Harley's that may not necessarily been born Harley Davidson's

[mike j]

From what has been popping up lately, here. Add to that, the sheer number and different grades of re-popped head badges out there. I remember being surprised at Copake a few years ago. That's where I bought mine, and let's not forget the chainrings. I'm going out on a limb here to suggest that we may have just scratched the surface. So let me be the first to throw mine out (here). Come on, I know that I'm not the only one with this guilty pleasure.

 

[Jon Olson]

I got the repop badge and chain ring in Long Beach from Bob Barns in a deal. I used them in a WWI/WWII display as a “tribute” bicycle to the time period. The “fake” HD had a Bridgeport No.12 pump, Solar carbide lamp, Klaxon “ooga” horn, and other teen frame parts. I’ll keep collecting more correct parts as they come.

 

[Freqman1]

This is why I stay away from restored ‘motorcycle’ bikes. While there are some excellent restorations out there done with original, correct parts they are few and far between. Fortunately the patina examples that have been popping up lately are so poorly done they are easy to tell if you know what right looks like. I highly encourage anyone looking for an Indian, HD, or Flying Merkel to read the appropriate threads on The CABE so you know what you’re looking at. V/r Shawn

 

[catfish]

I know of a home made / fantasy H-D bicycle that was made and sold over 25 years ago. It was at an east coast swap meet. And ended up on ebay around the time ebay started. It was later placed in a Las Vegas restaurant / museum. They had the bicycle authenticated by the H-D museum... And later when the place in Vegas closed it's doors, it was auctioned of again with real paper work form H-D..... Nothing about the bicycle was from a real H-D. I still have a print out of the auction in my files. You really need to educate yourself about what you are looking at before you buy anything. If it seems too good to be true, it is. Even with "Paper work" it can be a totally fake bike.

 

[Freqman1]

I know of a home made / fantasy H-D bicycle that was made and sold over 25 years ago. It was at an east coast swap meet. And ended up on ebay around the time ebay started. It was later placed in a Las Vegas restaurant / museum. They had the bicycle authenticated by the H-D museum... And later when the place in Vegas closed it's doors, it was auctioned of again with real paper work form H-D..... Nothing about the bicycle was from a real H-D. I still have a print out of the auction in my files. You really need to educate yourself about what you are looking at before you buy anything. If it seems too good to be true, it is. Even with "Paper work" it can be a totally fake bike.

I question how much the HD guys know about the history of their own motorcycles and wouldn’t take too much they say as gospel concerning the bicycles. V/r Shawn

 

[Archie Sturmer]

People these days. Not only can they fake a whole bicycle — but they would even stoop low down enough to fake a piece-of-paper too!

So, I have the repro DH chain ring sprocket, the repro brass head badge, repro decals, just need more time and self-motivation to start my own fake DH project bike.
Maybe a Daniel Haroldson.

 

[Rusty72]

Charlie Davidson !

 

[Freqman1]

Fortunately a lot of people that try to fake these don’t even start with a Davis frame so they are easy to spot. I’m surprised someone hasn’t done better repos of either the badge or chain ring. Still a lot of tells on a real bike besides these two parts though. V/r Shawn