S.I.E. Sissy Bar

Vilmino of LoserRules posted a S.I.E. ad with this sissy bar in it.

This is likely the same as the one in the Dick Allen photo. I'm still not 100% sure they made mine. This one has flat fender mounts like the one Mark sent in. Mine has side mounting holes, is taller, and a license plate/taillight mount.

My '65 and More About Sissies

Another shot of my '65 survivor. Vilmino commented in the previous post that it's a S.I.E. sissy bar.

One cool thing I found out right after buying this bike is that the rear fender is an old knucklehead front fender. It's been molded smooth but I first noticed they left the holes where the original fender's supports were riveted, then I spotted it's three piece construction on the inside.


A combination one piece fender strut/sissy bar is a clean way to set up a swing arm bike. Makes for pretty good lines too.

The last owner had it since 1970 so the bike probably took on this form fairly early on. The oil tank must have been swapped out later, as the original tank (chromed), along with the stock battery box came in a box of extra parts.


Mark Schauwecker sent in a similar constructed sissy bar. He says it's NOS and has Munch Choppers Chicago stamped on the inside. He got it from a friend who bought out an old dealer (Banta's in Lancaster, Ohio), in '91.

Foot Pegs 4 Sale

SOLD

These just went up on my parts page. Go to MCparts for more info.

Stupid-Glide Tanks

4-Sale SOLD

1984 original paint super-glide tank. Go to my parts page (MCparts), for more pics.


Origins, last of their kind.


My new favorite tanks for an FXR.


Great Looks, More Filling. H-D use to put them on touring model Sportsters in the late 70's, Roadstsers and XLS's in '79- '83. The Torrance P.D. had them on their XL's too.

Baked Harley

Let cool before serving. I miss those old Hi-Fi colors.

4 $ALE

Vintage Ironhead Sportster Forks (Sold)

Off a 1972 XLCH (last year for the drum brake and the steel lower legs), identical to a '71 and similar to the earlier ones all the way back to '52. These are probably some of the coolest skinny forks you can run on a Harley. They have very thin lower legs. 7/8" stem. (Harley used this style on '71 & '72 Super Glides but, with a 1" stem). Includes the small rubber boots (not shown). For extra $, I can provide the axle and riser mount if you what them too. Email me for more info: ckallasart@gmail.com

If they don't sell, they' ll go up on Ebay.

All the coolest hep cats dig these forks!

As seen on Sonny's bike! Good excuse to run this cover.


Same bike from HA 69. Yeah, I posted this one before.

(Update), I'm pleased to say that Jerimiah from Love Cycles snatched the forks. He's one guy that will put them to good use. I'm looking froward to seeing them on his Knuckle.

Hollister Photo Exposed

The following was inspired by some recent discussions on the Wing Nuts site.

By now I would think that anybody who's into motorcycles knows this famous photo was staged.

July 7, 1947, staged photo of Eddie Davenport in Hollister, CA. Somewhere I once saw the other unused photos from the photo shoot.

What's always interested me about the photo was the bike. The chromed headlight with Flanders bars and risers was the first thing I noticed. Then I noticed the missing tank shifter. No biggie, lots of dudes updated their bikes. Then I realized that the year was 1947 and Harley's didn't have foot shifts until 1952! A closer look revealed that the owner of the bike had installed a B&H foot shift set up.


Clues that something interesting was a foot (pun intended).

B&H had only started making these kits in 1946, making this bike one of the few around that had the hot set up. What were the chances that of all the bikes at Hollister, they would grab one that had this somewhat rare and cool modification?


The B&H kit. I was originally shocked and disappointed to see that B&H had invented the clutch booster (mouse trap), that H-D later used. The list of innovations that Harley has adopted/ripped from the after market is a long one.

In case you never heard the story of the staged photo here's what happened according to August 'Gus' Deserpa, the guy standing behind the bike with hands in pockets.

"I was projectionist by trade. I worked at the Granada Theater, which was on the corner of Seventh and San Benito. I would have got off work around 11 p.m.. My wife came to pick me up, and we decided to walk up Main Street to see what was going on.

I saw two guys scraping all these bottles together, that had been lying in the street. Then they positioned a motorcycle in the middle of the pile. After a while this drunk guy comes staggering out of the bar, and they got him to sit on the motorcycle, and started to take his picture.

I thought 'That isn't right', and I got around against the wall, where I'd be in the picture, thinking that they wouldn't take it if someone else was in there. But they did anyway. A few days later the papers came out and I was right there in the background.

They weren't doing anything bad, just riding up and down whooping and hollering; not really doing any harm at all."

Foot Peg Fetish Update

I stole this recently posted photo from Chopper Dave. He has been given Randy Smith's original patterns to use. Note Randy's original "Holy Pegs" pattern. Read the comments for the previous post below for more info. Don't confuse CCE (Custom Cycle Engineering), with CCI, (Custom Chrome Inc.).

Foot Peg Fetish

At one time chopper standard equipment included: Bates headlights and seats, Wassell tanks and ribbed fenders, Flanders risers and bars, and Anderson pegs.

In order of coolness, from left to right: Anderson, Posa Fuel, Holy Pegs, and H-D. Does anybody know anything about Anderson or it's history?


Note the markings. Holy Pegs (no name). Harley's are marked H-D on tip and Made in Taiwan (boo!) inside. The Anderson's are aluminum, not sure on the center two. H-D's are heavy pot metal.

The steel mount for the Anderson above is incorrect. The threads in the original aluminum mounts tended to strip. I have two sets and both have the mounts replaced with steel units. I have saved some original aluminum ones but they need repair.

The Posa peg and the Holy peg were mismatched in a box of parts I recently bought. I have since found another Holy Peg so, now I'll look for a Posa. Posa Fuel and Lake made those (injector) slider carburetors in the 70's. I don't know who made the Holy Pegs, Custom Chrome sold and may still sell them.

Harley still sells the ones on the far right with clamps (H-D #49144-86), as a multi-fit item for engine guards/crash bars.

Unknown NOS stamped steel pegs and mounts. I once had (sold), two of these sets. One set had a flat instead of rounded tip. They have very subtle round bumps on them.

This is just a small sample of the different styles and brands out there. I've seen some very similar to Anderson but marked ETB?

Long Beach MC Swap

BS'ing with friends and vendors... Zero $.
Misc. small parts... $1.00
Finding a set of leather saddlebags in trash... Priceless

God, I love Harley parts and Long Beach! Scored a great wheel. Everything to it's left, including the muffler was free. Saddlebags just need a couple of very minor repairs. One man's trash is indeed...

The LB Swap is one of the few things I like about LA.

Tanks!...

For Reading MC art.

Swap to Live/Live to Swap

Treasure trove scored at last Sunday's Long Beach Swap Meet. Ain't they purdy? Old H-D parts are like mechanical Art. I get high on this stuff.