1919 Harley Davidson ‘Motorcyke’

 

 

1919 Harley Davidson ‘Motorcyke’

Model 118

20″ Frame

28″ Wheels

(Now sold)

The Harley Davidson marque epitomises everything that America stands for, and a Harley Davidson bicycle is a machine that every collector of American bicycles aspires to own.

This is a genuine Harley Davidson, being an old-time restoration, but with a replica head badge. I purchased it in the USA from a friend who was relocating to Europe. It has a wrong coaster brake, replica handlebar grips, a British inch pitch block chain rather than American skiptooth block chain, and the pedals are not specific to Harley Davidson. The paintwork is in excellent condition, being the same as the Harley Davidson motorcycle of the era.

Although many top-of-the-market American bikes can be somewhat gaudy, the Harley Davidson bicycle is not ostentatious: it was designed with the minimum of fuss, the idea being to imitate the Harley Davidson motorcycle of the day. It was actually quite subtle marketing: boys could start out with a Harley Davidson bicycle and then, when old enough, progress to one of the company’s motorcycles.

I took these photos of the ‘Motorcyke’ so I could choose one of them to publish in my book.