Down The Rabbit Hole..............AGAIN

1928 Harley Davidson J

 

Well I've managed to tumble down the rabbit hole again !  I sold my '46 Chief and my Knucklehead projects basically because I had built both before and I got bored.  I have always wanted to build a 1920's JD so here I go again.

 

I found a nice clean '28 J motor which is the 61" version and a good frame from Eldon Brown in Canada.  This stuff is getting harder and harder to find so I bit the bullet and bought them.  I'll have it all in a few weeks ( I hope ! ) and will start posting some progress pictures at that time.

 



Harley Davidson 45 C.I. OHV Prototype

This is the only known surviving example of a 1941 Harley Davidson O.H.V. 45 cubic inch motorcycle.  The O.H.V. idea was not new to the Factory and had been used on racing motorcycles and hill climbers.  It cost as much to build the O.H.V. 45 as a Knucklehead and remember we entered World War II on December 7th, 1941...the bombing of Pearl Harbor which changed this whole country in a heart beat.

The three engines were stored in the Knuth warehouse in Milwaukee during WWII. After the war H-D sent some guys to inventory the warehouse because they had no clue what was in it. One of these guys liberated the OHV 45" engine and took it home. The Motor Company found out and demanded its return. The guy skipped town and took the engine with him.

Later it was discovered that he was working for a H-D dealership in the south and had installed the engine in a bike. H-D told the dealer to turn over the engine or he would loose his ticket. The dealer turned the engine over to the H-D District manager, who took it home and stored it in his garage.

Years went by and H-D again forgot about the OHV 45". The district manager retired from the company. He then contacted a great Harley race mechanic he had known for years who was now in California doing a bang up job porting and installing big valves in current model H-D heads. He sold the engine to this man who in turn sold it to a gentleman who deals with old bikes in Santa Paula, CA. It gets a bit foggy from here .... evidently the gentleman sold the engine to Carmen Brown who built it into a motorcycle.

That's a great story and may or may not be entirely accurate................

Las Vegas Mecum Auction Results for 2016

 

1912 Henderson Four Cylinder sold for $165,000

 

 

These are the top ten motorcycles that actually sold at the Las Vegas Mecum Auction

 

1912 Henderson Four Cylinder  $165,000

1955 Vincent Black Prince  $120,000

1928 Cleveland Four Cylinder Tornado $115,000

2004 MTT Y2K Turbine  $115,000

1956 B.S.A. Gold Star Cut Away from the Herb Harris Collection  $110,000

1939 Harley Davidson Knucklehead unrestored except paint  $90,000

1914 Flanders Model D Twin  $90,000

1937 Brough Superior SS80  $86,000

1929 BMW R63 Pre-War  $77,500

1917 Henderson Board Tracker..Rare & Original Factory Racer  $72,500

 

Overall I thought the prices were way down from previous years.  It was a good time to buy, but not so much if you were selling. 

 

There was a 1966 Velocette Thruxton that sold for $25,500 but it was not a good year for Triumphs, B.S.A.'s or Nortons.   A very nice 1947 Triumph Tiger 100 sold for $7750

 

Some of the specialty race bikes didn't fare much better with a 1912 Indian Board Track racer selling at $48,000 and a 1930 Indian factory Hill Climber sold at $60,000

 

A real surprise was a 1949 Vincent Rapide selling at $40,000 !

 

Some unsold bikes were the Crocker Bigsby special only going to $90,000 and not selling and a 1908 Harley Davidson Strap Tank going to $400,000 and not selling.  It will be interesting to watch these two bikes to see what ultimately happens.  I thought the Crocker would sell at a very high price.

 

I was told by a very renowned motorcycle collector about 14 years ago to only buy Vincent and Brough Superior if you are going with British bikes and I have seen this to be true over the years.

 

I do believe that antique American Motorcycles will always hold and increase their value if you buy the right ones with a strong priority on original paint and part bikes.  It's like any other market, there are years to buy and years to sell.

 

 1908 Harley Davidson unsold at $400,000



Rare Magneto Re-Magnetizer

I just bought this very rare Magneto Magnetizer made by Joseph Weidenhoff Chicago .  The magnet in the magneto gets weak over time and needs to be recharged by "zapping" it with an electrical current.  I plan on using this thing once I get it all set up and may start a small business rebuilding magnetos.  It's coming from Sweden so it may take a while to get. 

Johnny Eagles has one and I watched him recharge a magneto a few years back, it was kind of magical but it works.

Stay tuned ..............this will be interesting !

Red Fred's Indian Chief

 

I love it when a bike is personalized so it fits just the owner, the Scottish tartan on the front fender no doubt just fits Fred's Scottish roots.

1902 DUESENBERG MOTORCYCLE

 

1902 DUESENBERG  MOTORCYCLE

 

This motorcycle bears a striking resemblance to an early Indian, the engine looks very similar and the way it's mounted in what still strongly resembles a bicycle frame.  Kind of cool looking but I wouldn't want to go too fast on this thing !