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Important Lesson -- Look before you leap.
 About a week ago, I got a phone call from a fella who was wanting to sell his Harley. The bike was a 1942 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead, which is a tough year to find, as H-D's production was largely geared toward military machines. I received a picture or two via email and the bike seemed to be a good one. Not a 100% restoration, but what looked like a quality bike...and it ran. I asked the guy to bring it up to talk about it, and when he got here, we fired it up, revved it a couple of times and made a deal.
Now I knew we'd be making some changes to the bike -- exchanging aftermarket and replacement parts for original ones, and changing a few odds and ends to make it a bit more correct. We rolled the bike back to the shop and began taking off a few parts. Then we took off some more.....and some more. Within a few hours, we had the bike entirely torn down, from the tanks and fenders, to the transmissison, and yes, the motor. In a half a nights work, I went from having a complete, and seemingly operable machine, to having a "basketcase" 42 Knucklehead project that needed a lot of parts....and a lot of work. Turns out....the deal wasn't so good.
So what do you do? Thats right -- you make lemonade. Trying not to get discouraged about the bad decision I made a few days earlier, Matt, Myron, and I started brainstorming on what we can do to make this a worthwhile and quality project. We could make a bobber...no. A stock bike...nah. What about a "civilian patrol" model. Thats it....have a little fun, all the while keeping the bike more or less what it would have looked like 60 or so years ago.
Despite the bike being in a million pieces, the outlook is looking pretty good. Many of the parts that are original are usable, and with a little repair work, can be brought back to good condition. Its got a good frame, nice bars, and a very rare motor (which of course needs some work). Heck, its even got a rebuilt transmission, or at least it does now.
Keep an eye out on the Time Machine for several shows on the 1942 H-D Civilian Patrol Knucklehead. Its going to be quite a project. I'll keep you updated.
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