King Bill's Panhead at the Dixon Swap Meet

The 51 Flathead is on ebay

I'm so sad. We put the 51 flathead on ebay today. I just love seeing this beautiful, rusty old piece of history out there.

The Liberator

This is a 1951 WL 45 cu in flathead that has a 1942 WWII motor. The WL was nick named liberator for its wide use in the Pacific and Europe during WWII. The solo model flathead 45 cu was discontinued in 1952, making all post war solo models rare. The 45 cu in flathead 3 wheeler was made clear up into the 70's for police and other municipal functions due to its dependable motor and economical cost of use.

The Flathead is sold, it just left yesterday 12/16/2012 :(

Redwood Run 2012 - First Road Trip on the '65 Panhead

We just got back from the Redwood Run. First time we've been in 13 years. Still as always the ride was the best part. The weather was perfect and everything, even Yuba City and Williams, are still beautiful and green. I'd almost forgotten how special the Redwoods are, we rode up the Avenue of the Giants, it's like those thousand year old trees make their own climate, so cool and green under there.

We didn't care for any of the music, Fryed Brothers, same old same old. Billy Idol was supposed to be there but didn't show. The one exception was Lucas Nelson, Willie's son, he was excellent, and we'd never heard of him before, so it's always nice to make a new discovery.

There was no steak dinner on Saturday either, and security was a little uptight it seemed to me, especially since the turnout was really low. It wasn't crowded at all, that was really nice. A great camp spot was easy to find, and lines were not long for anything.

I finally feel like I've bonded with the Panhead after this trip. It feels so different after riding the '47 Knucklehead all these years. It has nowhere near the speed, and sure doesn't corner like the Knuck, but it sure is pretty, and the electric start is nice. With the shocks I didn't feel nearly as beat up after riding for 4 days as I used to, and it goes plenty fast enough for me.

We've got New Rust - An '80 Shovelhead, and a '50 Flathead

We've got new rust in the yard. These were burned in a fire. But I still think they're beautiful. In fact they'd make great yard art. But someday they'll be riding down the road again.

The Flathead

This is a 1950 WL 45 cu in flathead that has a 1942 WWII motor. The WL was nick named liberator for its wide use in the Pacific and Europe during WWII. The solo model flathead 45 cu was discontinued in 1952, making all post war solo models rare. The 45 cu in flathead 3 wheeler was made clear up into the 70's for police and other municipal functions due to its dependable motor and economical cost of use.

The Shovelhead

This 1980 Shovelhead is a little too new for the old man's taste. It only had a short stay with us, in fact as I write this, it is already gone. I'm sure it will get the TLC it obviously needs. 

Goin' Down in Downieville on the '47 Knuck

It has often been said that there are two kinds of bikers, those that have been down, and those that haven't yet. I've been pretty lucky in my thirty years as a p-pad passenger, I've only hit the pavement twice. It just so happens that both times were within three miles of each other.

The first time, was in about '87. Me and my old man were coming back home from a long week-end up by Graeagle on the Knucklehead chopper. It was a low-budget trip, we camped in a cow pasture, had canned chili for dinner and whiskey for breakfast. I know, not a good idea, and he gave up drinking altogether twenty years ago, but that's how we did things back then.

We were just a couple of miles this side of Downieville, and were leaning into the first curve on a long switchback, when suddenly I noticed that my right hand was dragging along the pavement. The old man says that we hit some sand, all I know is that we laid it down and were sliding at about sixty mph on the right side of the bike. Lucky for us our path was unimpeded and we had plenty of room to slide.

In a situation like this, time seems to slow down, and he had time to look at me and ask me if I was OK. I just said "we'll see." I had climbed up on top of the bike to get my skin off the road. As the bike slowed down we were nearing the edge of the road and headed straight for a "curvy road" sign. I kicked myself free and landed on my butt in the road. By the time he and the bike hit the sign their speed was low enough that it was a good thing, as it stopped them from going off the cliff.

When it was over, we both got up and after a quick check to see if I was OK he went to pick up the knuck. As it turned out all three of us had relatively minor scrapes. The old man had more road rash than I, as he had been stuck between the bike and the road. His knee and forearm were pretty skinned up, and my right palm was ground down pretty deep. The bike fired right up though, and after nursing our wounds a bit at the next watering hole, we rode home.

