WHY WOULD SOMEONE BUILD THIS?

In today's episode of #DriveForHistory we look at a true home-built motorcycle. Built sometime in the 1950s by Arthur Gunther, the bike is powered by a 1913 Harley Davidson single, but the rest is all Gunther's design.
Dale's Wheels Through Time Museum, located in Maggie Valley, NC, features over 375 American motorcycles, unique cars, and transportation history.
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wheels through time

[@fido0825]

Arthur was an engineer with absolutely no since of aesthetics. This is perhaps the homeliest motorcycle I've ever seen, but it worked!

[@2packs4sure]

I bet Ol' Arthur would be so happy to know someone is talking about his machine in the year 2020 !!!

[@jesusoftheapes]

he made several of them . It is not a one off .

[@wegert1]

I was going to say exactly the same thing! Bullshit like the Internet and youtube wouldn't have meant anything to him, but to know that his bike would still be running and people would still be talking about it in 2020 would have been an amazing thrill. Thanks for the vid.

[@GarlandFarms]

@@wegert1 a. Bullshit like the Internet b. Thanks for the vid Pick one.

[@jeffnpatricia]

Agreed , would likely warms the fellers heart.

[@garymarklein4550]

His name was Gunther not Arthur

[@OcotilloTom]

Looks like an old Cushman Eagle. I still have a 1957 Eagle with it's original cast iron engine. I bought it when I was 14, I'll be 75 in March. I still ride it as well as my old "48" Harley.

[@sand0decker]

Wow, that is cool. I'd love to even so much as see old bikes like that one day

[@tyrssen1]

I'm seriously envious, Tom!

[@ferret3284]

22 here and bought a 2011 1583cc superglide, Hope to be in my 60s-80s with the bike still in my name lol. Bought it 3 years ago when I was 19. great bike

[@georgeroberts442]

Yup, just what I said before reading your posting.

[@ipodpancakes2874]

Tom Boyte can you make a video on that?

[@Oldbmwr100rs]

I would figure the small tank on the fuel tank would possibly be an oil drip. Many of these very old bikes had a pretty rudimentary oiling system, often needing a hand pump to get more oil into the crankcase, this may have been added to improve top end oiling.

[@voodoowraith]

When I was a teenager a friend's dad had a bike that I thought was a Frankenstein creation because of all of the custom fabrication he did. This beast makes that bike look like a factory model.

[@guss2099]

Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. That bike is a real gem! Well done for keeping it running.

[@ncdave4]

A great engineering masterpiece.. and just now red that Dale has passed. Condolences to his family. I watched EVERY SINGLE episode of his TV series.

[@single55]

You ride this thing into Sturgis you'll be the talk of the Town

[@draconpost]

If you rode this anywhere you'd probably get stopped and checked since it looks like if someone made it by himself (which is true) from parts from a scrapyard which were welded together. Only a person knowing its history can apprceciate its value.

[@wegert1]

Mostly because you'll be one of the 3 guys who actually rode their bikes to Sturgis :- )

[@dawsonsheets1975]

RockstarFarmer 😂😂😂

[@afrog2666]

@@wegert1 lol

[@rogerdavis2412]

@@wegert1 that’s so true lol!

[@charlesdudek7713]

It is so cool to hear these old engines run. We appreciate you starting them up.

[@Ur_fav_brunette_Stacy]

The transmission reminds me of the six speed set up in the German Kettenkrad tracked motorcycles from WW2.

[@larryashmore489]

Cheers for preserving these oddities as frustrating as they can be.

[@matthewlaporte6065]

The small tank on top could have been for water injection, to raise the octane rating of cheaper fuels, thus eliminating pre-ignition, or pinging, when the engine is hot. This was common on old kerosene farm engines from the same era.

[@wildman510]

Yeah, that line seems to go to the intake manifold so that's entirely possible

[@MrWmburr7]

Wow, an honest to goodness one-of-a-kind homebrew bike! Thanks for showing it to us.

