vintage photos

Post Reply
panhead
Site Admin
Senior Member
Posts: 3289
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2001 12:00 pm
Bikes: 1954 FL
Location: Holland
Has thanked: 108 times
Been thanked: 486 times

Re: vintage photos

#61

Post by panhead »

John, the factory made those 1949 "Air-Flow" fenders with braces for the springer forks and used them on the servicars until the servis got hydraulic forks in '58, some of the last WLs had 'em too.
Here is a picture from a 1952 WL with the same fender:

Image
john HD
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 3711
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:38 pm
Bikes: '42 WLA X 2, '55FL, '93 Ultra Classic, '91 Fatboy, '97 883, '03 Rokon Trailbreaker, '83 GPz 750.
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 128 times

Re: vintage photos

#62

Post by john HD »

John, the factory made those 1949 "Air-Flow" fenders with braces for the springer forks and used them on the servicars until the servis got hydraulic forks in '58, some of the last WLs had 'em too.
mike,

i was aware of that, i just thought that fender looked even more strange on a panhead!!

john
john HD
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 3711
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:38 pm
Bikes: '42 WLA X 2, '55FL, '93 Ultra Classic, '91 Fatboy, '97 883, '03 Rokon Trailbreaker, '83 GPz 750.
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 128 times

Re: vintage photos

#63

Post by john HD »

here is an interesting photo i just recieved. don't see too many shots of women in the service on a WLA.

john

Image
FlatHeadSix
Senior Member
Posts: 2677
Joined: Sat May 29, 2004 8:21 am
Bikes: '31 VL, '34 VD, '45 WLA, '47 WL, '49 FL, '51 WL, '58 ST (Hummer), '71 GE (Servi)
Location: Lonoke, Arkansas
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 49 times

Re: vintage photos

#64

Post by FlatHeadSix »

John, neat picture!, thanks for posting.

It sure would be nice to know the when, where, and who behind that photo. The insignia on the banner attached to the building is the Army Aviation Branch insignia (see attached pic). The Army Air Corps became the Army Air Forces in 1942 and then became the Air Force as a separate service in 1947 and all of them used a different insignia. I wasn't around back then (honest), but it would be nice to know the time line for when that insignia came into use, it may have been during WWII but I think it came later, not sure. Anybody have an answer that would help date that picture?

mike
Attachments
Army Aviation Branch insignia
Army Aviation Branch insignia
US_Army_Aviation_Branch_Insignia_svg.png (41.73 KiB) Viewed 1656 times
john HD
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 3711
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:38 pm
Bikes: '42 WLA X 2, '55FL, '93 Ultra Classic, '91 Fatboy, '97 883, '03 Rokon Trailbreaker, '83 GPz 750.
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 128 times

Re: vintage photos

#65

Post by john HD »

here are some more from the same batch.

kathi thinks they are all the same woman. i'm working on getting the back story.

enjoy

john

Image
Image
Image
john HD
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 3711
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:38 pm
Bikes: '42 WLA X 2, '55FL, '93 Ultra Classic, '91 Fatboy, '97 883, '03 Rokon Trailbreaker, '83 GPz 750.
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 128 times

Re: vintage photos

#66

Post by john HD »

mike,

a quick check shows that insignia was used after 1942 through 1947. that would make sense as the wla appears to be an early model, type 3 perhaps.

john
Scrap
Senior Member
Posts: 824
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:07 am
Bikes: 1957 FL
1980 FLT
74 FXE
2017 road glide
1971 Bonneville
2021 Ural GU
Location: Pawtucket
Has thanked: 248 times
Been thanked: 124 times

Re: vintage photos

#67

Post by Scrap »

That number on the banner in the first photo looks like an 8. The "Mighty 8th" was stationed in England during WWII and saw a ton of action. Could be during that period. The clothes in the other photos seem to pre-date that era.
panz4ever
Senior Member
Posts: 696
Joined: Sat Jun 05, 2004 5:55 pm
Bikes: EL, FXE & FLH
Has thanked: 20 times
Been thanked: 74 times

Re: vintage photos

#68

Post by panz4ever »

Image
Image



Me and my 51 pan from the 70s...k not vintage but still old!

