Posted on 08/24/2003 5:45:52 AM PDT by martin_fierro
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:43:25 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
London artists Steve Wood and Clive Morris said they wanted to create a tribute to freedom when they set out to produce a giant bronze replica of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
But when they tried to display their 10-foot-tall, 5 1/2-ton artwork at Harley Davidson's 100th anniversary "Ride Home" kickoff here Thursday, company officials had police shoo them away.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
xsmommy's Bait Bike.
Which you'd expect a Master Baiter to ride.
Oh, THIS is gonna hurt...
Yes. Yes, you do.
and i ain't old. ya geezer.
So have I, since the one I bought new in '68, and still have. I don't let the 74 snobs bother me. I just hand them a quarter and tell 'em to go weigh themselves.
The engine in this "Steerly-Davidson" is not a Harley. Looks like a Honda or some other rice burner.
Need heap big wigwamgrease & skyspark make Chief roar!
<|:-)~~
I say, old chap, you might take a very close look at the engine in that old '48 Indian Hoss frame.
Tallyho, what! Ugh!
[Kinda puts you in mind of the accent affected by the actor that played *Mingo*, the Brit-educated sidekick on the Daniel Boon TV series, don't it?
So have I, since the one I bought new in '68, and still have. I don't let the 74 snobs bother me. I just hand them a quarter and tell 'em to go weigh themselves.
I've had both, 3 of which were Sportsters, and prefer the Sporty unless I know I'm going to be packing double for an extended distance.
I happen to like the earlier ones with the reversed *wrongside* footshift and brake as per English bikes, but that's just my personal taste, from habits developed WAY back. But we're coming up on the 50th anniversary of the Sportster, [depends on if you count K-models as true *sportsters* or just the OHV versions or not] and though I had considered getting a 2003 100-th anniversary hog, the Sportster version to follow might even be more desirable from my standpoint.
Them was the days, guys....
2004 Sportster
http://motorcyclecruiser.com/newsandupdates/2004HD/
Pumped up compression and BMW engineering, Indian carbs are always on the wrong side too!!
Ya got me!
In the 1950s as sales were faltering, Indian was looking hard for a way to upgrade their machine to compete with Harley's OHV Knucklehead and Panhead engines, and Vincent was desperate for revenue to keep their firm financially afloat. Many Indian dealers had doubled as Vincent representatives, and the Indian factory had acted as the US shipping agent for Vincent, so the combination seemed a natural.
The Vincent engineering department received a 1948 Indian, to be fitted with a 100c-cc Vinnie engine, then shipped back to Springfield for Indian evaluation. In effect, Indian could have had a 1000-cc Indian OHV to compete with Harley's Sportster five years before Milwaukee introduced the OHV engine in the old K-model frame. It's likely that Indian would have dusted off the old Scout or Warrior name for their OHV version, but everyone associated with the project then and those who've reduplicated it since- it's not at all difficult, though it's a wee bit more than just a drop-in job- referred to the result as a *Vindian*.
Indian went under before a production version came to pass, but my, oh my, what might have been. And of course various states of engine tune right on up to that of the 150mph [in 1948 at Bonneville] Vincent Black Lightning were and are available.
I've been slowly but surely collecting components to get my own Vincent built of bits and pieces together; I'm getting there. But a Vindian redo is particularly tempting, if I turn up a '48 Indian Chief frame and other bits. The original was G.M. Duco blue, and if I go that route, mine will be as well.
Vincent and Indian had the carbs on the correct side. Harley got it backwards. Even the new *California Indians* with the *Coinhead* Harley-derived engine have got it right.
-archy-/-
This HD rider is more than willing to extend to a Texas Rose the the understanding forgiveness that chivalry compels...;^)
So do I. My '68 XLCH, has the shift on the "right side" and on my other Sporty, I made a conversion to swap the foot controls around to the "Occidental" position.
The present placement of foot controls (shift left, brake right) was mandated by the Federal Department of Transportation during the Carter Administration. Their logic was since, at the time, their were more "Oriental" motorcycles being sold (dumped) in the US with this shift/brake configuration, that, that would be the mandated standard.
It's really no big deal. It's a matter of preference. In my case, all my emergency "muscle memory" hard wiring to my feet are "Occidental". I only ride pre-Carter bikes or convert them.
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