1936 Harley Davidson Knucklehead ohv 1936EL in Virginia

And I thought I was the only one who liked 1936 knuckles! Heres another ,,,pristine 1936EL1985, so the 985th knucklehead made in 1936. This belongs to Paul in Virginia, he may sell it in the spring so you can contact him direct at paulseidler@charter.net , thats one awesome knuckle.
So if you have a 1936 knucklehead correct motorcycle or bastard bike or chopper, drop me a line and i'll post it . I think it would be really kool to track where these bikes are in 2009. email at this blog on my "profile" contact info... be sure to send me some fotos and tell me a little about it, OR if you love motorcycles any kind drop me a line , thanks for writing Paul!

Building Sport Scouts ;634 640 741 642

Above in red-marroon titled as a 1934 Sport Scout, rear frame has 634 as part of the frame number denoting 6 for Sport Scout, 34 for 1934, front half of the 2 piece frame is a 1940-42 dog leg, NOS powerplant that was never stamped by Indian.

Pretty spartan start for a Sport Scout, this evolved into a 1940 Sport Scout.

You can clearly see the dogleg of the middle frame to accomodate the larger square base scout cylinders of 1940-42.

Indian scripted primary of 1934-1939, for whatever reason Indian gave up the script on 1940-53 for all models.

Koko admiring another project, she loved motorcycles, Sport scout gas/oil tanks were just a little larger and fit differently than their military 741 scout cousin.

Dirty , rusty, but reliable, bulletproof,underpowered 741 military scout, the oil pump,handlebars,seat was the same, but all the other parts were unique to 741s.

Fun , quick, but underpowered. 30.50 cubic incher less than 500 cc.

741 models wont fit a scripted primary, their smooth cover was also unique to ww2 741s, I think all of them were 1941 production, so 7 for 30.50 model, 41 for 1941. Indian kept things simple, Indian should have sacked their management and they'd still be building bikes, Its always greedy management that topples a excellent manufacturer.

1940 Sport Scout or 640 model , midway thru rebuild. evolved from the spartan scout above.

1940 -42 models shared the same sheetmetal, 1941-42 models were introduced w rear shocks and rear frames to accomodate the shocks, copying the shock engineering of the larger chief and four models.The kool thing to do is to swap out the flywheels to get 61 cubic inches out of heavy 45 cubic inch sport scout,

1942 Sport Scouts were very low production civilian models,ww2 being the reason.

You could build them w 16 incher rims , but they just dont look or handle right, 18 incher rims are correct and turn and look better.

Start w a pile of parts , but maybe not in your living room!

A virtually nos or new old stock engine, salvaged out of a low miles wreck.Nearly identical to a chief or 741 engine , One can see the heavy duty square base cylinders of 1940-42 that now needs a dogleg frame to accomodate them.

wet clutch or oil filled primary chain resides in the primary cover., HDs were dry, no oil. Anything the 2 rivals could do to distinguish one over the other.

The dogleg sport scout frame of 1940-42 models, Maybe some genius will start reproducing them, these are now very difficult to find..they are heavy duty.

I'm too buried to build more sport scouts now, but they are extremely simple, the least talented person could build one. Hard to believe that Indian a company that could make such bullet proof ,high quality iron went under the waves. They should have been bailed out w excellent management first and "free" govt money like Michigan now.

1936 Harley Davidson Knucklehead in Cyprus,In the Mediterranean Sea

I asked people who might read my blogger if they had a 1936 Harley Davidson, to drop me a line . So Jack in Cyprus was kind enough to send me a foto of his 1936 Knuckle. He is looking for a 1936 oil tank, Dash cover and air filter or Carb cover, If you like you can just send me an email if you have 1936 parts and i can forward it to him. Anyone who has a correct or mixed parts bastard 1936 Knuckle write me and tell me about it. Vin number etc, unique parts on your bike?history on it..Cyprus is pretty far away from Sunny Southern California. I can see this 36 has the mid to late smooth cam cover, Carb cover may be from a flathead, its upside down,so a flatheads carbcover.
This is where Cyprus is...

