Hi all,
So my grandmother recently passed away and as another family member and I were going through a barn at one of her properties which contained items that had belonged to my great grandfather, I found a number of bikes. One of which was hung from a back wall and which I could not get a good look at. What caught my eye on this bike was the dust covered, yet still shiny, chainring appeared to have letters stamped into it. This week a family member was finally able to access the bike. He told me the letters in the Chain ring were “H”s and “D”s, and the model name on the frame was “Motorcyke”. Obviously, this is a Harley Davidson Motorcyke from 1918 to early 1920s. The bike has likely hung on the wall since long before I existed and apparently appears to be in relatively decent condition. Original paint doesn’t appear to have been eaten away by rust, at least from what he could tell once he wiped away the inch of dust that had built up on the bike. It even has the leather seat bag that came with the bike, and which appears in the HD catalog. Whether parts or missing or have been replaced I don’t know, and won’t until I see it and take a look at it.
I suspect my great grandfather picked this bike up, maybe even as original owner, and then parked it in the barn. He did that sort of thing a lot.
My plan, once I am able to pick the bike up is to service it and ride it. My family is a cycling family and between the four of us we probably have over 10 bikes in our garage - road, mountain bike, cyclocross/gravel. Although most of our current bikes are carbon. So this new addition will be a little different.
So thoughts on what I may have, and whether it is a good idea to intend to ride a bike like this?
Tim
So my grandmother recently passed away and as another family member and I were going through a barn at one of her properties which contained items that had belonged to my great grandfather, I found a number of bikes. One of which was hung from a back wall and which I could not get a good look at. What caught my eye on this bike was the dust covered, yet still shiny, chainring appeared to have letters stamped into it. This week a family member was finally able to access the bike. He told me the letters in the Chain ring were “H”s and “D”s, and the model name on the frame was “Motorcyke”. Obviously, this is a Harley Davidson Motorcyke from 1918 to early 1920s. The bike has likely hung on the wall since long before I existed and apparently appears to be in relatively decent condition. Original paint doesn’t appear to have been eaten away by rust, at least from what he could tell once he wiped away the inch of dust that had built up on the bike. It even has the leather seat bag that came with the bike, and which appears in the HD catalog. Whether parts or missing or have been replaced I don’t know, and won’t until I see it and take a look at it.
I suspect my great grandfather picked this bike up, maybe even as original owner, and then parked it in the barn. He did that sort of thing a lot.
My plan, once I am able to pick the bike up is to service it and ride it. My family is a cycling family and between the four of us we probably have over 10 bikes in our garage - road, mountain bike, cyclocross/gravel. Although most of our current bikes are carbon. So this new addition will be a little different.
So thoughts on what I may have, and whether it is a good idea to intend to ride a bike like this?
Tim
