Beschreibung:

Harley Davidson made a major departure from their conservative, but very sound motorcycle designs when they introduced the overhead valve ‘knucklehead’ in 1936. The side-valve V series big flat-head twins that were the company’s main offering were very robust in design, but were modest in performance compared with offerings from the Indian ‘Wigwam’, and still featured total loss lubrication. The knucklehead offered full circulating dry sump lubrication, and an overhead valve hemispherical cylinder head design with high compression options. Like many new models, the early ones were plagued with a few problems, such as top end oil leaks, and insufficient braking, given the machine’s potential speed. Possibly more than any source outside the Indian ‘Wigwam’ in Springfield, the knucklehead lead to the eventual downfall of Indian, who never shed their loyalty to the old fashioned, charming, but less efficient side-valve design on their big Chief. By 1937, the Harley’s leaks were brought under control, more or less, and the brake drums were modified for increased efficiency. To illustrate the potential of the new design, Joe Petrali took a knucklehead to Daytona Beach for a run of 136.183 mph on a two way average in March, setting a new world speed record for an un-supercharged motorcycle. Later in the year, Fred Ham rode a standard knucklehead at the Muroc Dry Lake, setting a new 24 hour record of 1825 miles at an average speed of 76.02 mph. The knucklehead proved itself to be fast and dependable. An interesting sidebar is that Joe Petrali was in the co-pilot’s seat when Howard Hughes took his Spruce Goose on its only flight. By 1946, the overhead valve Harley was a dependable and well-developed machine. The example offered for sale is the model E, which is the medium compression 61ci or 1000 cc. model. It is sufficiently rare, that the company doesn’t even have the production records, which leads to the assumption it is included in the figures for the EL model, of which only 2098 were produced. This is an opportunity to acquire an excellent project bike at well below the price of a restored knucklehead. Factory paint colors are red or grey, so it’s unlikely the paint is original on this machine, although it may have been repainted by a municipal government agency. We are assured by the owner that original parts not on the machine come with it. The machine comes with a California title.