A Harley Davidson Christmas story.... repeated

[solo1]

                                                                            .Christmas and my Harley Davidson


It was close to the Christmas of 1947. I was helping to support the family, a Mom and Dad that didn't work, and two sisters who did.
. I was working part time for my brother-in-law in his body shop in Ohio City,
Ohio. I commuted back and forth from Ft. Wayne by bus on the cold days.

. In my group, I was the only one that didn't have a motorcycle. However, there was one for sale that cold day in Ohio. It was a 1935 Harley 45cubic inch side valve with a 'state of the Art suicide clutch' and hand shift  It was in bad shape but it ran. Kinda like a pickup truck previously owned by about 10 guys. "Rode Hard and Put away Wet"

In my youthful ignorance, it looked great. The shifting gate had been removed because the shift linkage
AND the tranny were worn out and more room was needed for  moving the tired old gears... This missing gate left the linkage with more room in getting the flat head HD into 2nd and third gear with an occasional shift to first depending on the position of 1st gear at the time.. No front brake was on this bike, probably was an option,  the knob on the ignition switch was long gone and someone had stuck a hairpin (ladies bobby pin) through the hole in the switches post.. Whatever, it worked.

A lot of other things were wrong with the Harley but, what the hey, it looked good to this 19 year
old. I bought it on the spot for $75.00.  All Right!  I now had to figure out how to get it home, heck, I'll ride it of course!

It was snowing when I left with a temperature of about 28 degrees. However, this Harley did have
a short windshield on it. I figured that this would keep me warm on that 40 mile trip back to Ft.
Wayne on the Lincoln Highway.
So after checking the oil (had to add two quarts of 70 weight into the tank) I was READY and WILLIN".
After having some trouble with the shifting and that @#$A&* clutch, I was off.

The ten mile ride from Ohio City to Van Wert was COLD. There were a few places on the road where the
snow had started to drift and that  tightened up my young butt but all in all, not too bad.
Arriving in downtown Van Wert, I hung a left onto Lincoln Highway and stumbled and rattled my
way through town. Not too bad, I thought. Nothing to it! I thought that I had it made.

However, once I got out of town, the wind was fierce and I was riding into it. The snow hadn't
fully covered the road yet but going past the windbreaks like barns, trees, and such, it was a
different matter. The lack of wind started piling up the white stuff on the now becoming slippery road.

The Harley was perfectly content to cruise at a stately 50 miles per hour with an
occasional arse  puckering drop to 35 to get through the snow. It was a good thing that it liked
this speed since both rods were loose and they seemed the quietest at this pace. The windshield
helped some but still it was cold. My knees took a permanent set at about a 90 degree angle. I
know, since I looked down at them regularly to see if they were still there since I couldn't
feel them. My face was numb, my hands were past that even though I had heavy gloves on. I kept
talking to myself, asking why I was doing this.. I was not getting satisfactory answers.

One thing that I'll say for that Harley. It never missed a beat, just kept rattling along except for
the one instance when I put my hand down on the cylinder to warm up and touched the spark
plug. Did you know that Harleys fire both plugs at the same time,  no matter whether the cylinder is on the powerstroke or exhaust?? I found that out.  The double whammy from that weak ignition was enough to bring me back to full alert.!

Except for being cold, the ride was good.  The potato sound of that rusted exhaust made me feel like I was on top of the world (the North Pole) with an honest to God Real
Motorcycle under me! Much better than my Whizzer motorbike and almost as fast!

Now it's snowing harder as I hit the city limits of Ft. Wayne. I still have to maneuver down about
ten different city streets on the east side before I get home to Mom and Dad.  The streets are
covered in snow. It's getting dicey some sliding but no big deal,  not enough power to slide her sideways if I gunned it. I arrived home with my butt puckered up so far that it was all I could do to unfold my
stiff knees. When I got off the bike, I did a fair imitation of Groucho Mark's duckwalk but I was
  HOME.

  That old Harley got me home in time for Christmas.  That was many, many, years ago but I still remember it.  Looking back, it was a Norman  Rockwell Christmas  or at least it seemed like one. 

A simpler life with simpler goals.in a simpler world.  It was a Great Christmas.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!  here on the VRCC.

Wayne, solo1

[DIGGER]

great story

[Momz]

Nice that you shared that Christmas memory with us. 

[jimmytee]

Thanks for sharing, so roughly, you're 85? keep it going ,thanks

[Jess Tolbirt]

thank you so much for that post, i am sitting here laffing and crying at the same time because i have been there...

[HayHauler]

Thanks Wayne, great story.

Hay  
Jimmyt

[BobB]

Thanks, great story.  This last August, I was out in the Black Hills for Bike Week with one other riding buddy.  On one of our daily rides we stopped at a scenic turnout, and parked.  Two bikes down there was a not so pretty bike getting a lot of attention.  Yup, you guested it, a pre-war HD 45 flat head just as described above.  I met the owner and his son and we conversed for quite some time.  He obviously liked talking about it.  The son complained about the lack of power and the bikes ability to climb some of the grades out there.  At some point, they asked what I rode and I pointed to the Valk.  Their eyes wide open, the son asked if I could lend his dad some cylinders.   

[Fla. Jim]

"That" is one of the best Harley stories I have heard! They sure made them durable back then!! Thanks for sharing a great American M/C & Christmas story.    Your memories of a much different era and space are appreciated.
Merry Christmas Solo1 and many more. 

29 model

[Punisher]

Great story, loved it!   Thanks Wayne, for sharing your memories and experience with us.

Merry Christmas!

[Popeye]

Great story Wayne.  You always seem to capture the spirit of the ride in your stories.  Makes me feel like I am riding right along with you.

Merry Christmas

[old2soon]

Merry Christmas Wayne to you and yours. RIDE SAFE.

[Thulsa Doom]

I enjoyed that story very much. Thanks for posting and have a merry Christmas.

[HurstRob]

Good story, even in Texas I could put myself there. Our original family homestead is in Antwerp and still farmed by the family. Merry Christmas

[bigguy]

Wayne:

I always enjoy your stories. You've got a way with the written word, but also a good deal of quality material to draw from. Thanks for sharing.

[musclehead]

cool story! I rode my buddy's bike about 5 miles from my house to another buddies house in 20 degree weather with no gloves..


we are all young and dumb once, hopefully we survive it....