New Old Stock: Norman Reedus’ Knucklehead
#11
11-25-2018, 01:37 AM
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Location: Santa Klaus County, Cali
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You use original parts because you are restoring and collectors pay more for OEM. Let's not beat around the bush. It's all about the money and this is America.
Nice to know you think everything not a restoration is junk even when people build their machine as a chopper with a more functional drivetrain. Restos are collectors items and more power to the collectors, but that doesn't make the machinery or what it's made of somehow FUNCTIONALLY superior to modern iterations. Choppers are folk art. Restos are for collectors to collect. Repops are for making more horsepower and getting some of the look. Keep on restoring and make that money, but some people prefer more riding with less wrenching. One thing is not like the other.
If HD parts were functionally superior there'd be no performance aftermarket. If their cases were superior Cal Products, STD, Delkron and S&S wouldn't have made tons of money selling much stronger designs. If their rod kits were so great Carillo etc would be out of business, etc, etc. Is an original stock (pick an era of your choice) HD transmission a stronger, better machined piece than Andrews or Baker? The flywheels stronger than Axtell? The valves and springs stronger, better machined and more durable than Kibblewhite? Was the whole HD aftermarket a horrible mistake because the only acceptable thing to do to a motorcycle is restore it?
Just because we may emotionally cherish old motorcycles doesn't make them very good judged as machinery. The reason those old machines are out of production is they were replaced by functionally better motorcycles with superior production methods, metallurgy and performance. Saying I know "nothing about the real machine" without offering any SPECIFIC EXAMPLES AS PROOF isn't saying anything of substance. Since the burden of proof for an assertion in debate rests with the person making that assertion, in what measurable ways (everything about machinery is measurable) are OEM parts superior than quality aftermarket pieces (not Taiwan Ted) proven in race and street use making far more than feeble stock horsepower?
I'm glad you make money restoring. There are more things to do with motorcycles than restore them. Riding comes to mind and Americans like horsepower and durability. That "kit bike" is just a chopper. Be happy someone did NOT use an original engine and waste parts which could have gone into a restoration.
Nice to know you think everything not a restoration is junk even when people build their machine as a chopper with a more functional drivetrain. Restos are collectors items and more power to the collectors, but that doesn't make the machinery or what it's made of somehow FUNCTIONALLY superior to modern iterations. Choppers are folk art. Restos are for collectors to collect. Repops are for making more horsepower and getting some of the look. Keep on restoring and make that money, but some people prefer more riding with less wrenching. One thing is not like the other.
If HD parts were functionally superior there'd be no performance aftermarket. If their cases were superior Cal Products, STD, Delkron and S&S wouldn't have made tons of money selling much stronger designs. If their rod kits were so great Carillo etc would be out of business, etc, etc. Is an original stock (pick an era of your choice) HD transmission a stronger, better machined piece than Andrews or Baker? The flywheels stronger than Axtell? The valves and springs stronger, better machined and more durable than Kibblewhite? Was the whole HD aftermarket a horrible mistake because the only acceptable thing to do to a motorcycle is restore it?
Just because we may emotionally cherish old motorcycles doesn't make them very good judged as machinery. The reason those old machines are out of production is they were replaced by functionally better motorcycles with superior production methods, metallurgy and performance. Saying I know "nothing about the real machine" without offering any SPECIFIC EXAMPLES AS PROOF isn't saying anything of substance. Since the burden of proof for an assertion in debate rests with the person making that assertion, in what measurable ways (everything about machinery is measurable) are OEM parts superior than quality aftermarket pieces (not Taiwan Ted) proven in race and street use making far more than feeble stock horsepower?
I'm glad you make money restoring. There are more things to do with motorcycles than restore them. Riding comes to mind and Americans like horsepower and durability. That "kit bike" is just a chopper. Be happy someone did NOT use an original engine and waste parts which could have gone into a restoration.
I think the aftermarket products provide a certain security and peace of mind for customers who need that mindset. That said people like Tom Sifton were buiding flathead motors in he 50s and 60s that were blowing the doors off any/all competotors, and they did it using HD powerplants. And trying to source OEM internal components is damn near non-existent. I'll be the first to admit that when I rebuilt the top end of my 78-1/2 FXE I used Kibblewhite components. #1 they are IMHO the best on the market today; #2 I haven't seen OEM stock valves and springs for Pans and Shovels since the L80s/E90s. Same reason I used Andrews gear sets in my 49 EL. HD does not make the components any more and any NOS parts have long since disappeared.
Funny how you somehow you cannot equate restoring and durability in the same playing field. A properly built restoration will give the owner everything needed to get down the road. The only difference is that there is more routine maintenance to keep it on the road. Will my 49 EL beat your S&S clone Pan with a 93 cu in powerplant and Baker transmission? Not hardly but I never intended it to be that way. I did it to get as close as I could to what a proper 49 EL would look like in 1949
The problem with the bike in the article lies in the fact thait is posted as a NOS Knucklehead chopper, when in fact the only thing it is is an aftermarket kit bike put together as a chopper. It is nothing more than a Special Construction bike and wil be titled with DMV the year is was completed and registered. It will never be worth the sum of its parts
Last edited by panz4ever; 11-25-2018 at 01:47 AM.
#14
11-26-2018, 11:47 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
#16
12-15-2018, 11:40 AM
Seasoned HDF Member
Maybe if they relabeled NOS as New Old Style then I might buy it's character. But it's still just a bolt on assembly of new parts. The only thing that was reworked was the frame... And as mentioned, 10k for a 61 hp powerplant just don't do it for me.. It looks good for what it is but it's not NOS...
#17
12-16-2018, 03:16 PM
Seasoned HDF Member
#18
12-17-2018, 09:06 AM
Road Captain
#19
12-18-2018, 04:52 AM
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