Extremely Rare 95 Year-Old Harley Racing Engine Assembly & Running! 1928 Harley JH 2-Cam Timelapse

Instagram: @davidwiththelonghair

[@user-zc5qy2sr1c]

That old iron running gave me goosebumps. She sounds beautiful.

[@pappy451]

me too ! loved it !

[@FrustratedBaboon]

Aluminum.

[@FrustratedBaboon]

Amazing what the human mind is capable of designing. This was all drawn on paper and then assembled in a barn and then put into production. Amazing.

[@mariuszk.8054]

Exactly, and it worked. Almost everyday I'm dealing with crappy drawings created in state of the art CAD software. Many today's engineers don't have idea how to make stuff, all what they do are beautiful drawings...

[@Mihu24]

True, it was pure engineering, but let's not forget that at that time, dozens of models were made from clay, and they kept testing until they reached a good result, after which they made the molds for casting. Don't think that all the geometry of the crankcase was done with paper and pen and calculated with double integral...

[@Walkercolt1]

One of my Antique Cycle buds has a 1913 Harley-Davidson (First H-D) ALKY (pure methanol) burning board-track racer! One speed, no brakes, no throttle, a kill switch that cuts the magneto for "speed control". 119 MPH Laps on the 3/8th mile dirt track at the Creek County Fairgrounds on BICYCLE TYRES pumped-up to 90 PSI (white Firestone's). Total loss lubrication of 50 weight CASTER BEAN oil. Every 5-6th lap, reach between your legs and manual pump the oil pump until it smokes a puff. Think about Glenn Curtis-he bought his frames from brothers in the bicycle trade near Dayton, OH and put his engines on WRIGHT BROS. frames. Now put down an 1/8th mile track of boards, put 40 riders who kicked, punched, spit on each other on a 25 foot wide track at 110+ MPH. It was called "Murderdrome" rather than Motodrome. Many of them became WWI Aviators. I'm working on a street 1916 "ACE" 52* (Bosch Magneto) Vee-twin 1065 cc three speed tranny. Acetylene headlight and all! By 1925, there were at least THREE street motorcycle manufacturers for each letter of the alphabet. EXAMPLE: A: Ace, American Flyer, American Eagle, American Flag, Ace-Hi, All-Bee, A-EZE and 12 more. The "Panic of 1922" killed most brands along with the Model T. When dirt roads turned to mud-pits, an automobile had some advantages. In 1925 there were about 10,000 miles of paved ('improved" that could mean gravel) "highways".

[@pastorbobncc365]

Absolutely loved coming along for the build, have a blessed week my friend.

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

Seeing that thing light and then those flames. The tone is perfection.

[@rocker4144]

Such a beautiful piece of motorsport history. it's so cool to see an old dog spit flames again!

[@HarmonRAB-hp4nk]

dad sold my bike... I was named after a 1951 panhead... running all those years :-)

[@davenorgrove3193]

Nice! Thanks for putting this together!

[@larsblankenfjell9814]

Best I seen for a very long time, really Love this engine!!!

[@user-ks5vm8ht7v]

WOW !!! Super sound ❤❤❤❤❤ Thank YOU!

[@scarecrow8004]

Ah the good old days when motors made a small enough amount of horsepower that you could drill holes in the connecting rods to reduce reciprocating weight. Absolutely fascinating. Loved the shaker twin video at the end, hold on tight or it'll be down the street by itself ... it craves to motivate.

[@FLORIDAMANIAM-he2lz]

Or you could just weigh and balance them

[@seanmakesthings]

So rad to see the old engineering of this motor like the screw in cam bushings/bearings in the case, what a trip. Thanks for showing us behind the scenes

[@dntlss]

Any particular reason why in the beginning and most of the video hes not using any oil or grease or assembly lube or anything like that? sorry to ask you but seems like he doesn't answer comments.

