Anyone want a Harley-Davidson?

[AlanG]

OK, not THAT sort of Harley-Davidson, but one like this:



"The Silent Grey Fellow" seemed to be a good follow-up to my Flying Merkel, not least because of the large number of photographs on the web. I am also somewhat amused by the contrast between this rather staid description and the modern image of motorcycling.

Now, the disadvantage of having lots of photographs is that they show up a lot of differences between the models over the years, so I had to take an early decision which model to - er - model. Initially that was fairly easy. Before 1909, the appearance is of rather ad hoc additions to a pedal bike, with tanks and other bits strapped on any old how. In 1909, everything was smartened up, with a new, much more elegant, combined gas and oil tank.

Then in the 1912 models, the top tube and tanks were redesigned to slope down over the rear third, allowing more room for the sprung saddle, and foreshadowing the later "teardrop" tank shape:



I decided that I preferred the flat top, so this narrowed things down to 1909 to 1911, and the relative lack of photographs of the 1909 model gave me either the 1910 or 1911. The 1910 had a curved front tube, which I really liked, but the 1911 had a rather bolder paint job and a new and more interesting cylinder head design. Finally I decided on 1911.

So, on we go...
Alan

[whulsey]

This should be fun to follow.

[Inky]

The 1911 is a good choice. I will most definitely be following this.

[AlanG]

I found a reasonable-quality side-on view - this one:



The model number 7 reflects the date 1911: 7 years after the first year of production, 1904. The unadorned number indicates battery ignition, 28 inch wheels (overall diameter including the tyre). There was also the 7A, with magneto ignition, 7B and 7C like the 7 and 7A but with 26 inch wheels, and the 7D with an early V-twin engine. My plan is to go for model 7A, as the magneto and drive housing add a bit of interest to the engine.

I read the photo into Inkscape, scaled it to my chosen scale (1:14, so the wheels are 2 inches diameter), and traced the main frame members. Then I processed them into tubes with fitted ends. A certain amount of artistic license was needed to adjust for the residual parallax in the photo, and to guess the third dimension for the rear stays. Finally I have come up with something which looks plausible.

Right.jpg

View.jpg

[Miles Linnabery]

Dear Allen:
I wonder if Hog riders would be caught dead oh yours? however I like it shows the Bike influence. Will follow your thread.
Thanks,
MILES

[Zathros]

This will be a winner! Are you going commercial with this? It would be nice if you kept a copy of all the templates you used. This will most assuredly be something special!!

[pdmccool]

OK, this is one I can't wait to see finished. Since you're in a vintage bike mode, how about a Curtiss for your next one?

[motorcyclemodeler]

Hello Alan.
It is nice to see you are making a new bike...and man, what a project.
I'm confident you will make this a new work of art for your collection.
I'm not sure if am too late, but I got the book "The complete catalog of Harley-Davidson" by Tod Rafferty, which contains several prints with crisp details of several models of this time.
If you want, I can scan them at HIGH resolution for your reference while building.
Just tell me if you are interested.
Best regards.

Edgardo

[Nazgul]

Awesome Alan...Interesting choice...will be following this thread with much enthusiasm

[dessy]

Hmmmm.... me too!