What would you do?

[Flat Tire]

Just MHO but I would never change an original Davis bike of any kind to a Harley. I've seen fake HD bicycles many times over the years at the Antique Motorcycle shows. Every time I see a restored HD bike I automatically consider it a fake....And unless you had an original headbadge, which are pretty hard to come by, the bike still wouldnt be original. As fas as full disclosure remember the old saying "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive" lol...... You never know what kind of questions people will ask, for example if someone did change this bike, and a buyer was interested and said "wow thats a nice bike! is this the way you found it?"....or "was it complete when you found it, or did you add any parts".....I've heard those questions before......then you would be stuck in the position of lying or telling the truth.

 

[bud poe]

I want to be clear too, that I'm not passing judgement on anyone else's actions, but I can only speak to what I would feel OK about doing. When that bike in question was converted to a HD, I'd always have the feeling that it's just....not...right...
Some might argue that my Hiawatha-turned-whizzer might fall into the same category, being that I took something, added parts and ended up with something else? But I think thats a whole different animal, I'm not trying to hide it's origins and pass it off a s a geniuine "Whizzer". I just wanted to build a cool looking old motorbike...
Loving reading all the opinions on this...

 

[Springer Tom]

Touche, Phil. The same goes for cloned cars and motorcycles. If a particular car was worth $60,000-70,000, it would seem idiotic to spend $30,000 or so so on a cloned vehicle. In the end, what did you buy? And when you go to sell it and can't because it's a clone, what did you expect? The one thing that's accomplished is people using original parts to build clones when we need the original parts for the originals. As far as full disclosure, it may work the first time the bike was sold, but not the next.Flat Tire knows the story, we've all seen Knuckleheads selling for exorbitant prices when you know damn well there's a lot of them just pieced together.......just my 2 cent contribution........

 

[Larmo63]

I agree with Mr. Marshall. I'm turning my Black Phantom back into the Sting-Ray it started out as. Sorry for any confusion.

 

[bairdco]

kidding aside, i think trying to pass a bike off as something else for monetary reasons is totally wrong, but if you want to keep it for yourself, there's nothing wrong with that, just don't go around telling people it's an original that you found in the basement of an abandoned building in Milwaukee.

one thing i don't have a problem with, though, is using identical parts from other brands to restore a bike. we all know that different brands used the same parts, the most obvious being hubs like New Departure's, and to a lesser extent, chainguards and fenders. if i need a light, or some handlebars, or whatever to complete a bike, and those same parts came factory on 10 different models, to me, it's the "correct" part.

if i were to sell the bike, though, i wouldn't claim it as "original" though. i'd say "restored."

 

[DonChristie]

I am a purist as bikes go. To change a bike over to look like something it is not is a crime. As Phil stated, bikes don't speak. The bike itself is the story. If you change this, you are essentially rewriting history. Just my 0.02 cents.

 

[redline1968]

cut, replaced, new paint /touchup, seat upgrades. these are actions the purists ould find disagreeing yet we do it. how many of us replaced a badge or stand put a better seaton ? are these bikes original? not to them. what about putting correct parts on a correct frame is this original? to a purist no. to anyone else yes. what about the hd museums bike? it has been restored but are the parts there to begin with? we dont knwo but it is called a hd. i say wrong frame -right parts wrong. right parts - right frame right. might as well throw away all the parts with the purists point of view.

 

[DonChristie]

What I meant was correct parts on correct bike = good! Correct parts on an incorrect bike (Davis as a HD) = bad. Just my 0.01 cent.

 

[redline1968]

davis built the hd.... lol that's ok i really know what you mean.

 

[bud poe]

Mark, I hope you don't hate me for putting you on the spot....we got everyone talking though!!!
Dayton or HD, amazing bike and I really do feel lucky to have been able to see it up close...And your right, it made me SICK that you picked it up right in my back yard ( I check C-list DAILY!)...It'd sure be a shame to cover up that "DAVIS BUILT" decal....