SPECIAL FEATURE
THE BIRTH OF A HARLEY— Visiting The Maternity Ward
In Hog Heaven.................................... 48
SPECIAL INTEREST
HOW TO CRATE YOUR BIKE-I/Wen it Comes Time To Ship .67
TECHNICAL
A BULLETPROOF TRAPDOOR FOR SPORTSTERS-Armor
Plating Your Sporty...............................26
TIME TRIMMING TIRE TACTICS/ EHminate AH
Your Tire Hassles................................. 40
METAL INSPECTION-SAFETY'S INNER EYE—The Fault
Detector That Can't Be Fooled ....................57
FEATURE BIKES
T.T. SPECIAL—For The Streets Of San Francisco.......22
JAWS—A Different Look In Cafe Customizing.......... 29
THE VIRGINIAN— Black And Glitter Excellence........ 36
A PIECE OF ORANGE CAKE—A Low-Cost Project
For The Digger Lover..............................44
THE SQUARE OF BEAUTY—An Early Four-Banger
Makes A Comeback................................. 54
LOBO—Get 'Em Up, Scout............................. 62
DEPARTMENTS
LEANING BACK 4
READERS RAP 6
HARLEY HOTLINE 12
CLASSIFIED 81
AD VERTISERS' INDEX 81
The Birth of a Harley
An inside took at the
AMF Harley-Davidson
factory at York
Here's big news for the theolo-
gians—Seventh Heaven is divided
into two parts, at least for us Harley
nuts. I am still blessed with fond
memories of a trip through the Mil-
waukee part, a little over a year ago,
and now, a trip to York. Please don't
tell me there is an eighth heaven, I
don't think I could stand it.
To be immersed in all of those parts,
to be totally surrounded by the ma-
chinery that produces them, and to
talk with the people who put their
lives and personalities into my favorite
product is a little overwhelming.
Although the Milwaukee plant is no
longer open to the public, tours of the
York plant are conducted twice a day,
at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., five days a
week. Let me tell you some of the
things you can expect to see at
York—things that go into the birth of
a Harley.
The factory is located on a sprawl-
ing 232 acres, in the heart of the
beautiful Pennsylvania Dutch country.
Wooded, rolling hills, fast flowing,
rapid strewn creeks, winding roads,
quaint towns, and the weathered
barns of the surrounding farmlands,
make this area an exhilarating place
in which to ride.
Aside from the industrial area, the
factory grounds include many acres
which are set aside for vast company
picnics, Easter egg hunts and the like.
For, you see, this is a company which
goes beyond collecting time cards and
compiling statistics. AMF Harley-
Davidson is a way of life for most of
the employees, not merely a job.
Factory employees get involved in
company sponsored teams—basket-
ball (wanna bet they're AMF Voit
balls), bowling (guess what brand of
equipment is used) and all sorts of
after-work activities.
The plant itself is huge, with about
800,000 square feet of manufactur-
ing and warehousing facilities. The
York plant used to belong to the Navy.
During and after WWII it was geared
to bomb production and such things.
In 1964, AMF purchased it, taking
advantage of the area's large skilled
labor pool, and began building the
leisure-time products which have
made AMF famous.
By 1972, some three years after
the Harley-Davidson merger, a deci-
sion was made to make use of the
York plant's production capabilities in
order to better cope with the increased
demand for motorcycles.
A highly complex, efficiency
oriented floor plan was devised, and
in only six months, the Harley-David-
son assembly line was a reality____
spewing forth a maximum of 305
Sportsters, Super Glides, and full-
dressers for each eight hour shift.
That's one completed machine about
every 90 seconds.
The manufacturing and assembly is
housed in a building 1000 feet in
length, comprising approximately half
a million square feet in area. There
are two assembly lines, one for
heavyweights and one for light-
weights. Although, at the time of my
visit, the lightweight line was not in
operation.
The heavyweight line, with its 66
work stations is a masterpiece of ef-...