|
|
 |
Silent Gray Fellow
|
|
|
|
|
|
1907 Harley-Davidson Strap Tank
Ray Thursby
Summer 2004
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Photography by Randall Cordero
|
Obviously inspired by bicycle designs, the frame was rugged enough
to withstand the stress of having an engine bolted to it. As visible in this
story’s photographs, a graceful curve was introduced into the front down-tube to
clear the engine; all welds showed the benefit of a talented fabricator guiding
the torch. The front fork was clever as well, designed to allow a small amount
of vertical wheel travel via a double-tube design using pivots to connect the
forward tubes (which carried the wheel and had tiny adjustable springs at their
tops) to the solid bicycle-style rear tubes. The rear axle was attached directly
to the frame. As can be imagined, most of the “suspension” effect came from the
sprung saddle.
Strangely enough, 10 years after #2042 was built, H-D entered
the bicycle business, building push-bikes that looked remarkably similar to
early motorcycles, minus tank, engine and belt-drive, of course. This side
business didn’t last long. Motorcycles for both civilian and, by 1917, military
use, were keeping the factory busy without any further distractions.
When
Otis Chandler purchased the Strap Tank several years ago, it was in sad
condition—rusted, inoperative and lacking many components, both major and minor.
By the time it was handed over to noted motorcycle restorer Steve Huntziger for
a complete makeover, Chandler and Henry Fuchs, general manager of the Vintage
Museum of Transportation and Wildlife, contacted with its previous owners and
discovered that one of them had removed all the missing bits. Happily, the owner
had saved the parts and handed them over to be reunited with the bike.
|
|
The Strap Tank, fully restored to what she looked like rolling out of the factory nearly 100 years ago. (Click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
Only
a few parts could not be salvaged, and those were replaced with custom-made
duplicates. After eight months, the Strap Tank emerged from Huntziger’s shop as
an exquisite jewel, riding on reproduction white tires, and wearing the original
paint scheme that led Harley-Davidson advertising to call its machines Silent
Gray Fellows.
Silent the little Strap Tank may be today, it was certainly far
less so in its heyday, particularly when an adventurous rider flipped the
nickel-plated lever that opened the exhaust cut-out. But its lack of use in
modern times is understandable, and not just because of its design limitations.
When new, it cost $210, or about one-third the price of an Overland Runabout
automobile. Today, its owner considers its value to be more than 2,000 times
greater.
Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife,
www.chandlerwheels.com
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
