Jay Leno's Garage - 1930 Indian Chief

[kscarbel2]

 

[kscarbel2]

Jay's good people.

[HarryS]

Good video. The old Indians are really cool.

[41chevy]

3 hours ago, HarryS said:

Good video. The old Indians are really cool.

Have a pair, a '47 and a '53 got a photo some where after I painted them as his n hers for my wife and I. Probably should do something about putting them inside the garage instead of on the porch. Or just sell them.

Found it.

 

Hosted on Fotki

Edited February 5, 2019 by 41chevy

[davehummell]

Them foot clutches are some fun when your on a hill at a light and you want to turn left and that left throttle took some getting used to. I like your Indians I had a couple like the red and white one I got an eighty and put it in the one. they were faster than the Harleys of the day. the indian oil pump system was not as good as the Harley if you rode hard so said my uncle and grandfather.

[41chevy]

13 hours ago, davehummell said:

Them foot clutches are some fun when your on a hill at a light and you want to turn left and that left throttle took some getting used to. I like your Indians I had a couple like the red and white one I got an eighty and put it in the one. they were faster than the Harleys of the day. the indian oil pump system was not as good as the Harley if you rode hard so said my uncle and grandfather.

I also have my dads 1950 Hydra-Glide tank shift with reverse for a side car. Both have their good and bad points. Foot clutches are very good if you tend to the fiber washers to give tension when depressed. The '53 is an 80 incher both are running modern Mikuni carbs although I have the original Tilletsons for them. The Mikunis start easier with new crap gas.

My '29 JD is the one that is hard to get used to with the constant loss oil system, only a feed pump. When the valves start to clatter a bit you stop, drain the cases and put the oil back in the tank.

If you look close at the '53 you'll see a cable operated front disc brake. I made that up for my wife, less hand strength and more hold than the OEM. Biggest issue were the aluminum heads, they ate the original composite head gaskets. Used to carry a set and a 5/8 box wrench to change them on the road. Finally had luck of finding WWII surplus copper head gaskets and no more issues.

[davehummell]

I putted around on a 34 vld  and a 40 80 flathead both restored I liked the 34 a lot. I always had a Harley around but I bought whatever caught my eye. I put a mikuni on my 63  sportster it started better than the tiltson.

[41chevy]

15 hours ago, davehummell said:

I putted around on a 34 vld  and a 40 80 flathead both restored I liked the 34 a lot. I always had a Harley around but I bought whatever caught my eye. I put a mikuni on my 63  sportster it started better than the tiltson.

I have a fresh '40 ULA 80'' that I started to build up. Mated to '65 pan hard case primary and trans with electric start laying in a '72 Superglide Night train frame. been in the corner now for 5 or 6 years with my '48 WLA Seri-car.

First bike was a '57 K-750 model flat head pre Sporty. Wish I kept that one.

[mowerman]

I hadda 47 ....45 years ago hadda lotta fun with it .......tank shifter suicide clutch.....takes a little practice to drive them.....Bob



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[davehummell]

My first Harley was a 125 two stroke it had a girder front end and a ridged frame 3 speed and it was my trailbike when I was about 14 now wonder my back is screwed up.

[kscarbel2]

7 hours ago, davehummell said:

My first Harley was a 125 two stroke it had a girder front end and a ridged frame 3 speed and it was my trailbike when I was about 14 now wonder my back is screwed up.

Not many people seem to recall the Italian enduros.

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[davehummell]

My friend had one of those baja 100cc and I rode one of those 350's what they could do every one else could do better.

[kscarbel2]

Harley-Davidson Should Build Pickup Trucks, Not Electric Motorcycles

Daren Fonda, Barrons  /  February 7, 2019

Harley-Davidson’s troubles run so deep that it should start making pickup trucks or SUVs. Either that or Harley could make a good addition to an auto maker like Ford.

Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas floated the idea of Harley getting into SUV and pickup truck business in a note out Wednesday. The heavy-duty motorcycle segment is in secular decline, he notes, and Harley—the strongest brand in the space—is taking the brunt of the hit with sales that have been falling for years.

Harley plans to launch an electric bike later this year, aiming to capture more eco-friendly and younger customers. Barron’s has been skeptical of that initiative. And Jonas doesn’t view it positively, either. “Are we the only ones who really struggle with the concept of all-electric...silent Harley-Davidson motorcycles?” he asks.

Yet Harley has tremendous brand equity that extends to everything from leather jackets to women’s jewelry. Harley could start manufacturing its own SUVs and pickup trucks—admittedly a huge capital-intensive undertaking.

Alternatively, it could put itself up for sale to an auto maker like Ford. The auto maker already sells “Harley-Davidson” trim packages on its F-150 and super-duty pickups, Jonas notes. And Harley would make a powerful addition for Ford, which is reviving its retro Bronco brand.

Sales of full-size pickups are one of the few bright spots for U.S. auto makers—accounting for as much as half of the industry’s U.S. profits, Jonas estimates. Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, and RAM dominate the market with a 93% share. Harley would make for a powerful fifth brand, he notes, and it would likely be more successful than foreign brands, which lack the “brand authenticity” so crucial to the segment.

