A superb and rare photo of the 1948
Harley-Davidson Panhead engine.
The Harley-Davidson
Panhead motorcycle engine was nicknamed like that because of the
distinct shape of the valve-rocker covers. The engine is a two-cylinder,
two-valve-per-cylinder, pushrod V-twin. The engine replaced the Knucklehead
engine in 1948 and was manufactured until 1965 when it was replaced by the
shovelhead. As the design of Harley-Davidson engines has evolved through the
years, the distinctive shape of the valve covers has allowed Harley enthusiasts
to classify an engine simply by looking at the shape of the covers, and the Panhead
has covers resembling an upside-down pan. The "Captain America" chopper used by Peter
Fonda in the movie Easy Rider (1969) had a Panhead engine, as well as the bike
ridden by Dennis Hopper's character. Currently, a number of third-party engine
manufacturers produce custom Panhead-style engines in a variety of bores, many
much larger than the original-design displacements. Each manufacturer includes
significant subtle upgrades to the original design to drastically improve the
performance and reliability while still providing the original styling and
overall engine structure.
Harley-Davidson has a long and
very interesting history that started as early as in 1901. That year, William
S. Harley, age 21, drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of
7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and four-inch (102 mm) flywheels. The
engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. Over the next two
years Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson labored on their
motor-bicycle using the northside Milwaukee
machine shop at the home of their friend, Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903
with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon completion the boys
found their power-cycle unable to conquer Milwaukee's
modest hills without pedal assistance. Will Harley and the Davidsons quickly
wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment. Work
immediately began on a new and improved second-generation machine. This first
"real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle had a bigger engine of 24.74 cubic
inches (405 cc) with 9.75 inches (25 cm) flywheels
weighing 28 lb
(13 kg).
The machine's advanced loop-frame pattern was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee
Merkel motorcycle (designed by Joseph Merkel, later of Flying Merkel fame). The
bigger engine and loop-frame design took it out of the motorized-bicycle
category and would help define what a modern motorcycle should contain in the
years to come. The boys also received help with their bigger engine from
outboard motor pioneer Ole Evinrude, who was then building gas engines of his
own design for automotive use on Milwaukee's
Lake Street.
The prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was assembled in a
10 ft × 15 ft (3.0 m × 4.6 m) shed in
the Davidson family backyard. Most of the major parts, however, were made
elsewhere, including some probably fabricated at the West
Milwaukee railshops where oldest brother William A. Davidson was
then toolroom foreman. This prototype machine was functional by September 8, 1904, when it
competed in a Milwaukee
motorcycle race held at State
Fair Park.
It was ridden by Edward Hildebrand and placed fourth. This is the first
documented appearance of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the historical record.
In January 1905, small advertisements were placed in the "Automobile and
Cycle Trade Journal" that offered bare Harley-Davidson engines to the
do-it-yourself trade. By April, complete motorcycles were in production on a
very limited basis. That year the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Carl H. Lang of
Chicago, sold
three bikes from the dozen or so built in the Davidson backyard shed. (Some
years later the original shed was taken to the Juneau Avenue factory where it would
stand for many decades as a tribute to the Motor Company's humble origins.
Unfortunately, the first shed was accidentally destroyed by contractors in the
early 1970s during a clean-up of the factory yard.) In 1906, Harley and the
Davidsons built their first factory on Chestnut Street (later Juneau Avenue). This
location remains the Motor Company's corporate headquarters today. The first Juneau Avenue plant
was a 40 by 60-foot (18 m)
single-story wooden structure. That year around 50 motorcycles were produced.
In 1907, William S. Harley graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
with a degree in mechanical engineering. That year additional factory expansion
came with a second floor and later with facings and additions of Milwaukee pale yellow
("cream") brick. With the new facilities production increased to 150
motorcycles in 1907. The company was officially incorporated that September.
They also began selling their motorcycles to police departments around this
time, a market that has been important to them ever since. Production in 1905
and 1906 were all single-cylinder models with 26.84 cubic inches (439.8 cc)
engines. In February 1907 a
prototype model with a 45-degree V-Twin engine was displayed at the Chicago
Automobile Show. Although shown and advertised, very few V-Twin models were
built between 1907 and 1910. These first V-Twins displaced 53.68 cubic
inches (879.7 cc) and produced about 7 horsepower (5.2 kW). This
gave about double the power of the first singles. Top speed was about 60 mph (97 km/h). Production
jumped from 450 motorcycles in 1908 to 1,149 machines in 1909. By 1911, some
150 makes of motorcycles had already been built in the United States – although just a
handful would survive the 1910s. In 1911, an improved V-Twin model was
introduced. The new engine had mechanically operated intake valves, as opposed
to the "automatic" intake valves used on earlier V-Twins that opened
by engine vacuum. With a displacement of 49.48 cubic inches
(810.8 cc), the 1911 V-Twin was smaller than earlier twins, but gave
better performance. After 1913 the majority of bikes produced by
Harley-Davidson would be V-Twin models. By 1913, the yellow brick factory had
been demolished and on the site a new 5-story structure of reinforced concrete
and red brick had been built. Begun in 1910, the red brick factory with its
many additions would take up two blocks along Juneau Avenue and around the corner on 38th Street. Despite
the competition, Harley-Davidson was already pulling ahead of Indian and would
dominate motorcycle racing after 1914. Production that year swelled to 16,284
machines. In 1917, the United
States entered World War I and the military
demanded motorcycles for the war effort. Harleys had already been used by the
military in the Pancho Villa Expedition but World War I was the first time the
motorcycle had been adopted for combat service. Harley-Davidson provided about
15,000 machines to the military forces during World War I. By 1920,
Harley-Davidson was not by far the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the
world, though their motorcycles were sold by dealers in 67 countries.