[@seanmakesthings]

@@dntlss You know, I really couldn't tell you for certain, but I'll try to make an educated guess here for you. I'd probably guess that assembly lube wasn't too common back in 1928, so using it today is kinda moot. I also believe that this particular engine gets its oil from a hand pump, so I don't know how important assembly lube is gonna be in preventing wear and tear when the engine itself doesn't have a constant circulating oil supply. You could lube the thing up, but it's probably not gonna stay lubed for long, and the oil that needs to get into oil passages and specific crevices might be blocked by gooey assembly lube. One other thing you might research was that in 1929 they introduced a throttle-controlled oil pump, which i have no context for, other than the names and an old article claiming that the throttle-controlled oil pump increased the oiling efficiency and overall health of the engine by a ton. So there ya go, hope my guesses might shine some light on the reasoning behind him not lubing it up like you would a 50s/60s/70s engine found in cars

[@seanmakesthings]

@@dntlss Read my other guesses first, but here's an alternate theory: he assembled the entire motor for clearance purposes, tore it down off camera, lubed everything perfectly and reassembled it for the final part of the video where he fires it up. Not really sure.

[@MonteFleming]

I just wanted to say thank you for the video on how to access the subharmonic register. Singing basso profundo is freaking fun.

[@FelipeMaldonado-wk4ne]

Great job. Very good video.

[@jaynedoe1959]

That was really fun!

[@MrStratbat]

Great video..Thanks for no music and thanks for running the engine...Great job...

[@gnm109]

Very nice work!

[@Zulutime44]

What a beautiful exhaust sound. You know its a Harley.

[@psk5746]

Yeah because they all sound like shit

[@stevenleek1254]

Beautiful!

[@julieanddavidmyers6641]

I loved seeing slotted head machine screws used throughout. The old factory spanner wrenches were cool to have as part of the wrench set.

[@zorianwilson8523]

This is amazing!!

[@crspcritter]

That’s some real Americana there . Cool old stuff. Twin cam too - ✊🏻👍👌

[@PPGDC]

Beautiful!!

[@PiggyOinkenstein-ts4dp]

Pretty groovy man. Real Groovy❗🤪👍

[@hayetzizou6601]

he is back les goooo

[@sparkplug-ne5wi]

such cool piece of history breathing fire again

[@bubson_92]

Great Job!

[@hitthelikebutton9611]

Great video! Thank you.

[@hunter-cs3em]

Nice job very well 👏 done😊

[@AS-bt4xp]

Housing covers, cylinders, flanges etc. have to be tight crosswise in any case, otherwise internal tensions and leaking follows! A good educated and teached mechanic has to know that!! Greetings from Germany!

[@tnekkc]

My father had an old '74 when he was in high school in 1939, He was caught doing donuts in the parking lot, and had to eat his lunch in the office.

[@dntlss]

And he didnt come back and kill the principal the next day,lol, he knew he was caught and took it like a adult unlike today.

[@TheRobyMann]

Sick video

[@evanreese4883]

Wow, the bass tones out of that thing! Sounds like a combination of fart bass and lip buzz. Now I just need to hear a beat over it.

[@recoilrob324]

Look at those cam lobes!!! I've seen some asymmetry before but never such an extreme difference between intake and closing ramps. That's just crazy...but hey...it worked!!

[@aramirez8427]

Damn.....Thats awesome

[@lenvillemaire4751]

Good work

[@cameronlilly4814]

Interesting watching this after Keenan Tatro's videos; despite the difference in time period this still looks like the work of Harley Davidson when compared to later twins.

[@kurtfoulke5130]

Impressive watching you assemble that entire motor using $14 worth of handtools. 👍

[@spiritofmilwaukee1927]

Hey thanks for the video, it will help a lot when I get an F-Head.

[@Aleksandr_Naumov]

Very good!

[@wthea7913]

Dude this is so out of left field for this channel haha! Love it!

[@Lukers_tinkering]

Fantastic thanks for doing a video... do you have drawings for this engine by any chance?

