ODE TO THE FLATHEAD

Maico Shark said:

These days there's a lot of talk about the "Classics". How some Harleys are better than others. I've owned about a half dozen Harleys over the years. Some were good, reliable rides and others were tempermental. But I guess the best was an old police trike with a 74 engine. Now I know they come with a 45 engine but I guess someone did a switch because it was a flathead 74. It always started right up. It just seems that the old flatheads were more forgiving. The pushrods in the panhead added problems IMO.

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I agree that in some ways the newer bikes aren't better. They hold up longer but with the earlier ones they were lighter than today. No electric start or large battery, or in some cases rear shocks. The flat heads were easy to work on in fact all of the old Harleys and Triumph bikes were. The gas milage has not gone up in 40 years. My 1965 Triumph 500cc would get 65 to 70 MPG on the highway. My 69 650cc would get 55. Now bikes are like light bulbs. When they wearout they go to the junk pile. At some point they are not worth putting $$ in them. It is cheaper to get a newer one. The last time I went to Daytona to see a bike race was about 38 years ago when the flat heads and British bikes were winning. After that the ring e dings came in and I have stayed home.

The Flatheads were bulletproof. Pushrods and overhead valves added a lot of variables to the mix that could go wrong. In fact, when the Knucklehead came out, many Harley owners scoffed at it and stuck with the Flathead, which is why it stayed in production long after the Knucklehead came out. Love those Flattys. Gonna get me one someday.

i am with ya bh my second bike was 47 indian 80 what a ride out start all my buds harleys had a couple more always dependable but with a 3 speed 75 or 80 was it try to post pic its in a funny file....branch