 

Read another of my stories:

The Redwood Run in the Old Days

The '47 Knuck's Reincarnation as a Stock Bike and the '65 Panhead

When the California Motorcycle Helmet law took effect in 1992, the old man decided if he was going to have to look like a dork, (what he referred to as the Peewee Herman look), it wasn't right to be riding a chopper. So he rebuilt the '47 Knucklehead as a stock bike. He had been collecting the parts for it for years. When he got the stock original frame and the springer front end it all began to come together. I loved it from the beginning. 

So, he had the tank shift, suicide clutch and throttle. We still had the mechanical brakes. After the last trip to Sturgis he went ahead and put disk brakes and a stock windshield on it. It's still 6 volt.

The stock bike was so much more comfortable to ride than the chopper had been. I had a nice wide flat seat, and the foot pegs were positioned perfectly so my knees didn’t get all tweaked and I could use my legs as shock absorbers, because of course it was still a rigid frame and didn’t have them.

Besides all that, I think it looks pretty cool. I was just going through my old photos, and I don’t have many really good ones of just the bike, not packed or anything. We still have the ’47, always will, but it is not in prime shape at the moment. It’s sitting in a corner of the shop waiting for a rebuild, and it possibly will have a new paint job by the time it’s on the road again.

At the moment the riding bike is the “new” bike a 1965 Panhead (shown below.) It has a push button, electric start and shocks, which do soften the bumps some. At first I hated it. It just didn’t feel stable in the corners. But I am getting used to it, and it is pretty nice that he can start the bike while I am sitting on it.

For more of my stories, visit my Hubpages

What-to-Take-to Sturgis on your 1947 Harley Knucklehead

She's Gone... Goodbye to the '42

The 1942 Knucklehead has been sold. We'll miss her, but she's off to a new home with many more miles ahead.

Visit my Hubpages at

http://sherryhewins.hubpages.com/

Our Trip to Sturgis on the '47 Knuck

Off to Sturgis on the Knucklehead

It was the year 2000, the year of the 60th annual Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis South Dakota. My husband Bryan and I were riding alone on a 1947 Knucklehead. It was the only time I have made that trip.

When we left home, our only real goal was to be at Buffalo Chip Campground on Thursday night to see Johnny Lang play.

We took kind of a long route through the bottom corner of Idaho, the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Once we got to Idaho, there were dark clouds circling overhead. Although it did not rain on us, there were plenty of times we could tell it had just rained, since the road was still wet.

We camped all the way, and though we didn't cook all that much, we made coffee every morning, and had cold iced tea in the small ice chest we carried. That was a pretty nice thing to have going through Nevada when the temperature was in triple digits. Once we got to Buffalo Chip Campground we did do some cooking.

Sturgis Rally in Full Swing

When we arrived at Main Street in Sturgis on Wednesday afternoon, we saw half a dozen people we know from our hometown within 2 hours of being there. It’s funny how that happens.

The street was very crowded, lots of guys hot rodding up and down the street showing off, tattooed women in pasties and leather chaps and not much more, a woman dressed as Lady Godiva in a long blond wig, and plenty of cops keeping an eye on things.

It was a hot day. They had stands selling this killer lemonade that they made right in front of you. They squeezed fresh lemons into the cup, added water, ice, and simple syrup, covered it with another cup and gave it a good shake. Quick, simple and so refreshing.

We stopped at a vendor selling leathers, and ended up both buying new leather jackets. I had never realized how uncomfortable every other leather jacket I had ever worn was until I got my brand new soft as butter leather jacket.

Most of the bikes there were new. As usual, the old Knucklehead got a lot of attention. When we went to leave, Bryan was actually drawing a crowd by kick starting it.

Our friend Red Dog's mom lived right there in Sturgis, so we pitched the tent in her front yard that night, then headed out for Buffalo Chip the next day.

Can you pick out the Knucklehead in this photo? 

It stands out like a sore thumb to me!

Equipment List

You may think I'm joking, but we really did take all these things with us when we rode to Sturgis from our home in Nevada City, California. As you can see from the photo at the beginning of the story, it was quite a load. We actually used most of the things we brought.