[@user-fh2lg4ps2j]

멋진 예술작품입니다 물론 사운드까지

[@ronnieboucherthecrystalcraftsm]

side valve inlet and over head exhaust = wow that is some kind of exhaust valve assembly = 2 cams = thank you for assembly .

[@bmwtravel1100]

if you need parts for it, check with Reiman Harley Davidson in Kewanee, Illinois. Old Hank Reiman (not his son Roger) was an ace Harley tuner way way back.

[@spaceflight1019]

Forget putting this on a bike, it needs to be powering a go-kart! I can close my eyes and hear that song behind me as me and my kart break out from under the tree canopy and head into the open country on the IOM Mountain Course.

[@kellywheatley807]

Nice job...

[@YnEoS10]

Missed you

[@choppergirl]

You don't ever want it to stall out and quit, that will leave you stranded by the road. Maybe set your idle screw higher. Not about the sound, or even about the hp (well, if it was used for racing, then it is), it's about getting you there and back without issue or headaches.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

An old race tuner I worked with often the first thing he'd do was turn up the idle. And on a race two stroke turn it right off.

[@choppergirl]

@@redtobertshateshandles hard enough to keep an old engine running as it is. once you get it started you don't want it conking out on you all the time. it really swcks if your battery is dead, you have to kickstart or push start it again, or... your compression release is broken. I deal with all three all the time on the farm with this old junk.

[@johnarnold893]

@@choppergirl Battery, hah, what battery. It's a race engine and uses a mag for spark.

[@choppergirl]

@@johnarnold893 Fair enough, but a dead battery is huge concern on my bikes that are too heavy to push start and jump on. It will leave you stranded and phwcked. I can push start light cars on flat paved ground and jump in the seat and throw them into 2nd and start them (done that more times than I want to count), but pushing a heavy motorcycle to a running start and swinging a leg over and kicking it in gear without dropping it is beyond my stamina and skill level. Don't want no kickstart motorcycle ever again, you'll wear out your leg or break it trying to get that thing started.

[@dlfabrications]

Why are you not adding assembly lubrication?🤔🤔 Did you grease or lubricate the lifters? How often would you lubricate up the lifters.

[@localenterprisebroadcastin5971]

Not to mention not torquing anything 😂

[@johnarnold893]

@@localenterprisebroadcastin5971 The torque wrench wasn't even patented until 1931 and it was years until they were being manufactured for general use.

[@localenterprisebroadcastin5971]

@@johnarnold893 The original torque wrench was invented by Conrad Bahr in 1918…swing and a miss bud

[@joezambrano9651]

Beautiful engine.i wonder who was the genius who designed and b built the engine

[@leenonolee4629]

That is so cool. Was there a gasket I missed on part of the install?

[@theroyalaustralian]

Holy f*** this is right up my ally 😂😂 I can actually restore one of these.😊😊

[@jbusta8548]

Cool beans what is the displacement for this engine?

[@nandi123]

The starting motor was a good idea.

[@user-ex5dl8ey2e]

Крутая техника!

[@jongirolami4978]

First t time I have ever seen an engine assembled without prelude on pistons/ cylinders etc.

[@bmwtravel1100]

yes, its odd, but two things: modern oil is light years ahead of 1920's technology, and the clearances on those old air-cooled engines was pretty was generous to start with. that said, yeah I woulda put a few drops here and there.

[@nickyborrisino]

Rebuild every 5000 kilometers 🤣

[@PatHaskell]

Did you happen to obtain 3D data for the engine parts when it was apart?

[@lenox9644]

This video is the perfect asmr for men.

[@jerrodbeck1799]

Dragon Man would be impressed👍🏻

[@TheIrishAmish]

Did you lap the case halves?

[@dlaws99]

Where did you find those spark plugs?

[@garypease7414]

Thats a first for me. I never new HD made a two stroke.

[@jimevans9550]

Wow. They’re still the same, too.

