Custom Colors for the '36 Knucklehead - Wheels Through Time

Custom Colors for Charlie's 36

We're working on a new 1936 Harley-Davidson project at the museum and its coming along great. About two years ago, I was introduced to Charlie, an old bike buff that'd been collecting parts for years and years. Charlie is quite a knowledgable guy, and over the past 30 or so years, had been collecting parts for a 1936 Knucklehead. When I heard that Charlie was thinking about selling his '36 project, I let him know that I was interested. A few days later, he gave me a call, and the rest is history.

The project at hand is an exceptional one. Funny thing about '36 Harley's -- so many parts were only used for 1936 and even further, many of them were updated several times throughout that year. Charlie's '36 is one of the early ones. The motor number indicates it was the 6th Knucklehead motor produced, and many of the other parts are from the very first months of production. Each of these small intricacies make the motorcycle no ordinary '36 (if ever there was an "ordinary" '36).

Over the past year we've made great progress on the bike. Frame and fork assembly was first, all the while I was working on the motor on the side. After both motor and transmission were finished, we bolted them in the frame and had the beginnings of one of Harley's rarest.

Then we hit a bump......what color do we paint it...Stock colors in 1936 were red and black, blue and cream, and green and silver -- but stock wasn't what we were looking for. Luckily, in the mid 1930's the H-D motor company began to encourage people to create their own color schemes...so a wide array of options were available while still remaining correct.

In the front showcase at the museum, there's an old roladex with all of Harley's custom colors from the 30s and 40s. After countless debates with myself, I finally decided to go with something different, something I hadn't seen before --- gold and black, with fine red striping.

So today was a big day. John the Painter came back to the museum with the tanks and fenders finished. All I could say was....WOW!!! After a few minutes, we had the tanks on and the rear fender bolted in, and whoa, did it look good. The bike needs a few more finishing touches, but is about 85% done. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the progress.

If you'd like to check out some of our videos on Charlie's '36, visit the Time Machine . We're adding new shows everday.

Talk to ya soon,

Dale

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