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And sadly, the story above, that fella only got to ride it about a week before he totally wrecked it. I have no clue whatever happened to the bike or him after that.
Last edited by Rains2much; Feb 28, 2024 at 07:44 AM.
I want to built a custom bike I have a spare 80" evo engine. I am not interested in a ridgid frame. Still trying to decide the look I want and where to purchase the frame. I already have a Road King for long trips. Any ideas?
I am fine with that. Take clone engine S&S stick in custom frame, call it custom Harley if you want. In conversation I would tell the story of what is.
I am not going to get bent out of shape whatever way you do it
For me as long as engine based on a Harley motor
I am sure this could get hottly debated. And that is good. Men should be able to do that
IMO, If the title says harley and it was born as a harley, it's a harley. Before 1970 all that was needed was a motor.. After that motor and frame..
I own 2 HD style bikes that I built from pieces. One most of the stuff that came out of a catalog, the other as a kit. Both have a lot of custom fabrication. I call both of them special construction harleys as CA DVM calls then basically "Special Construction"
Flip side, I owned a CMC motorcycle that was titled as a Indian after Indian bought CMC.. I still called it a CMC..
Pre 74 (I think) the only numbers were on the engine lower case. So if the engine is pre 74 the title will be HD regardless of frame. If you put an S&S or ultima or whatever in a custom frame its not a Harley although some people still call them that.
If you put a Harley engine in a custom frame IMO its still a Harley. The title however may not say that. A lot of it depends on the state you live in.
Pre 1970 had no frame numbers and as such were titled by the numbers on the frame.
I’ll also add that if a bike has a real title then most likely you will have no problems getting it re-tagged in any state as long as it had a real title and was registered at one time. I know in the Carolinas Tennessee, Florida, Ohio and Michigan. This is true.
in the early 2000s I was brought a basket case by somebody. He was an older fella and said he had owned the bike for l over 30 years. And he had never been able to get it put together. He did not have a title. He said he did it one time but it was lost in the DMV didn’t have records for it anymore.
I put the bike completely back together, and I took the serial number off the cases, and I had the Ohio DMV do a title search. They came up with nothing. So we then filled out paperwork for a lost title and asked for it to be re-created. the frame was aftermarket and he also did not have an MSO for it. In fact, I don’t even think they were doing those type of things back then. So we just told the DMV that it was a 1970 and they gave him a title based on the serial number from the cases by the way, those cases were 74. and he has a 1970 title. The circumstances and situation was a lot like my own bike. Except for someone had done all that before I owned the parts and pieces. It is what it is. And I would assume that they’re sharper now and don’t do stuff like that. I wasn’t trying to be fraudulent, I was just trying to get this guy rolling. He had pictures of himself as a teenager with that bike. So I know he wasn’t pulling a fast one. He just wanted to ride it again before he was too old.
Sounds like Ohio DMV has its head up its *** or they would have known that a 1970 frame would have a VIN on it. Also, if they ran the numbers on the engine they would have seen that they came back to a 1974 Harley-Davidson not a 1970. They must have only run it in the stolen file. And BTW, the two of you knew full well what you were doing so it was indeed intentionally fraudulent and both were pulling a fast one.
Pre 74 (I think) the only numbers were on the engine lower case. So if the engine is pre 74 the title will be HD regardless of frame. If you put an S&S or ultima or whatever in a custom frame its not a Harley although some people still call them that.
If you put a Harley engine in a custom frame IMO its still a Harley. The title however may not say that. A lot of it depends on the state you live in.
The year is 1970 - 1969 & down model years have tis VIN on the Left side engine case between the cyls . 1970 & up model years have it on frame - on the neck or top of the Rt side down tube - Eastcoast Jim
A custom is about as much a Harley as any metric cruiser is. Kawasaki made a cruiser called the Drifter. It looked beautiful - just like an Indian...but it isn't. It started out as a one- off custom, but Kawasaki liked it enough to put it into production. They had 2 versions, a 1500, and a 800. It was built when there still wasn't a resurrected Indian Company in production. It was definitely a replica bike, but so as long as they didn't call it an Indian, who cares? I test rode the 1500cc and am sure it rode and ran better than a real '49 Indian, whose looks it copied.
Nothing wrong in my book with imitating another bike's looks, if you like it but want something a little different. Just don't give it the same name. A Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic is basically a replica of a '49 FL. I had a couple of them, and liked them, but I never considered either of them a true Harley "Classic '49 FL".
Last edited by Hathaway; Feb 17, 2025 at 03:48 PM.
I own a custom Harley!
It started off life as a 2018 CVO Limited and now it is a trike. Just about everything from the transmission back is 100% custom. Not to mention performance parts and chrome bits. Before During After
I think if it has a H.D. V.I.N. on the frame, and an H.D. manufactured engine, and the title lists the manufacturer as Harley Davidson...it's a Harley. If it's missing any one of those 3 components - it's not.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
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Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.