[@Mr4306sl]

As a young boy in Oklahoma in the 60's used to watch a group of these as a club. Some were Cushman, but I remember a few were very customized. My dad knew them and was amazed by their creativity. They were all very loud! And fast.

[@redeye9140]

Takes a brave man to kick that on camera, lol

[@14theroad1955]

Extremely unusual, I would have loved to have seen this machine being riden and put through its paces..The shifting mechanism is to me the most interesting...

[@tronixfix]

But please on a dyno… don’t wanna see that creation getting wrecked

[@jaycreate7701]

@@tronixfix *learns about every nanometer on how it works before riding* "I think I can handle repairs"

[@tronixfix]

@@jaycreate7701 not if a drunk redneck hits you in a F250 at 80mph while you pull out the deiveway. There’s nothing left after, neiter of you or the bike.

[@tronixfix]

@@jaycreate7701 can you see my answere besides this text?… it looks like answeres r getting deleted on my phone 🤔

[@jaycreate7701]

@@tronixfix if you mean the text after ellipsis points then yes

[@siamsasean]

First thing I thought of when you started it was something my dad used to say, "It's all out in front of God and everyone." Way kewl wheels. I like that he combined a 40 year old engine with cutting edge tranny and other parts.

[@joshschneider9766]

Quad sprung front end is sick as well as the gearsets. Bellisima. Simply magnificent. Ole Arthur deserves this sliver of immortality. Quite a marvel indeed.

[@DeadlyBliss13]

That’s seriously really cool. Some of the home made items made back when are so sweet. You don’t see much of this kind of thing rolling out of the shop now a days.

[@haroldwilkes598]

When you buy the mystery crate at a junkyard auction and a kilo of grass, this happens.

[@Guds777]

That video is a Diamond in the Rough, which KZbin can by at times. Thank you very very much good sir...

[@SickGirlRocks]

Why would anyone thumbs down this??!!!! Love you guys can’t wait for you to be able to be back open

[@solvox5217]

Love kickstarts.theres something special about using your own force to get a machine going

[@nolanmccann9062]

Back in the day trucks had a set of sticks usually a 6 and a 4.You went through 6 gears 4 times. Never drove them but it was cool to watch the driver shift them.

[@maxsands3861]

I drove a cement mixer with one, you could skip A LOT of gears empty but not so much with ten yards of mud in the barrel.

[@desertblbuesman]

"Down the road faster than you want to". Well said

[@rdhudon7469]

I like the way you explain things in detail so even us laymen can understand . I think this bike couldn't be in better hands .

[@barryervin8536]

Harley could put this into production next year to try to hold onto their dwindling market. They could call it the Low Power Boy Springer Heritage Glide and charge $40,000 for it. Maybe $45,000 with the optional atmospheric intake valve

[@chuckduzzie8529]

One comment. Your camera person does a great job. The panning is always smooth, he always stays with you and what you want us to see. 👍

[@grammyhall53]

old motorcycle guys like me really do appreciate your channel,been riding since the early 60's.

[@dmo7815]

1969 bought a 1953 Harley Hydra Glide ( 50 year anniversary) $350. , add oil ,charge the battery good to go . Rode it to high school. I weighed 120 lb. . After the military 71-74 I rode a 1960 pan head chopper visiting my old Army buddies for several years . With my Army buddy we rode from San Francisco to LA , 400 miles down HW 1 ,, took us 4 days. Playing with the Hippie Chiks drinking wine on the beaches camping in the foot hills.

[@Colstah]

Extraordinary. Thanks for your work, showing us these machines, especially seeing them working.

[@MrPEPPERZZ4]

Its cool to see you coming up in my feed. Enjoy your winter. Hoping to get down your way again this spring

[@copykatmoto6548]

Already learned something in your last video. You just gained another fan, I love these old bike and the history they carry.

[@noname-jr1vo]

"Why would somebody build this?" You have no idea how many times I've said that about some of the custom choppers and baggers I've encountered throughout my life. 😆

[@frankjessee9331]

Wow that's amazing! Absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing it & your knowledge!

