CHOKE!

Check out the difference in the clips and the choke levers. The long lever was 36-37 and the short clip is for 36 to 39!


I set up the coil on Doug's 36 today. Check out the o.g. globe spark plug! These are really really rare.



The packing nuts are oem as is the coil. I wrap them with duct tape and use a set of pliers that I bored the jaws out on to tighten them up. This seems like a lot of work, but it protects the knurls on the nut and keeps the plating nice and shiny!




Ta Da! I made up the spark plug nuts on a turret lathe when I was in high school. I made 300 of them, and now I am down to 70. They are correct for pre 45 models.

THROTTLE CABLE TIME!!!!!!!!!

So I am moving along onto controls on the 36 that I am working on. I have been saving nos cables for it for quite some time. There are nice repros available on the market, but they are not quite as nice as brand new 70 year old cables! Here is one of them all wrapped up in cosmoline.


It is very tricky to get all of that junk off with out damaging the cable, I got it though!

36 dash wiring!

Well I wired up the dash on a 36 today. I have a bunch of nos switch wire terminals that I have been saving for ever. Check out the little green wire, the first step is to strip the cloth off of the wire, then split the exposed wire into two parts, then dip it in flux.

Then you crimp the terminal around the threaded part of the wire. and wrap the two pieces of twisted wire around the terminal. Once this is done, you can solder the wire.

Here it is all done, I found an original oil gauge for this bike and will be rebuilding it shortly. I guess I still have to hook up the speedo light, but that isn't to big of a deal.

Pictures of 46s in Texas!

Well my daddy spent last week in Texas. He is an ace motorcycle mechanic and an all around good dude, but he isn't good at taking pictures. Luckily for me and you-some of my friends emailed me some pics of his adventure. Here is a pic of our 46 with a banana peel



Here is a pic of my daddy with the 46 that we built for Robert last year, this is one of the pretttiest bikes that we have ever built I love it.




And another pic of my dad and Dewey. Thanks for the pics Robert and Ken!

db 36

Here is the ignition switch for Doug's 36. It looks dull in this picture for some reason. I think that it caught a strange reflection from my camera's flash. Anyways, the radius on the flipper is different on pre war switches. The circle looks a lot smaller too. This flipper was an nos od green one before I plated it.


Check out the fiber plate, pre 38 plates were solid bake lite rather than a thin piece with a metal reinforcement. I guess these can be broken when the switch is locked, so HD changed them.

Check out how the wires go, this is perfecto!!!!!!!!!!!

shiny round stuff?

We got a big ol box of chrome plating from our buddy Pat today. There were a lot of parts for a 65 that we are doing in there as well as some knucklehead parts. Check out how the area by the pivot is un polished, this looks so cool it is just like the og levers!


Here is the dash for a 38 that we are working on. Check out how the lip that sits on the tank is wider that an early 38 or 36 and 37.



Here is a pic of all of the shiny stuff!




Jesse spent the day radiusing new studs for cases. The beauty is in the details that nobody seems to notice lol.

fin repair

Here is a large port head for a fellow in sweden. There are some messed up fins on it.


Here you can see the most visible one after being built up. There is still one missing by the exhaust port.



Here it is all fixed up and ready for paint.

46 trans

My daddy finished up this 46 transmission, I had to put it in the chassis just to check it out. This is probably my favorite stage of building bikes. The guys that designed these bikes 75 years ago really had a firm grasp on aesthetics. I love knuckleheads and four speed transmissions!

Paging doctor Matt

My dad cut his finger today, luckily I took the emt course when I was 18. That was over six years ago, and I have forgotten quite a bit about what they taught us. We had a short meeting and decided that the old super glue trick was the way to go.


Not only is super glue a super adhesive, it is a super anesthetic lol.



Here is my dad's finger all glued back together. I am going to have to print up new business cards that have "super glue finger repair" listed in the service section lol

36-----46

This weekend I worked on my favorite motorcycle. I set up the steering dampener. Check out the original 36- 38 handlebar lock plate with the large riveted locking pin. Another interesting thing to note is the extra long shoulder on the handlebar hold down nut. Early 36 head crown nuts did not have a lip on them like all the later ones. Check out the tall headed handlebar pinch bolts these are correct for 36 to 40! They are the first part that I ever had reproduced way back when I was 17!


Here is a pic of the steering dampener installed, this was a n.o.s. piece that my friend Doug bought off of ebay several years ago for 1400! I used it as a sample to make copies so that I could have one for my 36. I think it is one of the classiest looking pieces that harley ever made!

I glued the floorboard mats down too! I used 3m 800 for adhesive, you can use weather strip adhesive as well. They both work just as good. Maybe in 200 years somebody will replace these mats and see my name in the glue, maybe not? I guess I will never know.....

It is vital to squeeze the mats to the boards while the adhesive is setting up!

This morning I threw a 46 motor in a chassis. This is one of the first 200 knuckleheads made in 46. It is going to be black. I know the oil pump plugs and oil line fittings are supposed to be parkerized, I didn't have the right ones when I was putting it together now I do, and they will be switched out by the end of the day!