1955 Porsche 356 runs

The fun never ends at phil world. Finnally the 1955 runs w a rebuilt 912 engine. The first series of problems was the previous moron carved out a couple feet of sheetmetal out of the engine compartment to fit a different engine possibly,
so the steel was fabricated and replaced, sandblasting , one of the real joys of life. blasting the engine compartment ,and repainting it, the blasting revealed a 3rd world engineering steel repair.he must have had some toddlers repairing that. Next a pushrod tube gasket leak, surprise.......next a generator nut someone was in too much of a hurry to install properly. Proof the worlds not running out of idiots...
Can't forget the oil fountain...replaced the oil cooling radiator w a believe it or not New Old Stock oil cooler,never ever been on a Porsche,thats the kind of positive Law of Attraction that works for me... 1955 runs, you just cant anticipate unforseen issues. Finnally battled and got it titled off the chasis or hull VIN #.Originally Porsche titled 356 cars off the engine ID #, well not a good idea, not everyone is going to rebuild and keep the original engines, toss the burned out engine and there goes the id #, So when your car gets stolen and the new owner loads it onto a departing ship in Longbeach w a new title off the chasis , i guess your one less car in your fleet.

Steering wheel has to go, rollbars can stay.

Original brake assemblies ands axle grease retainers,races replaced,

Those fender flares , i cant wait to restore that to stock, hurts to look at it. Got lucky and found some complete quarter panels to swap that out. The rear homemade license plate holder , thats gone, who comes up w these shitty custom jobs?

Heres the 912 engine from Gary at Obsolete Parts, he has really helped me out big time, One could restore the 1955 w a stock 1955 1500cc engine ,but i'm just building a rider. I'm not going to be winning any First Places at Carmel so it works for me. Next is front signal lamps, horn, wheels ,tires, windshield wipers, steel repair , never ends, but it runs...

1936 Knucklehead shifter vs SuperX shifter

Heres the extremely rare 1936 Knucklehead only shifter, this was not used on 1936 VL or 1936
sidevalve flatheads. You can also see the shift gate that will only accept the round shifter rod, the gate is also 1936 knuckle only. Now compare to SuperX shifter on someones fabulous four and twin. Its definately similiar but not the same. SuperX also doesnt use a shift gate, just like an Indian...no shift gate.

1936 Harley Davidson Knucklehead runs

Early 1936 EL Knucklehead, probably the worst bike i ever built, resolving the endless air leaks
stopped alot of progress. For the motor company its considered a milestone motorcycle. 1936 is the first yr for the "new" OHV or over head valve engines, although earlier JD engines used a over head valve lifter to actuate the valves and the valves were in the top end . 1936 is a one year every part bike, 4 oil bag styles, 3 cam cover styles, 4 head styles, list goes on and on.

heres the early 1936 only front fender brackets , narrow or "skinny". For lack of a HD archivist in the pre and post AMF years , HD did not save literature or fotos of the 1936, so there is much unanswered questions on production , actual numbers produced, vin numbers etc, Its been called a secret weapon motorcycle...its production was kept secret, it was to revolutionyze HD as a motorcycle company, Indian stayed w side valve flatheads while HD offered side valve flatheads and the Knuckleheads, .The 1936 frame was maybe 20 pounds or so lighter than 1937 and later frames and thus more fragile and easier to crack and break, maybe 1900 1936 knuckles , E , EL models produced, i'm guessing maybe a 100 correct bikes survived , and many respectable mixed breed bastards, 1936 cases and every other year parts thrown in, HD was really smart . You can use pan head 1948-1965 parts on a 1936. of course you dont want to do that , but it goes to show the insight in interchangeability of parts.

one of the 1936 era oil pumps. primitive but effective. not enough pressure to blow debris out of a oil line, but then engines should have clean oil.

The wierd 1936 only rear brake drum assembly, i think the Taiwanese are making knockoffs of this less than effective stopping power, 1937 and later all used a beefier assembly.This also shows the prototype rear fender bracket...

1936 only shifter and gate and accessory dice knob, super rare, whats really wierd is that some obscure Super X bikes had a vaguely similiar shifter......

The crown jewel, the 100 mph speedo, no trip, skull dash w oil pressure gauge and amp gauge and the wrong switch, this is a WLA military switch, i have the original. More obscure details , if you were to line up 1936, 1937, 1938 knuckles , you'll notice the 36 tanks sit like 1 inche lower. brackets are just slightly off!!.....I love knuckles, plenty of go and just fun to ride, I'm going to cover more obscure parts like head tins , rockers etc, i very much doubt i'll build another 36, as the parts in 2008 are excruciatingly rare not to mention outragious in price , a excellent 1936 frame is worth some $15,000 , today there are many excellent knockoff parts to keep the old American iron going.but 1936 parts today are dried up and gone. I'm not going to "restore" this early Knuckle. just keep it an honest rider. I got really lucky building this bike , stumbling onto rare parts and some just great motorcycle people who wanted to see it come together.

