Topic: OLD Harley motor

[Jay B]

I met a guy a while back that moved into an old farm place about 10 miles from me. He's a HD guy. He was telling me that a few months ago he was cleaning up a pile of junk/dirt that had been pushed up along side the place probably 50+ years ago. He took a scoop of stuff with his payloader, and saw a cylinder sticking out of the pile. At first he thought it was maybe an old Maytag motor, but when he got out and dug it out, it was a very old HD single! It rained a bit Sunday, put me out of harvest, so this guy calls me up and asked if I'd like to come up and see it. I grabbed a couple of HD history books that I've got and went to his place. Sure enough, from my books and a little research on the web, it's a 1911 single, 500cc and 4.5 hp. This thing is in amazing shape for having been buried for who knows how long, the crank would actually turn maybe 10-15 degrees! He's built a nice stand for it, it used to be the centerpeice of his living room untill his girlfriend moved in and decided it should be the centerpeice of his shop. Anyway, very very cool peice of history.

[754]

Very cool, did it have the mag or carb on it? I would be checking the rest of the pile..

[gerhed]

Definitely cool !
I like the centerpiece concept.
How about a pic ?

[Jay B]

He sifted through the pile pretty well, all he found was a section of frame downtube, the mangled forks and part of the front wheel. He saved them all of course, but I'm afraid those bits are junk. This bike must have been disassembled when it was junked. The carb, mag and exhaust are missing, but no evidence of them being corroded or busted off, they had to have been taken off on purpose. Also no bolt remains or even rust stains on the mounting lugs on the aluminum  crankcase. So it is basically a long block. As far as pics, I had my cell phone camera with me, I never thought about it. I'll take some next time I'm there.

[754]

Do me a favor please..

Find out if the head looking from the top has fins that are radial, ie like hands of a clock.. if they are not, please email or pm me.

Look around the base of the cylinder for a letter, probably are numbers too.. should be a "B' on an 1911, I think.

Does it have an output sprocket or pulley?

Dont throw any of the bits out, they make repair parts for most of the fork..

I assune you call it H-D as it say it on the engine cases? and is there a number on the case?

[754]

Look out for anything looking like pedal arms for bicycle or large bicycle seat, as well..

[Jay B]

It has the radial fins on the head. I think from my books that 1910 was the last year of the "Beehive" head, with the fins horizontal clear to the top. It has Harley Davidson cast around the bottom of the case. It has a pulley on the output, it was leather covered but all that's left are the rivets that held the leather on. As far as numbers, there are some there, but I don't have them now. I can look again somrtime.

[754]

Just wanted to make sure it wasnt a beehive, they are scarce.

 11 is a pretty good score though..

 I think the pully should be smooth, they may have added some to  change gearing.. motor may have seen use for something else ..

[Ecosse]

Just found this post!

When I was about 13 I was exploring around a stream near a farmer's field and holding up part of the embankment was an old (50's) Chrysler hemi. Sad to see it that way but I knew then what it was and felt excited about 'my' treasure. Tried to dig it out to take home... no luck.

I'd love to see pix of the HD one lunger though!