Beschreibung:

During the 1920s, motorcycle manufacturers embraced the sport of hillclimbing as an alternative to flat tracking. Hillclimbing had become an exciting spectator sport that was rough and tumble without the dangers inherent of other forms of motorcycle competition. The big players of the hillclimbing venue were Indian, Harley-Davidson, and Excelsior, and to a lesser extent, the potent experimental Ace four cylinder machines and Reading Standard. In the mid-1920s, Harley-Davidson had a competent hillclimbing machine for 61ci and 80ci classes based on the F-head twins marketed for the street. However Excelsior debuted the new 45ci Super-X which started to become king of the 45 class. Indian followed suit by enlarging their 37ci Scout to a full 45. Whether this was driven by a need for a street machine or just Indian’s way of trying to compete on the hill is up for conjecture. However Harley-Davidson had no 45ci motorcycle to offer for this popular class. Inspiration for this new competition machine has been credited to two independent tuners in 1927, who took 2-cam engines, chucked the top ends and grafted on cylinders from Harley’s own OHV 21ci Peashooter motors. This gave rise to the term Home Brew for these specials. These efforts were not lost on the company and development began on factory developed engines. Aided by Milwaukee dealer Bill Knuth and Harley’s experimental department, a new OHV 45ci engine was built up. Factory rider, Herb Reiber, had several sets of special 21ci cylinders cast for this new 45 inch project, however some 61 inch top ends had to also been machined. FHAD-619 is one of two 61ci factory hillclimbers known to exist for 1928, and may represent the complete production run. It demonstrates Harley-Davidson’s conservative approach to designing motorcycles coupled with their deep desire to win in competition. There is nothing exotic about the machinery except for the ingenious combination of the best materials on hand. This motorcycle used the powerful two-cam engine base from an F-head motor, and incorporated special factory-made cylinders based on Peashooter technology. Its transmission holds but a single gear. The ‘in and out’ selector box was typical of ‘hillclimb specials’. The rider would depress the clutch pedal, snick the transmission into gear by a small hand lever, and engage the clutch at the start of his run. The hillclimber chassis was a specialized piece of equipment, beefed up with trusses and extra reinforcement. The front fork was also not standard fare. It sported additional side trusses and a friction damper. In fact, this machine may be the only factory original fork and chassis combination as the other experimental engine may be in a later chassis. Everything about this motorcycle is serious, from its special front end to the chain shod rear wheel. This Harley-Davidson FHAD hillclimber was superbly restored by Fred Lange in 2007 and could be the jewel of any collection. It is completely unique, rare and at the same time, exquisite. The machine is offered with a Florida Certificate of Title.