Puc Found you a Christmas present

[djh3]

I dunno why I was looking here. But looky what I found. A Harley just for you.

[cowpuc]

COOL!! THANKS DJ!!

 

I actually already had a couple Sprints, the older ones became pretty valuable as they were actually pretty popular for Flat Trackin.. Showed the ad to Tip and she wondered where she would put the "Womens Health Care and Beauty Aids Department" on a bike that small

 

It the thought that matters though DJ - THANK YOU!!

[blue mtn. jim]

In the 70's we called all Harley's, BOWLING BALL HARLEY DAVIDSON'S ( AMF )

[djh3]

In the 70's we called all Harley's, BOWLING BALL HARLEY DAVIDSON'S ( AMF )

Yea I remember them days. Even the hard core Harley guys wouldn't touch them. Hd outsourced all kinds of stuff. I understand the wiring was all made in Japan and gave tons of problems. Although now an aficionado tells me you can buy a replacement harness that actually works. They made dirt bikes too, use to see some at the track. Did Harley actually make those engines or were they a Sachs or something? Harley tried to build it up as "American Fun Machine" LOL I knew guys that were more of the "aint fu@# mine"

think back of all the stuff that had that AMF Harley emblem attached. Motorcycles, bowling equipment, dirt bikes, snowmobiles and ah yes golf carts.

[cowpuc]

Indeed you guys, those were the days.. I was racing MX and Harescrambles back in 74 when HD came out with the MX250. Actually ran against a couple of them for a while. They ran pretty good but were heavier than the Elsinore 250's I was running. Also, competition was rough in the market - Yam came out with the Mono Shock YZ right in there and that created all kinds of problems cause WOW could they handle the whoops.. Harley only produced that 250 for a short time and was not real good with support so they became extinct about as fast as they came on the market. Interesting thing has been thru the years the value of those puppies:scared:, BIG BUCKS now if you can find one. I think it was Armachi (never could spell that) who produced the motors,, I am positive that it was an Italian made motor anyway.. Really looked trick and ran strong!!

I was also into those AMF (oil leaking, parts tossing, work for three hours and ride for one) Shovel Heads back then, not as bad as the Iron Heads of those years (we always called em "Rod Tossers":big-grin-emoticon:. Had a couple of the shovels that really would have been better off had they of been used for bowling pins . Always seemed like the guys who balanced the cranks em intentially made em out of spec:big-grin-emoticon:.. Then I won a brand new 78 (AMF) Low Rider on a job site while I was Tig Welding for the Boilermakers. Crazy as this may sound, other than the rear brake caliper problem (well known issue - fixed it permantently with a valve spring out of a 283 Chevy - long story) I ran that thing all over the country pretty much problem free. Only reason I jumped ship after 105k miles was I got REALLY tired of getting scalped by the Harley Dealer every time I went in for parts (they somehow thought that the little HD stamp on the plastic bag meant that a 15 dollar cable was now worth 70 bucks). I LOVED the bike though, even named her Hoglia.. Time for her to go and me to move on = you guys are right on about "no one wanting those AMF bikes" back then - resale was TERRIBLE!!

Shift gears to recent times with me for a second and I got some amazing news for ya.. The last few years of my business I did an AWESOME amount of Shovel Head business. Matter of fact, just a couple years ago I gathered up 11 of them over the winter and by May they were all gone!! Craziest thing you ever did see, sold like hot cakes.. Was interesting though cause it was only particular models in the AMF Shovels that I was able to sell (kind of like today EVERYONE wants a stripped down Electra Glide = a Street Glide and are willing to pay as much for a stripped down bike as they are for the exact bike with a Tour Pack that you can unbolt:confused24:). They FLH I could sell as fast as I could clean a carb, the FX's almost as fast but the FLHT was a no seller.. I was getting twice out of an AMF Shovel as I could get out of a 1st or 2nd year Twin Cam and the EVO's (which were way better motors, first change after Harley became Harley again and AMF was bye bye) were almost unsellable in any format except for the "Sturgis".. Seemed like for some reason people forgot all about the "AMF" deal we lived thru and went AMF insane.. Crazy world,, but wayyy fun!!

[slowrollwv]

Puc do you know anything about the early years of HD? I saw an article about them selling the rights, patents and machinery to Japan back in the 30's. to keep from going under. I guess that was the start of the rice burners that they are called to today.

[cowpuc]

Puc do you know anything about the early years of HD? I saw an article about them selling the rights, patents and machinery to Japan back in the 30's. to keep from going under. I guess that was the start of the rice burners that they are called to today.

 

I read something about that along the line too Roller,, maybe over at the museum.. I know the Japs were producing Harley prewar "clones" and thinking there had to have been some kind of business deal like you say. Definitely played part in the future rice burner days!!

I also know that WW1 and WW2 played a huge part in HD staying alive and had the reverse effect on all the other bike company's (and there were LOTS of em). I did a 41 Indian Scout that I picked up in as a basket case (and it was a REAL basket). I ended up doing a LOT of searching for tin for it and found out in the process that one of the reasons those parts are almost non existent (besides being very old) was because of the need for metals during the war - huge piles of Indian fenders and parts were melted down.. Thinking about that, even though Indian did build bikes for the war effort (bout 1/2 as many as HD to my understanding) they were melting down Indian parts to produce Harley's and Harley was charging the Gov more for those same parts (that is true!!).

[slowrollwv]

Yes I know that HD made a lot of bikes for the army during WW1 and WW2. When some of the people around here start giving me flack about my Yamaha I just tell them it is a descendent of the Japanese Harley.

[djh3]

Was watching "whats in the barn" last year. Dave (or whatever his name escapes me rite now) told the story that the bid went out for a bike in WW 2 of XZY and such and such size motor etc. Indian, Harley and one other built bike for the contract. Harley won out, due to performance. and as Paul Harvey use to say, here's the rest of the story. Harley motor was bigger than anyone else's. So that's why the extra power, but they won the contract and Indian went under shortly after.

[cowpuc]

I think Harley's relationship with military contracts actually began back in WW1. I know that the original HD "Wrecking Crew", who somehow had a connection with where the term "hog" originated, came about between the two wars and they (the crew) had their beginnings over Harleys involvement in the war. That was way back in the "JD" type of Harley scoots - back when Harley's had those weird straight tanks that followed the backbone of the bike and were kinda long and rectangle shape.

During WW2 Indian actually did produce and sell to the Military too, only about 1/2 as many bikes as Harley did though - the WLA was the most produced but I think both HD and Indian took a shot at a shaft drive model because the shaft driven bikes used by the Germans (BMW?) and Russians (copied BMW's) were way more durable (:think:gotta remember - those Beemers were gear driven primaries and secondaries - KINDA LIKE OUR VENTURES ). Harley did have the main contract with the Military though but I am thinking that had a lot to do with their relationship all the back to WW1. Them original HD guys were really savvy marketeers back then too!

 

When ya think about it, there is an enormous amount of truth in what @slowrollwv was talking about as far as "rice burners" having their beginning thanks to HD too, A LOT of cloning going on. Amazing what came about because a couple guys got tired of peddling bicycles aint it,,, guess ol Red Green was right with his "Necessity IS the mother of inventions" quote