The Harley Davidson VL had a rather rocky start in 1930 There were numerous oiling and overheating problems that sent The Company back to the drawing board until it became a fairly reliable bike with good power for it's time.
I never liked the VL's until the last couple of years and they have kind of grown on me. I had the makings of a 1934 VLD but sold everything when I got sick. Here are some specs I gathered out of Steve Slocombes' book...
29 hp for the high compression (ok...relatively speaking) VLD
529 pound dry weight
A "Y" manifold was introduced for the 1934 model
Drop forged steel I-beam forks
Removable Ricardo designed cylinder heads (more on this later )
Dow metal pistons
Drop center rims for safety
Lower seat height than the J Model Harleys
Arguably, the VLD was faster than the JDH Model that it replaced. I still want a JDH however !
This is not a blindingly fast motorcycle but who cares... I'm not either
Hmmm.....would it go from sea to shining sea ?