Jonas doesn’t specifically argue that Ford should buy Harley, and he notes that Harley management hasn’t commented on any of this. He adds, “we have no such knowledge of any potential expansion into such markets.” Harley declined to comment. Ford hadn’t responded with a comment at press time.

Harley has other options, of course. The firm could plow headlong into electric vehicles, building smaller, lighter, quieter, and more eco-friendly bikes, Jonas writes. Alternatively, it could innovate on the margins while staying “true to its core,” returning all excess cash to investors.

Harley does have some leeway to be more generous with shareholders. The firm reported $992 million in free cash flow in 2018 and spent $634 million on share buybacks and dividends. Its dividend payout ratio is at 46%, leaving room for dividend increases.

As for Ford, it could probably use Harley’s brand, but at what cost? Harley has an enterprise value of $12.6 billion, compared with $160 billion for Ford. Presumably, Ford could issue equity to buy Harley. But the price would be higher than today’s value. And a leveraged buyout probably wouldn’t sit well with investors. Ford has $120 billion in net debt and a negative ratings outlook from S&P and Moody’s. Both ratings firms downgraded Ford’s debt last summer to one notch above junk.

Merger fantasies aside, Jonas rates Harley a buy with a $50 price target. He bases that valuation on a hypothetical buyout of the firm, based on a multiple of nine times enterprise value/Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization). That would peg Harley’s common-stock takeout value at $19.5 billion.

Sure, a Harley-branded pickup truck sounds great. But if Ford wants Harley badly enough, it would have to live high on the hog, something it may not be able to afford.

[41chevy]

.

Harley-Davidson is Moving Jobs Offshore Despite Tax Cuts and Subsidies By   J.Joseph.      (Page 1 of 1 pages)     12/1/18

President Trump proclaimed that massive corporate tax cuts would keep jobs here in the USA. Harley-Davidson, the iconic U.S. motorcycle manufacturer, is using $700 million of its tax-cut money to buy back its own shares while closing its Kansas City plant and moving production offshore to Thailand. Trickle-down economics has played another trick on American workers.

Payback

Documents released recently by the Federal Reserve Board disclosed that the Fed lent Harley-Davidson $2.3 billion in 2008 and 2009 during the depths of the Great Recession. These documents show that the Federal Reserve purchased commercial paper from with its Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) on 33 separate occasions from Harley. In other words, the Federal Government saved Harley-Davidson once again.

Thirty-five years ago, President Ronald Reagan and Congress saved Harley by imposing massive import tariffs on Japanese motorcycles. By giving the sole American motorcycle maker some breathing room from competition to retool, Harley was able to get its act together and turn profitable.

Yet, despite being twice bailed out by the Feds and given a billion-dollar tax bonus, Harley-Davidson turns around and closes a plant in Kansas City while opening one in Thailand.

Thai Hogs

Harley motorcycles are affectionately known as Hogs. In fact, Harley's stock symbol on the New York Stock Exchange is HOG. Harley is building a brand-new plant in Thailand with some of the windfall that it got from President Trump's corporate tax break. This new motorcycle assembly plant in Thailand's Rayong province, southeast of Bangkok, is scheduled to open later this year or early 2019.

At the same time Harley is slashing 800 jobs and closing its Kansas City plant next year. Harley-Davidson said that it is opening a factory in Thailand to avoid that country's 60% tariff on U.S. motorcycles. President Trump should have jumped on this and negotiated with Thailand to reduce its tariff to the U.S. level of 2.4%. (Harley also built a factory in India in 2011 because India levies a 100% tax on imported motorcycles.)

Harley is Not the Only Ungrateful Hog

The U.S. government not only bailed out Harley twice, it bailed out General Motors and Chrysler Corporation.The GM bailout cost U.S. taxpayers $10 billion that it has never repaid, and never will. The 2008 American auto-industry bailout was intended to save American manufacturing jobs, not create jobs overseas. After the bailout GM has been importing Buicks from China, South Korea and Poland. China charges a 25% tariff on U.S. cars, while we only charge a 2.5% duty on cars imported from China.

Chrysler, now owned by Fiat-Chrysler, was also bailed out in 2008. After the bailout, Chrysler, for the first time in history, imported Jeeps. Prior to 2016, all Jeeps were made in Toledo, Ohio. Fiat is now manufacturing the Jeep Renegade in Melfi, Italy. The European Union, which includes Italy, charges U.S. car importers a ten-percent duty, while we charge EU car imports only a 2.5% tariff.

Congress Must Act

The U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has the power to enact duties. Article I, Section 8, Clause 1. Congress has the power to enact reciprocal tariffs, so that our import taxes automatically go to the level charged by a foreign country. I have proposed the Chinese American Reciprocal Trade Act (CARTA) which would do just that. We can go further and enact a world-wide reciprocal-trade act.

Free trade does not mean that we have to have the lowest tariffs in the world and every other country can charge high duties on American products. China is now a developed country and must deal with the United States on an equal footing. European countries are wealthy, many wealthier than the United States, and should allow American products in without high tariffs. Why should Tesla pay a ten-percent duty in Europe when Mercedes pays only a 2.5% import tax in the United States? Even with these high duties Tesla has become a best-seller in Germany and Norway. Tesla would export even more high-tech electric, American-made cars if other countries treated the United States as an equal trading partner.

Edited February 8, 2019 by 41chevy