Month: December 2015

It helps in this hobby if you know good people who can help you out with good parts.

I got this original front muffler casting from Mark Masa along with the outer casing, the spring clip and the inner pipe. I then contacted Tim Thoele who makes complete repro mufflers for early Harley and Yale motorcycles and he supplied the missing rear casting. All I need now is the centre rod and I have the complete system.

I’ve stopped making the fenders as they are available from several other sources now. The standard and shape is better now and they really are a fiddly job to get right. I still have stocks of the valances if anyone needs them.

We put together a pair of fenders last week, they were for a 1912 so we needed to shape them for the narrow forks. It took two of us a FULL day; just cost that out in labour before you even consider the cost of the parts. Not a cheap job.

This bike was a complete original machine and has been fully restored with only minimal use of repop parts. It has been a display bike but with some fettling will soon be ready for the road. As she is so original, getting a Pioneer certificate should not be a problem.

This is a great example of the beauty of the early machines; the curve of the front down tube, the bee-hive cylinder, the belt and the rear hub without the clutch. This is definitely a case of ‘less is more’ but having said that I will add a Jones 50 mph front wheel speedo and an original EA Industries horn.

We went to Mannheim again this year. It’s getting a bit ‘samey’ but I had to deliver a knucklehead and had some other parts to off-load. There were several early Excelsiors and Indians but only a couple of Harleys.

These two were €50k and €60k, strong money but they are becoming so rare now.

Guy did a feature on another one of our bikes; this time the old Hippy Chief. He puts out a great mag and always finds some interesting bikes.

The Hawaiian Hula has been getting the Japanese treatment. Tough and dirty but this one has a selection of old chrome parts just to be different. Brakes, oil tank, bars, pipes, etc.

She’s also got the fat look with fat-bob tanks, wide bars and a panhead rear fender. Should be ready soon.

Two of the J slots needed repairing on the air cleaner cover, a simple job but important. I did the repair with stainless; its seemed a good idea at the time … until I had to start filing the shape!

Fred asked me to mention that his 1913 Flying Merkel twin is for sale. Its nearly all original and very sensibly priced. Its not listed anywhere but give him a call if you’re interested and tell him I sent you!

I went to visit with Fred Lange again during the SEMA show in Las Vegas in November. I’ve not been for a few years and it’s always a treat to see his great collection of cars and bikes. Apart from building those great motors for the early models, Fred is also one of the best restorers I’ve met and he is a great guy to learn from.  He had in his workshop several Harleys, Indian, Excelsior, American, Flying Merkel, etc, etc. Well worth the ride out to Santa Maria for a couple of days.

I’ve had some problems with the WordPress site and the last dozen or so posts from Sept through November have been lost. I’ve re posted a few in brief.