A Sidevalve On the Salt
A SIDEVALVE ON THE SALT
"What’s a Nice Old Bike Doing In a Place Like This?” "110.52 MPH”
Henry N. Manney III
The story of Harley is the story of its flatheads, really, as this basic design carried the company to worldwide fame quite unenvisaged by its hardworking founders. To be sure pocket or proper overhead valves got into the act from time to time but to true aficionados the jangling OHV was as welcome as yer wife’s mother at a stag party. Flatheads required little if any maintenance, were as reliable as tomorrow, would run on anything remotely combustible, were quiet enough to sneak home at 3 ayem and didn’t require the assistance of a six-armed Afreet to set tappets. Their competition record, along with that of equally flatheaded Indians, was impressive but even more so was the ability to run, and keep running, in a condition which would make today’s service manager turn pale. Millions have been p*ss*d away trying to design Everyman’s motorcycle; it had already been designed back when Lord Nelson wore shorts. It was nothing to see some thrifty soul buy a used flathead and then take off for a 2000 mile ride, bald tyres, stretched chain, total loss lubrication and all. I don’t think that the 1981 motorcyclist, calling the Auto Club because his model of modern multicylinder Shushiban won’t start, has any idea how a simple flathead can calm the nerves. No shims, no buckets, no oil filters, no camshafts running in the alloy head, no disposable cylinders, no expensive black boxes, no sealed up carburetors. Just Iron.
It is a sad commentary on today’s motorcyclists that the flathead has almost disappeared from the face of the earth, although a few industrial engines do continue the format. Rot set in during the ’30s when a certain class of people discovered that there was money to be made out of tarting up street bikes and making them look fast instead of doing the homework to make them go fast. More exhaust noise and mechanical clatter seemed “sporty” but the only real winner was the parts dept. Furthermore it took a real wizard to drag much performance out of the refined flathead what with side-by-side valves, unequal mass in the cylinder casting and tortured porting but Dick O’Brien did all right didn’t he? along with many others such as the lads who clocked 100 mph on The Mile. As any parent of teenagers can tell you. Fashion creates more of an irresistible force than the Johnstown Flood and even Harley, hanging on to flatheads longer than any other factory, eventually bowed to the modern age. And what did it get them? About 2 percent of the market.
Fortunately Allah is good and the cult of the flathead survives in isolated pockets of the world like New Zealand, Maylaysia, Baffin Land, Abermuchty, Novysvirbisk and even Tujunga, Calif. There Tom Evans who is the life and soul of Rodan M/C Speed Shop supervises over a selection of Harleys including a nice flathead which he even takes to the dry lakes. One of his faithful customers, Jim Butt, rejoices in a semi-restored ULH 80 cu. in. Harley of basically 1937 vintage and whereas Jim doesn’t really hold the Land Speed Record with it, we think that the bike deserves more than a passing look. Just to refresh the memory. VLs were the 74 cu. in. sidevalvers which were pre-1937 approx whereas the UL series, brought out in answer to the fearsome Indian 80, appeared in ’37 proper. “H” appended stood for High Compression (no trick series of Star Wars names) which rose to an unprecedented 6.4:1, a mighty boost over the stock 5:1 and necessitated running ethyl gas, a pricey fuel which might even go as high as 120 a gallon in those happy days, and which required alloy heads to shift some of the heat. Heavy stuff.
This particular bike started as a special, as the original owner bought just the engine to put in a special frame. Whizzer tank, straight bars, extra lights, push brake, Square Four fender and seat, springer front end and bored out 125 thou: sort of an early chopper but in the manner of the day it was used on the dirt too! Jim bought it cheap about six years ago when the owner, some sort of complicated relative, broke his foot in an equally complicated fashion (kickstart foot, naturally) as a “rat bike” as everything was all rusty and horrid. However the engine, now with c.r. of 8:1 was still good; the standard Linkert carb coupled with a larger panhead intake manifold helping to make it a “first kicker” (always encouraging). In this form it was run around a while as you didn’t have to worry about getting it dirty although Jim says that he got into serious trouble with roadholding when he greased it, the unexpected looseness almost dropping him into the lion pit. Very shortly afterwards the flathead acquired a surplus pair of Wide Glide forks to supplant the original (greased) ones and generally was tidied up a bit. He was thinking at first to cherry it out to original but couldn’t afford the parts, let alone pay to de-rust thoroughly so the ULH now survives as a rolling tic exercise.
As one can see from the photos, in present form the Harley has a stock frame, stock springer front end, Harley hydraulic rear brake, belt drive primary, and a stock 38 mm Mikuni. Jim is diffident about saying what actually has been done to the engine but it does run better with short pipes, in progress reminding one rather of those big Pratt and Whitneys fitted to ’30s military aircraft. The ULH came with the C and H shifter -I’’mouse trap” + jockey lid -Ia pair of vise grips to keep everything together; according to Jim everything is smaller and lighter than the stock item. Clutch is post 1938 and a two finger one at that and the whole business seems to work very well in its classic unhurried fashion.
Tom and Mrs. Evans, Rodan’s owners (Tom has a rapid ’37 that did 147 at El Mirage), talked Jim into running in a newly formed Vintage class at El Mirage; apparently the SCTA are running there again just like the old days and he aired the bike out for a couple of meets. There was a certain amount of tidying up as well, including painting the week before Bonneville to keep the dreaded salt at bay, and a bit of cad plating of nuts, bolts and other stuff that looked a bit terminal. Unfortunately cad plating wasn’t too kind to threads on the head bolts and a head lifted when it shouldn’t have, thus freeing Jim for other duties. However the trip was useful as an opportunity to get the carb and timing really right besides playing with the short pipes to get maximum efficiency; adding about 10 in. by trading stacks with another competitor did the trick. Empirical Engineering is still the old reliable firm. Anyway, in not too modified form Jim has turned the ULH to 110.52 at Bonneville and 110.13 at El Mirage, not bad on gas for an old street bike. And that flathead beat!
“Didn’t set no records but had more fun than anybody.” That’s motorcycling.
