SINGLE SPEED HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTORCYCLES
The painted parts are starting to arrive now. It has been a long wait but they look great. I am still waiting for the frame and a few small parts. The rims have gone to the wheel builder and I have to check again to determine the correct striping on the chain cover.
The little 10C we bought from Holland has not been running that well so after going through the basics we decided to pull the motor. The problem was quickly evident. Back in the day a repair was made which included adding a top to the piston. This may have been done to repair the piston crown, to make a ‘too small’ piston larger or even to alter compression but regardless, they used the wrong material and the damage is clear.
We have re-honed the cylinder, we have a piston we can use but we need to make some rings, then put her back together. Fortunately there is no other damage to the motor.
This great 7D has just been listed on eBay. It has the same motor as my 8D, the only difference as far as I know being the B suffix after the letter A.
Letter A for 1911 with the smaller 50ci motor. Letter B for the first ‘big twin’ 61ci motor in 1912 and letters AB for the very early 1912 still with the smaller motor before the change to the larger 8E. This was presumably to utilise the remaining stocks of the 50ci motors already manufactured.
The plating has also taken far longer than I had hoped for but the quality is great. The delay is not so important as the painted parts are also not ready yet. Some parts of the motor need to be plated and then the motor re-assembled, the wheels need building and then the full assembly can begin. I am really pleased with the plating, it’s nickle but looks almost like chrome, but it will dull down.
The polishing and preparation are so important and the Eclipse front hub and Ful-Floteing seat bar engravings are clearly visible. These are great original parts which could have easily been spoiled with excessive plate.
Well the summer is near over now and I was hoping to have had all the painted and plated parts back by now so I could start the build on the 8XE.
The paint went off some six months ago but when the painter applied the lacquer to the decals everything blistered and they had to be removed. I ordered more decals from Rick Simpson, who is extremely knowledgeable and always offers great service, and they hit the UK within the week. I am now waiting for an update from the painter.
If you click on the image you can see the blistering. The two images below are before the lacquer was applied.
This original rear hub has been fully rebuilt and came from Mike at Antique bike in Sweden. He has also supplied the rear rim. The two belt sheaves shown will be cut and welded together to create the wider 2″ version I need. I will have the spares sides if anyone needs them although the remaining narrower pieces will need a section welding in between them, a slightly more difficult job.
Original seat posts, pedals and other small parts collected over time.
The exhaust is all original apart from one end section. Some nice linkages and pipes.
These great forks came from Dewey at Early Harley. They are reproductions but look the part perfectly and fit great. I have original top covers and original rockers so when the patina is sorted they will enhance the overall look. The internals are a mix of original and repop. The Alemite grease fittings are the later 1914 type, I need to do a trade – anyone?
This original oil tank and tool box came complete with all the fittings when I got the motor. It’s a lovely part and the matching door is also original; it came from Dewey again.
The original rear stand came of a 1914 I had some years ago.
While the 8XE is away with the paint and plating people, I thought I should do a check on the parts I have collected for the 8D. Most are correct original parts, but some not.
I got the motor after being approached by a guy at the start of the Pioneer Run in 2016. He told me that the Harley Davidson Club of Great Britain had identified it as a 1911 based on its VIN. Well the numbers are all good but AB denotes 1912 not 1911. I have worked hard to determine the differences between the 1911 and the early 1912 motors (50ci) but can not find any differences until the changes later in the year which became the E model (61ci). It has the wider 2″ belt and an open magneto.
The right hand tanks is correct for 1912 and came from the Veterama Swap Meet in Mannheim. The other tank is also a right hand and but from a single cylinder model. I am hoping I can use the incorrect part to fashion a left hand replacement part, hopefully keeping the name decal section.
The fenders are also original pieces and also came from Germany. They are correct parts but may need a little massaging.
Well with everything else that’s been going on I just haven’t looked at this ’12 in a while so I thought I should make a start. I pulled her apart yesterday and will now send everything out for paint, plating and odd bits ready for the re-build. I think the motor should come apart as well for a polish and to plate the smaller parts.
I just got this little 10C single cylinder with two speed rear hub. She was restored in the early 1990’s in Yorkshire at a time when reproduction parts were not so readily available. It was also pre-internet so if parts were missing from a machine and the owner didn’t have access to another model or a reference book, it was very difficult to know what the correct parts looked like.
But of course the owners needed to get their bikes running and often fabricated some quite imaginative solutions. The magneto control on this bike is such an example, cleverly constructed but overly complicated. Should it stay on the bike for the sake of history and ‘quirkiness’ or should it be corrected? Other linkages are wrong and some of the parts are for the wrong year model. The more you look the more you see. But the first job is to fit new tyres and tubes and get her running.