Production was 28,189 machines. In 1921, a Harley-Davidson, ridden by Otto Walker,
was the first motorcycle ever in the USA to win a race at an average
speed of over 100 mph
(160 km/h).
During the 1920s, several improvements were put in place, such as a new 74
cubic inch (1200cc) V-Twin, introduced in 1922, and the "Teardrop"
gas tank in 1925. A
front brake was added in 1928.
In the late summer of 1929, Harley-Davidson introduced
its 45 cubic inch flathead V-Twin to compete with the Indian 101 Scout and the
Excelsior Super X. This as the "D" model, produced from 1929 to 1931.
Riders of Indian motorcycles derisively referred to this model as the
"three cylinder Harley" because the generator was upright and
parallel to the front cylinder. The 2.745 in (69.7 mm) bore and
3.8125 in (96.8 mm) stroke would continue in most versions of the 750
engine; exceptions include the XA and the XR750. The Great Depression began a
few months after the introduction of their 45 cubic inch model.
Harley-Davidson's sales plummeted from 21,000 in 1929 to 3,703 in 1933. Despite
those dismal numbers, Harley-Davidson proudly unveiled its lineup for 1934,
which included a Flathead with art deco styling. In order to survive the
remainder of the Depression, the company manufactured industrial powerplants
based on their motorcycle engines. They also designed and built a three-wheeled
delivery vehicle called the Servi-Car, which remained in production until 1973. In the mid-'30s,
Alfred Rich Child opened a production line in Japan with the 74ci VL. The
Japanese license-holder severed its business relations with Harley-Davidson in
1936 and continued manufacturing the VL under the Rikuo name. An 80 cubic inch
flathead engine was added to the line in 1935, by which time the
single-cylinder motorcycles had been discontinued. In 1936, the 61E and 61EL
models with the "Knucklehead" OHV engines was introduced. Valvetrain
problems in early Knucklehead engines required a redesign halfway through its
first year of production and retrofitting of the new valvetrain on earlier
engines. By 1937, all Harley-Davidson's flathead engines were equipped with
dry-sump oil recirculation systems similar to the one introduced in the
"Knucklehead" OHV engine. The revised 74 cubic inch V and VL models
were renamed U and UL, the 80 cubic inch VH and VLH to be renamed UH and ULH,
and the 45 cubic inch R to be renamed W.
In 1941, the 74 cubic inch "Knucklehead" was introduced as the
F and the FL. The 80 cubic inch flathead UH and ULH models were discontinued
after 1941, while the 74" U & UL flathead models were produced up to
1948. One of only two American cycle manufacturers to survive the Great
Depression, Harley-Davidson again produced large numbers of motorcycles for the
US Army in World War II and resumed civilian production afterwards, producing a
range of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful both on racetracks and
for private buyers. Harley-Davidson, on the eve of World War II, was already
supplying the Army with a military-specific version of its 45" WL line,
called the WLA. (The A in this case stood for "Army".) Upon the
outbreak of war, the company, along with most other manufacturing enterprises,
shifted to war work. Over 90,000 military motorcycles, mostly WLAs and WLCs
(the Canadian version) would be produced, many to be provided to allies.
