Driven from the Side: An Unusual Motorcycle Returns to Life

Rare motorcycles are a mainstay at Wheels Through Time, from the ”World’s Rarest Motorcycle” the Traub to Oscar Hedstrom’s personal Indian, and Will Henderson’s 1918 four-cylinder prototype. As I like to tell visitors here at the museum, Dale has spent his life building not just a collection of random motorcycles, but a collection of the rarest, most desirable motorcycles. Perhaps one of the most unique motorcycles at the museum is one that most people probably walk right by.

At first glance, the 1916 Harley looks like any other early motorcycle with a sidecar, but the careful observer will soon begin to notice some significant differences that truly set it apart. This motorcycle was a Harley factory-built special model, designed to be driven from the side-car, one of only two known models. To make this possible, the sidecar is wider than typical, and the handlebars have been custom made to sweep over to the correct driving position. A collapsible canopy would also protect the rider from inclement weather. The throttle is in the typical right-hand handlebar location, but the brakes, clutch, and kick-starter have been moved to the floor of the sidecar very similar to the positioning in an automobile. The carburetor has also been flipped in position to intake air from the right side of the motorcycle which also allows for the rider to adjust the carb if necessary while still seated in the sidecar.

Because of the unique mechanisms that allowed the bike to be started and driven from the sidecar, it was necessary to remove the sidecar to have better access to the bike. We also removed the specialty kickstart cover and mechanism and installed a traditional Kickstarter plate. Now the real work began. We started with Dale’s hot-plate method to bring back the motor’s “memory” and started checking for all the essentials: compression, spark, fuel, and oil. Surprisingly, for the age of the machine and the number of years it had sat dormant the only real issue that gave us a challenge was in getting a spark. We traced the problem to the primitive ignition unit, a Remy generator that Harley only used in their bikes for 3 years. We removed it and replaced it with a magneto so we could move forward with the project. Next, the gas tanks and fuel lines were cleaned and cleared, and new oil and gas were added to the tanks. Now it was time to see if the bike would come back to life.