"I had to replace the front tire which was from 1955"
"The tires that were on the Harley when I bought it were pretty good, but they were probably mounted on the rims before 1955. They were a little rusty, but had plenty of tread. I did change the front tire, though, to be on the safe side," says Halvdan.
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Interest in really old motorcycles has seen a sharp upsurge in recent years. These masterpieces of mechanical machinery, more and more approaching or already over 100 years old, roll on Norwegian roads, and are increasingly seen at various vintage motorcycle meets around the country. I have taken a closer look at a Harley-Davidson model "F", from 1922 that belongs to Halvdan Gyllander.
Old cultural treasures become like new
Much of the credit for these old cultural treasures being "in the wind" can be attributed to Indian club, Norsk Veteran Motorsykkel Club , as well as a handful of motorcycle enthusiasts scattered throughout the kingdom. In this environment, of course, many of the American brands are central, and especially Indian , Harley-Davidson , the occasional Henderson , a handful of ACEs, a few copies of Excelsior , and some rarities that I have not seen but only heard about.
Halvdan Gyllander from Oppegård swears by Harley-Davidson , more specifically a 1922 model with 1000 cc. This is a "late" version of the Model F. Halvdan bought the Harley in Oslo in 1987 to have some tweaks. The bike was not completely complete, and it was missing, among other things, the toolbox, one of the fuel taps, the headlight, the horn and the speedometer. Starting it was not possible, so any test drive of the object was out of the question. Technically, it was very tired, and the yellow brush paint was also not worthy of an old piece of iron from Milwaukee. Therefore, more work than just screwing, and the bike was eventually completely restored. Most of the bearings and bushings were also replaced, and the magnet was wound up again. Halvdan was responsible for the paintwork and the decoration himself, as was the nickel plating. He bought the equipment for nickel plating from England, and the result is very good.
For Halvdan, as for so many other like-minded motorcycle enthusiasts, there is a time for everything, and the period when starting a family, building a house, etc. naturally took a lot of time. Other projects also tend to push themselves, and there is therefore not enough time for everything you want to get done. The Harley was therefore not ready for the road until spring 2014, almost 30 years after the “project” was brought home from the garage. Halvdan’s model “F” is equipped with magneto ignition, which became common on the later F models. He has traced the history of the bike back to the 1950s, and the last time it was registered and in use it belonged to a forest worker in Telemark. He had plates on it from 1950-1955.
When Halvdan's bike rolled out of the factory in 1922, several companies, including Harley-Davidson , had designed and raced motorcycles capable of speeds well over 150 km/h. In the 1920s, Harley-Davidson gradually tightened its grip on its competitors, and the Milwaukee brand was now in the process of building a reputation that, in short, was about quality and reliability. By the beginning of the 1930s, most of the American motorcycle manufacturers had been swept off the field. The battle for customers was now mainly between Harley-Davidson and Indian , and history showed who drew the longest straw.
