax not know you're new at it...you need someone like Beryl!) An old WW-2 Marauder pilot, He had more time over the outer marker than I had total time.
He became my close friend and my QB sponsor. When he was a young man his Dad gave him an almost new (dealer demonstrator) '34 Harley. (It's red/silver. Perfectly original and today has about 3900 miles.)
When Beryl was 65 he had a cancer operation which, in the exact words of his doctor, gave him a zero chance of recovery past 5 years. I was the only person who showed up at the hospital that day, and I held his hand as he woke up in recovery. (The hospital staff thought I was family since no one else had shown up, and they ushered me in to the recovery room. I didn't tell them any different, and it was a good thing, because he was in a lot of pain and really needed someone. I even signed authorization for morphine for him since only immediate family could authorize that, and he specifically asked me to.) Several months later he told me he was going to give me that Harley. I thought he was making wild talk. That was many years ago.
Beryl is now in his 80's, and has begun a new life in an assisted living facility nearby, and we've been spending more time together lately. Much to my surprise he reminded me that I own a '34 Harley. I tried to tell him that his family was going to want that, and not to give it any more discussion. He told me "Have you ever known me to say I was going to do something that didn't happen? No one else is going to have it. It's yours. Let's go put it in your hangar."
It's a great machine and they don't make 'em like that anymore. Sort of like guys like Beryl.

[zero.one.victor]

George, what model is that 34 Harley? If you're not sure, the first 4 digits of the serial number (on the LH crankcase, right below the crotch of the cylinders) should be the year & model.

Eric

[GAHorn]

It's a '34 VLD.

[zero.one.victor]

It's a '34 VLD.

Cool!
Stock, those had a "rocker" clutch, which worked on an over-center principle. When you pushed down on the forward(?) pedal & disengaged the clutch, the mechanism went over-center & stayed put when you took your foot off it. Sorta difficult to adjust, as I understand it. The "suicide clutch" nickname came from when they get out of adjustment: they had a habit of suddenly popping back over center & engaging the clutch unexpectedly, usually when the rider was stopped & had both feet on the ground. Whooooooa, Nelly!
Actually, what's usually referred to as a suicide clutch was a modified foot clutch where the over-center mechanism was eliminated for simplicity & weight's sake. Stopped with your foot holding the clutch in, it was "suicide" if the bike started tipping over to the left--ya had to release the clutch to either put your foot down, or to roar thru the red light or whatever you were stopped for. Yee-haw! The tank shift mechanism was usually removed for the same reason, and modified to a "jockey shift" mounted directly on the transmission shifter top. Some later-model toe-shift bikes were modified with a suicide clutch & jockey shift-- like George sez, not the easiest thing to ride if you're used to a "toe-tap" shifter.
Just a bit of old-time Harley trivia, that a lot of these modern-day RUB's
("rich urban bikers") may not know about. Old Harley's are a lot like old classic airplanes, there's a lot of interesting trivia about them.

Eric (ex-Harley rider, 1977-1990)

[GAHorn]

Whoooeeeeee!!!! Thanks, Eric!!! (Yes, it has the rocker-clutch.)
I've actually not ridden the thing yet. It's still sitting on it's rear stand, so my previous remark was made in anticipation of the challenge I knew was forthcoming. Thanks for the info.
It does have one mx issue that perhaps you can assist me with. It has some sort of oil-plunger on the fuel/oil tanks that needs some seals, etc. which might be missing. Beryl told me that as he recalled....one was supposed to give it a shot of oil if high-speed was intended, which would make it smoke for about a quarter of a mile or so.
The plunger (similar to a fuel-primer) has a rod beneath the knob, but nothing else attached.
Any further info, operating/mx advice you can offer will be appreciated. I intend to service it soon (since it's been sitting in his living room for the last 10 years) before starting it. It looks like it belongs in a museum it's in such good shape, and I'd hate to hurt it. (I'd like to find some manuals for it also, if possible.
Thanks in advance.

[zero.one.victor]

As I recall it, those early flathead models carried both fuel & oil in the "gas tanks". Your friend's description of an extra shot of oil for high-speed work sounds familiar. The later model Harley's (mine was a 1960, at least for the most part) carried just fuel in the gas tank, which was actually a split LH/RH tank ( the famd 3.5 gallon "fatbob" tank, later made in 5.0 gallon size). But they had a wierd fuel on-off valve that went (from the fitting at the bottom left front of the tank where the fuel line to the carb connected) up thru the tank. It terminated in a knob that you screwed in to shut off the fuel, unscrewed to turn on the fuel, and puilled up on for reserve. Mine didn't have any provision for holding the knob up in the reserve position, I don't know if it was broken, missing parts or just poorly designed--it was kinda hard to ride the bike thru any kind of maneuvering while holding the knob up by hand. So you generally paid attention to keeping the fuel topped off--which mighta been the whole point!
I'm more familiar with the OHV models starting in with the EL knucklehead in 1936. You might try to find a book on the old flatheads--check your local harley dealer, a good bookstore like Barnes & Noble, or maybe Ebay. Some searching on the internet oughta yield something. Reading about the old bikes is pretty interesting. Like Mike said, the new ones are better for just riding. But to me they're kinda boring and "same-old, same-old". The old bikes have a lot more personality,even if ya do have to wrench on them all the time. Kinda like vintage airplanes, eh? I'd kind of like to have an old W-model 45" flathead, but I don't know what the hell I'd do with it. I bought another bike (a Sportster) a couple years ago, but discovered I wasn't into it any more so I sold it.

Eric

[Dave Clark]

I've had a few Harleys. The neatest one was a 46 knuckle that had never been messed with and all there. It was indeed a learning experience. I sold it to Carmen Tom of Downtown Harley in Seattle. About a year after it went on display in his showroom. Unknown to Carmen and for a birthday present to him his employees had done a faithful restoration in red and white with matching leather bags and all. Really beautiful up on a pedestal in the showroom.

In AZ I had a few including a Bad Boy then a Heritage Springer. Then my riding buddy decided to die suddenly of a heart attack and I quit riding. Now I'm having great fun to and from the airport in my 1955 MGTF 1500 which I've had about a year now.

Boys and their toys!

[GAHorn]

Santa was kind to me and gave me a book, "Harley Davidson, The Complete History" edited by Patrick Hook. Looking thru it in the chapter entitled "The Thirties" I found a series of pics with exactly the same paint scheme as my VLD on pages 110-113. (Those pics are of an RLD which had the smaller 45 cu. in. V-twin flathead (side-valve), but the paint scheme is identical and to the unfamiliar eye the bikes look identical.) My VLD, of course, has the 74 cu. in. V-twin flathead engine.
With airplanes I believe it's correct to say that a completely restored airplane is more valuable than an actual original in general condition. When it comes to firearms, (as a gun-collector I know that) it's a mistake to re-finish or even to appreciably repair/restore the arm, as any alteration of original finishes, etc. detract from it's value.
Reading thru the Harley book, it's not actually stated, but occasionally it's inferred that "unrestored" bikes seem to carry a premium for Harley enthusiasts even over the museum-quality restorations. Am I reading that correct?