• Canteen with Water

• Map

• Tools

• Bicycle Pump

• Extra Tire Tube

• Spare 3-brush Generator

• Headlight and Taillight Bulb

• Quart of Oil

• Liter of Gasoline

• Sunscreen

• Chapstick

• Rain Gear

• 60 Second Tent

• Sleeping Bags

• Clothes for temperatures
  ranging from 45° to 110°

• Camp Mattresses
• Towel
• Soap and Toiletries
• Radio
• Camera
• Flashlights
• Ice Chest
• Food
• Aspirin and Decongestant
• P38 Can Opener
• Camp Stove
• Coffee and Tea Bags
• Salt and Pepper
• Knife
• Cast Iron Skillet

Last but not least:

• Credit Card

Sixty Second Tent - A Lifesaver

I think the best piece of camping gear we brought on this trip was our 60 second tent. It's a dome tent, but instead of threading the poles through sleeves on the tent, they are already in place, with hinges that lock open. It can literally be set up in 60 seconds. When you are riding and breaking camp every day it just makes life so much easier.

Sixty Second Tent

Buffalo Chip Campground

When we got to Buffalo Chip, it was already hot, the campground was almost full and the terrain was relatively flat with not very many trees.

My sweetie had camped there the year before, so he headed for his old camp spot under a big tree. Amazingly, it was available with only one other tent in
 the area.

As soon as we pulled up a guy jumped out of the tent and said "Hey, a Knucklehead, is that the original paint?"

I said "Hell no, it's been painted twice that I know of."

He said his name was Hotdog, and he was from Florida. He was riding an evo, but it turned out he had a Knucklehead at home and was kind of a collector. He considered the Knucklehead an around town show bike. He sheepishly admitted that he'd had his bike shipped and he had flown in for the run. He didn't have enough time off to make the ride, but we said "Whatever, no big deal, at least you made it."

Being another Knucklehead guy, Hotdog and Bryan had plenty to talk about,
and we invited him for dinner, cooked up some steak and beans. While we were sitting around getting to know each other, we noticed the wind picked up, and the sky looked ominous. We threw everything we had inside the tent and went inside ourselves.

The storm hit fast with strong winds, rain and hail. It only lasted maybe 30 minutes, but when it was over there were tents and tarps blown down all over the campground. 

It was only 2 hours before Johnny Lang was to hit the stage, so we were a little worried about that. We need not have been concerned though. The moon came out pretty as can be, the stars twinkling away, and the show went on as planned.

We got a nice spot about 25 feet from the stage. Since I am only 5'2", I usually can't see anything in a crowd like that, but there was a picnic table near us and I was able to stand on the bench so I got a fine view of the stage. There I was, on a beautiful clear evening, almost level with the stage, watching Johnny sing "Wander This World." It was just one of those perfect nights.

The next morning we woke up to a little Japanese guy who came looking for Bryan. He had met him at the same spot the year before. He worked for a Japanese magazine and wanted to take pictures of the bike and us. He actually sent us copies of the issue with our pictures in it a few months later.

We rode out to Deadwood, and went to see Mt. Rushmore (pretty amazing by the way, don't miss it if you're in the area), then back to Main Street one more time before we headed out.

We had already been on the road for 10 days I wanted to go home, but Bryan wanted to go to the San Juan Islands in Washington, so where do you think we went? That's a whole story in itself, maybe I'll tell you about it sometime.

The old man, stylin' his tie dye Sturgis shirt at the Idaho border

This was at the Grand Tetons

Me looking glamorous after a week on the road living 
out of saddlebags

Sturgis is a great place to see blues music. 

We saw some fabulous artists there.

The Redwood Run and Shelter Cove

For years my old man and I used to go to the Redwood Run up by Garberville, CA on the 47 Knucklehead. We started in 1985 and the last time we went was about 1997. Most of the time after the run was over we went to Shelter Cove to camp for a couple of days. Here are some photos of those old times.

Pulling in to the KOA campground, across the street from the Redwood Run at Richardson Grove.

Big bikes, bigger trees

Knucklehead Lineup - Many of these bikes rode up to the Redwood Run 

from southern California.

Winding my camera

Redwood Run in Garbervielle, CA circa 1987

Kick the starting the Knuck on a cold morning

Stock Knucklehead a scenic overlook

Grapewine Station Hwy 101

The Oasis CA Hwy 20

Takin' a little break

Sherry and Dwight

Stuck in the sand at Shelter Cove

Flat tire

There was always great music at the Redwood Run

It reminded me of the Hippie Music festivals back in the '60s.

If you like this, you might also enjoy: Motorcycle Camping, What to Take

The Old Man's Sold a Knucklehead on ebay

My old man built this beautiful '42 Knucklehead himself. Sorry to say, it is sold and gone, but there will be another one coming along. I'll keep you posted.