Image
1950Panhead
Senior Member
Posts: 2404
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:28 am
Bikes: 1950Panhead
Location: USA
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 366 times

Re: vintage photos

#69

Post by 1950Panhead »

Very cool.

Image
Image
Jd1a
Junior Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:14 pm
Bikes: 1984 FXST
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: vintage photos

#70

Post by Jd1a »

Great pics.
Perry Ruiter
Site sponsor
Site sponsor
Member
Posts: 101
Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2004 10:30 pm
Bikes: ?
Location: Soviet Canuckistan
Been thanked: 20 times

Re: vintage photos

#71

Post by Perry Ruiter »

I recently happened onto a honeypot of cool old period photos.

The University of Southern California Digital Archives. They have scanned a lot of interesting negatives from the 20s on up. What is unusual about them is that they have been scanned at very high resolution and were (for the most part) professionally taken with with something like a 5x7 film rather than the typical Brownie snapshot of the period. This allows the photos to be zoomed in on to tease out a lot of interesting details. I love seeing what the bikes looked like back in the day. Owner's initials on the tanks, various accessories, etc.. Prepare to waste a couple hours checking all of them out. Many of the photos were taken for insurance purposes and show crashed bikes. Also a large number were done for advertising the CycleTow, an aftermarket precursor to the ServiCar/DispatchTow. To whet your appetite, I've attached Miss Southern California Motorcycle Beauty Contest, 1951 with what looks like a 1948 45. This is only at 30% zoom! A hat tip to this article on Purr-Pull gas which is what alerted me to the USC collection ... Perry

Image
Image
Panhead Ed
Member
Posts: 348
Joined: Sat Jan 30, 2010 8:29 pm
Bikes: 1948 FL
1959 FLH chopper
1966 Norton P-11
1968 XLCH
1976 FXE
Location: N/W ohio
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 32 times

Re: vintage photos

#72

Post by Panhead Ed »

Here's one from the AMF buy back ride " vintage 80s" .. We musta partied for 2 weeks around that event. Napoleon HD rest in peace Marv .

Didnt find gold ,, struck oil instead .. $1.00 a swing .
Attachments
MULTI PIK DAYS GONE BY.jpg
MULTI PIK DAYS GONE BY.jpg (168.1 KiB) Viewed 1318 times
Copy of Heilman-1.jpg
Copy of Heilman-1.jpg (252.88 KiB) Viewed 1318 times
Copy of Heilman-2.jpg
Copy of Heilman-2.jpg (273.61 KiB) Viewed 1318 times
Gotnoclass
Member
Posts: 378
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2012 9:16 am
Bikes: 58FLH
Has thanked: 55 times
Been thanked: 29 times

Re: vintage photos

#73

Post by Gotnoclass »

Ya know there are other ways of removing a stuck seat-post nut from those Suzuki's..;)
Great pics! Thanks for posting
john HD
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 3711
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2003 11:38 pm
Bikes: '42 WLA X 2, '55FL, '93 Ultra Classic, '91 Fatboy, '97 883, '03 Rokon Trailbreaker, '83 GPz 750.
Has thanked: 70 times
Been thanked: 128 times

Re: vintage photos

#74

Post by john HD »

Hey guys,

I need help I.D.ing the bike this photo.

The photo was sent to me by a friend whose Great Grandfather is the fellow in the center. Here is the information i recieved: The photo was taken on the Chicago and Western Indiana RR, most likely on the south side of Chicago. The Velocipede is a Sheffield model 1.

My question is, what model harley and what year is the bike? I can make out the leather drive pully on the rear wheel so it must be a very early model.

John

Image
RUBONE
Moderator
Senior Member
Posts: 8378
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:09 am
Bikes: Multiple H-D, Ducati, BMW, Triumph, BSA,...
Has thanked: 478 times
Been thanked: 2933 times

Re: vintage photos

#75

Post by RUBONE »

I believe 1911 was the first year for that gearcase design.
Post Reply

Return to “Vintage Pictures”