Tag: 1912

1912 Harley X8E at Anamosa Museum

A few months ago I rode from the East to the West Coast again, making another visit to the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, IA. They have a great selection of early machines, many in original paint and great for taking photos for restoration purposes.

http://www.nationalmcmuseum.org/

Here are some snaps of the 1912 X8E. It was a great year in Harley’s development; the year of the first ‘big twin’, the sloping rear frame, first year for chain drive and the Freewheel clutch is a real bonus.  Still with the super slim looks of the early bikes before the first ‘widening’ in 1913, and others later.

I rate this as their best ever model, followed by the 1914 two speed and then the Knucklehead.

2014 Las Vegas 249 2014 Las Vegas 123

2014 Las Vegas 124 2014 Las Vegas 125 2014 Las Vegas 127 2014 Las Vegas 128 2014 Las Vegas 129 2014 Las Vegas 130 2014 Las Vegas 131 2014 Las Vegas 132 2014 Las Vegas 133 2014 Las Vegas 134 2014 Las Vegas 247  2014 Las Vegas 250 2014 Las Vegas 251 2014 Las Vegas 252 2014 Las Vegas 253 2014 Las Vegas 254 2014 Las Vegas 255 2014 Las Vegas 122

1912 Decal set

Great looking decal set from Rick Simpson for the year 1912. These are the water slide type as opposed to the stick-ons.  The colours are correct, the difference is just the shadow under the lights.  He’s a really easy guy to deal with and knows his stuff. I’ve included his contact details.

decals 001 decals 002

More dirt trap

The dirt trip query; this is how we learn. I have a 12 and 13 in currently so by holding the parts I purchased against the original part on the 13 I can determine which is which.I now have a 1915 Dirt trap for sale, although I could make it work on a tank with just one outlet.

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Front wheel spindle

The 1912 8X came in with a few issues, they just need to be worked through one by one.

The current problem I’m looking at is an off-centre running front wheel.  I checked the hub set up, even the size of the bearings, but the problem turned out to be a bent spindle.

It looks to be a new part rather than a restored original item.  Strange; could be the result of running hard into something!!! but it definitely appears to be made of the wrong material.

bent spindle 2 bent spindle 1

 

Like a lot of things in this world – bent in more ways than one!

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