Harley-Davidson received two Army-Navy ‘E’ Awards, one in 1943 and the other in
1945, which were awarded for Excellence in Production. Shipments to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease program numbered at
least 30,000. The WLAs produced during all four years of war production
generally have 1942 serial numbers. Production of the WLA stopped at the end of
World War II, but was resumed from 1950 to 1952 for use in the Korean War. The
U.S. Army also asked Harley-Davidson to produce a new motorcycle with many of
the features of BMW's side-valve and shaft-driven R71. Harley largely copied
the BMW engine and drive train and produced the shaft-driven 750 cc 1942 H-D
XA. This shared no dimensions, no parts and no design concepts (except side
valves) with any prior Harley-Davidson engine. Due to the superior cooling of
the flat-twin engine with the cylinders across the frame, Harley's XA cylinder
heads ran 100 °F
(56 °C)
cooler than its V-twins. The XA never entered full production: the motorcycle
by that time had been eclipsed by the Jeep as the Army's general purpose
vehicle, and the WLA—already in production—was sufficient for its limited
police, escort, and courier roles. Only 1,000 were made and the XA never went
into full production. It remains the only shaft-driven Harley-Davidson ever
made. As part of war reparations, Harley-Davidson acquired the design of a
small German motorcycle, the DKW RT125 which they adapted, manufactured, and
sold from 1947 to 1966. Various models were made, including the Hummer from
1955 to 1959, but they are all colloquially referred to as "Hummers"
at present. BSA in the United
Kingdom took the same design as the
foundation of their BSA Bantam. In 1960, Harley-Davidson consolidated the Model
165 and Hummer lines into the Super-10, introduced the Topper scooter, and
bought fifty percent of Aeronautica Macchi's motorcycle division. Importation
of Aermacchi's 250 cc horizontal single began the following year. The bike
bore Harley-Davidson badges and was marketed as the Harley-Davidson Sprint. The
engine of the Sprint was increased to 350 cc in 1969 and would remain that size
until 1974, when the four-stroke Sprint was discontinued. After the Pacer and
Scat models were discontinued at the end of 1965, the Bobcat became the last of
Harley-Davidson's American-made two-stroke motorcycles. The Bobcat was
manufactured only in the 1966 model year. Harley-Davidson replaced their American-made
lightweight two-stroke motorcycles with the Aermacchi-built two-stroke powered
M-65, M-65S, and Rapido. The M-65 had a semi-step-through frame and tank. The
M-65S was a M-65 with a larger tank that eliminated the step-through feature.
The Rapido was a larger bike with a 125 cc engine. The Aermacchi-built
Harley-Davidsons became entirley two-stroke powered when the 250 cc
two-stroke SS-250 replaced the four-stroke 350 cc Sprint in 1974.
Harley-Davidson purchased full control of Aermacchi's motorcycle production in
1974 and continued making two-stroke motorcycles there until 1978, when they
sold the facility to Cagiva. In 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF)
bought the company, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce. This
tactic resulted in a labor strike and a lower quality of bikes. The bikes were
expensive and inferior in performance, handling, and quality to Japanese motorcycles.
Sales declined, quality plummeted, and the company almost went bankrupt. In
1981, AMF sold the company to a group of thirteen investors led by Vaughn Beals
and Willie G. Davidson for $80 million. Inventory was strictly controlled using
the just-in-time system. In the early eighties, Harley-Davidson claimed that
Japanese manufacturers were importing motorcycles into the US in such volume as to harm or
threaten to harm domestic producers. After an investigation by the US International
Trade Commission, President Reagan imposed in 1983 a 45% tariff on
imported bikes and bikes over 700 cc engine capacity, rescuing Harley Davidson
subsequently. To remain profitable Harley continues to increase the amount of
overseas-made parts it uses, while being careful not to harm its valuable
"American Made" image. In that era also the "Sturgis"
model, boasting a dual belt-drive, was introduced. By 1990, with the
introduction of the "Fat Boy", Harley once again became the sales
leader in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) market. At the time of the Fat Boy
model introduction a story rapidly spread that its silver paint job and other
features were inspired by the World War II American B-29 bomber; and that the
Fat Boy name was a combination of the names of the atom bombs (Fat Man and
Little Boy) that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively. However,
the Urban Legend Reference Pages lists this story as an urban legend. 1993 saw
the replacement of the H-D FXR frame with the Dyna, though it was revived
briefly from 1999 to 2000 for special limited editions (FXR2,FXR3 & FXR4).
In 2000, Ford Motor Company added a Harley-Davidson edition to the Ford
F-Series F-150 line, complete with the Harley-Davidson logo. This truck was a
Super Cab for model year 2000.
In 2001, Ford changed the truck to a Super Crew and in
2002 added a super-charged engine (5.4 L) which continued until 2003. In 2004, the
Ford/Harley was changed to a Super-Duty, which continues through 2009. Ford
again produced a Harley-Davidson Edition F-150 for their 2006 model-year, as
well.
The negative comes from the collection of one of the world’s oldest
Harley Davidson dealers that was in business from the early 1910’s until the
end of the 1970’s. We took over the old inventory from the grandson of the
owner. There was a lot of literature amongst the inventory, mostly very old,
and amongst the Harley literature was also quite a bit of Indian and other
American motorcycle literature. There are a lot of old negatives, both on celluloid
as glass plates, in the files we took over, we consider this material very
historic.
This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of
Harley ‘s motorcycle history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to
own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca.
8" x 10" (ca. 20 x 25.4 cm). It makes it perfectly suitable for
framing!