[@grantbuxton2108]

Wheels through time

[@martykath4427]

It may have been initially built with cast iron pistons?? Those modern ones had large domes and ring tech that would be far more advanced than the original ones. I'd imagine this is a "manual squirter" oiling system as I didn't see an oil pump during assy. Haven't bikes come a long way from here.

[@MichaelThomas-ps5qg]

Awesome stuff man 40k wow

[@williamjames9515]

Sounds like a Hardly!

[@Theogrn]

What kind of power will these engines make?

[@user-vk3ny4fj9t]

Where abouts are you guys? I have a 1921J in bits that l need to make some decisions about.

[@kh40yr]

AMF Golf Cart with wheelie bars. That would flip the Longhairs at Sturgis. ""WTF?, A 28 2 cam in a muther golf cart"",, lol,,, "GET EM!!".

[@wiwingmargahayu6831]

wow its v twin engine Sir

[@biggreasies537]

I owned one of those JDHs back in the 1970s, completely restored, sold it way to cheap to invest in equipment form machine shop. I see things on that engine that are not quite right.

[@PanheadJeff58]

How did you film this? The cam chest is on the wrong side, facing backwards as you're assembling it.

[@hyperluminalreality1]

JH and JDH. Correct orientation. Go look at pics of a 1928 JDH Harley.

[@user-rk1bf4eh2p]

Very cool something interesting I just turned it on let's see what happens

[@dogpaw775]

'tis a thing of beauty. but the cam spindle mounting plate being secured by bolts from the inside gives me the yips.

[@robert-wr6md]

Not as much as dodgy cam chain tensioners on later Harley engines...

[@metricstormtrooper]

Wow, and Harley Davidson haven't progressed one iota since then.

[@h.nguyen4193]

i dont know whats worst the time to find original parts, or the time itll take to make to parts you couldn't find.

[@spookydog6959]

how much coffee did you have before the build😁

[@dntlss]

I bet those sparks plugs are not easy to find.

[@JohnTaylor-gy2ps]

About the same level of technology as the latest model Harley Davidson's lol Check out the Vincent Black Shadow if you're looking for a V twin worth lots of money.

[@george1la]

They were trying every type of valve layout and cylinder head.

[@madaryakar9453]

i wonder why the making of this engine was stopped.! this was the king engine of the road

[@dntlss]

Probably cause it was too simple.

[@MAsWorld1]

I do love these but let’s be realistic: it is an IOE after all

[@Einimas]

Nice, now it only needs a cvk mikuni.

[@user-eo6vw8zq3j]

Технологически продуманный ! Без компьютера

[@user-cu8vg5yh3y]

Оце справжній олд скулл,моя повага хлопцям...

[@charlespotter769]

Not much assembly lube but nice job! Even the old tools to the cooling spark plugs. Maybe only 20 people in America know how to build this JD motor. 🖕I'm jealous!

[@MountainGuerrilla]

that is a huge crank assembly, it must weigh 60lbs

[@marcellucassen8033]

Assembly lube or oil please, I didn't see it, it's important to use when putting an engine together.

[@Usnz411]

I think U should scan the motor with 3d or send it to special company to scan it for u cuz its very rear one

[@jeffreystpierre6898]

Did you video this from a mirror

[@SevenDays-3D]

первый раз вижу на двигателе мотоцикла МАХОВИК, почему сейчас не ставят не понятно ...

[@user-rk1bf4eh2p]

Red Loctite I hope

[@mastergambiarra]

Como os caras que criaram a harley davidson eram criativos,

[@JohnSimpson-mv9qm]

3D it make copies of designs and materials. There’s more than 10😂

[@user-rk1bf4eh2p]

Cam timing

[@dwayneterrell1915]

Briggs & Stratton motor OutRunner that hahaha I wouldn't give you scrap money for scrap all it is

[@FLXRHD]

WHERE ARE THE GASKETS ???

[@n5sdm]

I know where a 1914 harley team board racer Is....complete and running.