Harley

Update on the V-Rod Cafe!


Ron Fairbrother sends in an update on his really impressive V-Rod Cafe

Hi mate

Thought I would send the final shots of the Vrod cafe racer – Rocket Speedster 2 with the new clip-ons to finish the look.
The wheels are off now having a repaint in black with a silver rim. Hope it meets with approval :o)

Ron

Love it Ron! Thanks for the updates!

Yet another stunner of a Harley.


Sent in by one of the catchiest e-mail handles I’ve seen in a while “McMelle TheEgo” lol…”

Another really cool old Harley… And please spare me the e-mails. I’m aware that there’s a lot of Harley haters out there. I used to be one of them but not so much anymore… especially the older ones. And life can’t be all Cafe Racers and flawless restorations. So, yes it’s heavy and yes it’s slow. So what. It gorgeous and it’s dripping with character and cool. And don’t worry folks I go through phases. This too shall pass lol..

Update to the earlier 52 Panhead restoration post…


Here’s a nice follow up from Charles Lathe on the earlier 52 Panhead rebuild post. I asked him, “Who gets the bike? and here’s his response with another fantastic pic.

Ed Rich gets the bike. That’s Ed on the bike in the photo I’m attaching.

Ed owns the Museum of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles in Asheboro, North Carolina. The bikes start out as basket cases, or just parts of a bike, and the classes do a complete restoration from engine rebuild down to bead blasting and parkerizing the nuts, bolts, and washers.

We asked what he’s rebuilding next year and he says, “Probably a knucklehead. They are too much work for me to do by myself anymore and I have three more to build before to make a complete set of knuckleheads.”

There are five, five week long classes. They are two nights a week, three hours a night and they cost $120 each. Not only does Ed run the free museum, but he sells and repairs Harleys. When we come to class, we never know what else he’s going to have in the shop. There is a constant flow of big twin and 45 flatheads, knuckleheads, panheads, shovelheads, and evo bikes. They come in as old school choppers, show stopping restorations, and hard run old bikes. I think he stopped working on bikes newer than 2000 because their owners are sometimes harder to get along with.

My favorite bike in his collection is a black and grey 1943 knucklehead. Harley only built about 75 of them because they were so busy building 45s for the army during the war.

Regards, Chuck

1952 Panhead restoration. The kind of class project that I’m sure I’d enjoy!


Charles Lathe from North Carolina writes in:
I’m attaching a photo of the 1952 Panhead our community college night class is just finishing up. This project started in September and we had the bike purring like a kitten and roaring like a beast tonight. There are two more classes to go, but I’ll be away on my modern Bonneville.

I enjoy your posts and appreciate the effort it takes on your part.

Thanks Charles! What a cool class that must have been! Just curious but I wonder who gets the bike?

Another fine 49 old Harley.


Reader ride (sorry didn’t get the name):

This was my Dad’s 1949 Harley. It sat in a shed for 20 years until he said I could have it. The mice did a number on the wiring so I did a complete strip down to bare frame and started from there. Many hours and a few $ later this is the results. What a labor of love.

A really great save!

A Mega Post. Since I’ve been slacking lately… Pleasse allow me to catch up a little on some recent Reader rides.


From Leon in Germany:
Went for a ride this afternoon and took this picture, maybe you like it
greetings from Germany,
Leon

From Rob Comstock:
Here are a couple of photos of my RT3 during a trip I took from the San Francisco Bay Area
south to the LA basin to visit a couple of friends — and their Yamaha 360 Enduros as well!

From Justin Johnson:
I am sending you some pics of my 1953 FLF. I have owned this bike since 2002 and it has slowly evolved into the early style custom that you see in the pictures. plans for this year include a new seat and some coker tire wide whitewalls. also included are pics of my two owner 4500 original mile 1963 Topper.

From Tony Silva:
Here’s some photos of my 2000 Triumph Speed Triple that I had to put back together after T-boning a truck. The after picture was taken at Tempe Town Lake in Tempe Arizona.
Enjoy.