If you have a 1936 knucklehead , please write me, chopper or correct bike, it would be cool to "track" where all these bikes went around the world. They really are a piece of HD history .

HD produced 9,812 motorbikes in 1936, some 1900 were knuckleheads, the highest engine number is in the 1900s .

Wanted 1912, 1913, 1914 Harley Davidson twin engine or project, Zundapp 600 750

I'm looking to buy a 1912 or 1913 0r 1914 twin Harley Davidson engine, complete or missing parts , what have you...email me at the contact page.
1909 HD twin in loop frame w belt drive not a chain!, just like a bicycle..
so its a "motorbike" not a true motorcycle just yet, that comes later.note
the beehive style cylinders, extremely rare ...

1915 HD twin , first true motorcycle, not a motorbike anymore, first true 3 speed transmission. peddle start it like a bike , the pedal assembly is now part of the transmission not the frame. electric and magneto models available...

1914 HD twin, single speed... how can you tell? no 2 speed shifter on tank top.

1915 HD twin electric model, see the updated oil pump on the cam cover? pedal on this side of trans.. 1915 was a real milestone for the motor company. tool box on tank top, i guess if you were a really good wrench you could use it for a lunch box...note the round stock for fender braces. 1915 has the new 3 speed transmission behind the engine vs 1914 using a single or 2 speed "transmission" in the rear wheel, . big change,

1914 HD twin 2 speed, its got the tank top shifter now...still the older primitive no oil pump cam cover. pedal assembly is in the frame. 1914 is the first year the motor company adds valve covers,

OH BOY.. 1913 HD twin...single speed chain drive, upgrade from a leather belt ! but belts come back MUCH later... why? belts have much less vibration to transfer thru the bike. Straight front down tube, NO footboards ,no brake or clutch pedals, these improvements arrive in 1914, so you are resting your feet on the old style bicycle pedals,,, yes its still a motorbike here, a fast one at that ..what else? the beehive cylinders are gone! now they have a "crewcut" top, cooling feature.

Early HDS are pretty damn rare, singles, ? they are cool but , hey if your gonna build a early bike ... twins go lots faster.... and yes they are even more rare than singles. Singles had shorter frames, shorter tanks and yes sir........ just 1 cylinder.........the rest of the bike was the same.

Somebodys bitchin kool civilian Zundapp...

Waffen ss soldier in camo on a Zundapp ks750, big enough to haul whatever you need to start your own blitzkrieg...looks like schwimwaggons in the background.

With how lucky i am, if i post this on the net... believe it or not , someone will give me a lead on a engine or bike or who knows, i think if i have a guardian angel , its probably a dog and it loves motorcycles as bad as me..

Might as well dream up some future projects Like to build a 1913 or 1914 HD twin rider and a ww2 Zundapp KS 500 or KS 600, i guess i'd take a cannon hauler like a ks750. I dont know Shiite about Zundapps other than its a similiar steel pressed frame like the ww2 BMWS that i'm building now..HDS are straightforward, glorified lawnmowers. once you solve the air leaks they always run, but nothing comes close to the reliability of an Indian motorcycle. Side valve flatheads, unequaled reliability. .

Some production numbers for you the reader to consider;

after 1910 the numbers represent singles and twins.

1901 1 motorcycle made

1904 2

1905 8

1906 50

1907 150

1908 450

1909 1,149

1910 3,168

1911 5,625

1912 9,571

1913 12,904

1914 16,284

1915 16,645

These numbers are from "The Harley Davidson Motor Company , An Official 80 Year History"

by David K Wright.

You might get this on Amazon or Ebay, I highly recomend this book.

The first twin was made in late 1907 ,but could not run consistently w its suction valve. Mechanical valves on 1911 and following models solved the problem.

Panther at the impound lot? Somewhere in Eastern Europe

I love looking up Panzers and WW2 battlefields and relics on Google. heres one of those mystery fotos, somewhere in Eastern Europe. A panther tank sits behind an old Benz in a pile of military wrecks.. The caption has to be " Shit Dude , I didnt think they were serious about impounding it"

Its probably valued at about a million Euros, and there it sits.unbelievable.