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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: chuck peterson on August 26, 2017, 05:57:29 AM

Title: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: chuck peterson on August 26, 2017, 05:57:29 AM
S o m e t h I n g   I s     N o t.        Q u I t e right.

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/d/1959-harley-flathead-vintage/6274157648.html

Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: jas67 on August 26, 2017, 06:47:30 AM
S o m e t h I n g   I s     N o t.        Q u I t e right.

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mcy/d/1959-harley-flathead-vintage/6274157648.html

With the exception of the Servi-car, HD didn't make flat heads quite that late.   The last two wheeled flat head was around 1948.   

The OHV knucklehead also ended around that time, and by 1949, the pan head was the only big twin that HD was putting in two wheelers.
Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: rocker59 on August 26, 2017, 07:13:29 AM
WL - 1937 to 1952.

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Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: Sasquatch Jim on August 26, 2017, 07:44:19 AM
  A couple of you guys are mistaken.
  Back in the day, I had a 49 W model 45 inch flathead.  It was almost the last of the two wheel flatheads.
  Except for the early pre sportster bikes with the tranny built into the engine like a sportster.
  There was the K model and KK and KHK  which was about the displacement of a sportster
 but was a flathead.  The KHK was a street legal bike that found its' way onto the TT tracks where larger displacement
 was allowed.  Then Harley made that model with overhead valves and it became the sportster.
 The panhead was made from 1950 until 66.  The WL were made up to 52 when they were replaced by the K models.
 Most domestic dealers only sold the WLs until 49.  The WLA was the army model of the same bike.
 The last two wheel Harley flatheads were KRs , race bikes the dominated flat track racing due to the 750-500 rule that favored Harley unfairly.  The Flathead 750 racer got overhead valves late in 67 but produced so much power that they blew apart until changes were made in 68.  That model with upgrades is what Harley is still racing .

 BTW The fender has been modified.  It is missing the front support and seems shorter.
Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: Triple Jim on August 26, 2017, 08:50:04 AM
I don't know a lot about antique Harleys and antique motorcycles in general, but I don't remember Harley-Davidson putting a goose on the front fender on any model.
Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: John A on August 26, 2017, 09:02:03 AM
I think that is an aftermarket rear fender that has been cobbled to fit and is indeed backwards
Title: Re: please don't say that fender is on backwards...59 Harley, CL, boston
Post by: QuattroValvole on August 26, 2017, 10:26:59 AM

That's a front fender and it's on the right way around. It's been 'bobbed' quite a bit at the front and a little at the rear, too. Not much info in the ad but it's real likely that it's a late '40's chassis with a '59' G Servicar engine which could explain the 1959 registration. Most Servicars were in police parking enforcement applications so saw pretty light duty. When you blew the engine on your 45 solo, it used to be that a surplus servicar engine was a cheap way to get back up and running. The bike has obviously been changed a bit from original but not too much compared with many old unrestored Harleys. It's on Ebay also. Prices for the 45 solos have gone way up over the last 5 years or so.