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 A few weeks back, Matt and I started on a new project at Wheels Through Time. I had bought a running 1942 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead that had been rebuilt about 10 years ago, thinking it would be a great addition to the museum collection. After about a day and a half, and a bit of "tinkering", we had turned what I had initially thought was a well-done bike into a pile of parts. Rare parts, but just parts.
So in brainstorming on how we would rebuild this machine, we realized we had a lot of options. We could make a stock bike...or a military Knucklehead. Or we could make a bobber or some other "odd-ball" type of bike.
1942 was an intersting year for Harley-Davidson. As most of the motor company's production was geared toward military production of the 45-inch WLA, production of other models, such as our new '42 61-inch Knucklehead, was extremely limited. With less than 200 or so Knuckleheads being produced that year, you probably would have had to have been a company employee, goverment worker, or "preferred customer" in order to get one. With this in mind, we decided to make the machine a "Civil Patrol" bike.
 Starting from a pile of parts, Matt, my buddy Myron, and I got right to work. I got the transmission rebuilt in a night, swapping several worn-out parts for good ones. While I completed the tranny work, Moe and Matt started sorting parts -- taking out reproduction pieces and parts that were too "beat-up" and laying out usable, original H-D parts. After a brainstorming session or two, we decided to go with a chrome look. I loved this idea, as I got to dip into a pile of chrome from the 30s and 40s that I've been stock-piling for twenty or so years. Chrome rims, chrome bars, chrome crash-guards, primary, clutch pedal, brake pedal and drum -- basically as much as we could without making the bike to bright to look at.
The bike is coming along great. We decided to use a set of big-valve Leinwebber knuckle-heads and lightened flywheels to make it run like a rocket. The special heads came from Jim Selkirk, an old-time Harley dealer from Canton, Illinois, who sold me a lot of great parts about 30 years ago. I remember picking up these heads and nearly going cross-eyed when I saw what they were. Since then, they've been sitting in the museum just waiting for the right bike -- it didn't take me long to decide that this was the bike.
After assembling the bottom end, we mounted it into the frame and mounted the clutch and primary chain. Its really taking shape. A couple of hundred more hours and we'll have ourselves a geniune 1942 Harley-Davidson "Civil Patrol" Knucklehead. Now all we have to do is decide what color. What do you think?
Until the next time.......
--Dale
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