our new 47 knucklehead

Here is the bike that my daddy bought yesterday. We have known about this 47el for a fifteen years. It is a real deal South Dakota bike that was originally sold new in aberdeen. It is pretty unmolested, there were a few parts that got changed over the years, but it is still a great bike.

35k on the clock. I cant believe that a bike this old would have so few miles on it.

This is the strangest thing on the bike. Look at the tap for the gas tank mounts that is welded onto the top motor mount. It is curved like a panhead mount. This bike is a really late 47, it is the first late 47 frame that I have seen with this top motor mount on it. All of the other late 47 frames that I have seen have had straight cut gas tank mounts. This is so cool!!!!!! Check out the cool overhead oil line, and the funky wire routing.

Here is a pic of my dad with his new treasure. Unfortunately, the sheet metal had a fresh coat of robins egg blue paint on it. My dad, Tim, Mara and I worked on getting this bike running until 6:30 in the morning, and I am happy to say that we got it fired up 12 and a half hours after my dad brought it home. I painted the tanks with self etching primer and threw a bobbed rear fender on it, just so we could ride it around and have fun with it. Our long term plans include are to paint the fenders skyway blue and make them look like original paint, and put a set of old chrome gas tanks on the bike. We are going to deck it out and make it the gawdiest 47 on the planet. Stay Tuned! It is going to be an awesome machine.