[@randysampsell3257]

You guys have some of the coolest bikes i have seen in my life. Soon me and the wife will be coming to see them in person that is if Covid allows us too. Keep doing what your doing love you guys . God bless

[@acgrand2553]

I love that machine. That cacophony of sound is amazing bet it was real fun to ride that around and get the looks from people over it especially in the 1950's.....

[@vintagesawyer6246]

Thanks for the tour! When you said "chek this out Steve" for a second I thought you were talkin to me. Guther is a guy who lived out his dreams!

[@joshjablonicky171]

What would love to see those who get that bike running. He's going to have the most amazing memories with his father.

[@paolobuffa6889]

Strange vehicle, it resembles an ante litteram scooter, weighs like a car and has the sound of a Harley-Davidson. The cylinder head just under the tank and close to the driver's body, to live dangerously. Fantastic exercise in style. Thanks for showing it to us.

[@matthewf1979]

That fuel dripper was probably used to aid frigid starts. Like an affixed, refillable can of starting fluid. I can’t imagine there being any performance gains.

[@gwick358]

Beautiful. Two kicks you guys are masters.

[@JohnMcClain-p9t]

That is probably the most incredible motorcycle I've ever seen. He'd be happy to know it's still running.

[@donnstambaugh1506]

As a host you have gotten a ton better as the summers went along. Great job.

[@fxopl6041]

watching this makes me feel proud of humanity in a way

[@mikel6989]

I wanna see it moving under its own power, see it shifting would be cool. How fast does it top out at?

[@thelostboys1968]

Well done arthur n well done guys for keeping his existance worth it ... a true pioneer in self engineered fabrication

[@bensnide5846]

Amazing, keep up the great work and thanks for keeping the knowledge alive.

[@timcarter1164]

The throttle control linkage on the handlebar, is worth the price of admission alone. That little thing, is an engineering Marvel and Masterpiece. Clearly Steampunk, years before anybody had even thought of Steampunk.

[@jdtwk123]

I always called this thing "The Tugboat" when I saw it in the museum:). Very cool!

[@markallen6543]

Looks like a souped up Cushman scooter. I love it.

[@santanaduran9702]

Want sum koosh man

[@PortCharmers]

Interesting how the intake cam is not yet part of the engine "core", but rather a bolted-on afterthought.

[@rustedratchetgarage6788]

I'm going to watch the 2-minute 54-second mark like a million times and recreate that awesome throttle

[@MarkLoves2Fly]

Pretty cool! I'm happy it still runs!

[@geoffreyjones2000]

I thought that it was a modded Cushmn

[@joshdfox420]

Lol me too..definitely looks like he went for the scooter type look..not sure why but I guess there are tons of scooter obsessed people who have a thing for them. But he'll I couldn't make that so what do I know! Lol

[@clarkbabin9799]

Me too

[@dukecraig2402]

I would say it probably is a heavily modded Cushman despite the narrative, give it another 60 years and people will say the engine was built from scratch to. And I'll bet the "Direct injection" feature is all about starting it in the cold Michigan winters, I'm sure that's to get some gas directly into the intake port to eliminate having to prime kick it multiple times in cold weather, especially with yesteryear's straight weight oils, believe me I ran a kick start only Troublehead in Pennsylvania winters for years and without multi weight oils the engine stops dead the moment the kick mechanism disengages, even with straight #30W, it takes #15W/40 to start one below freezing, there's no way you could turn that system on while the engine is running and warmed up it'd definitely flood it out, without some sort of boost system or something like that you can't just dump gas into an engine with a carb, it's already jetted to run on a particular amount of gas that's mixed with the amount of incoming air.

[@joshdfox420]

@@dukecraig2402 hah your right that soon people will say/think a 1974 Firebird was "built from.scratch".at least from the insane behaviors,over all ignorance, and lack of critical thinking being displayed by current young people..even some.older people..

[@GreatMotorcyleridesWashington]

wow. that is incredibly cool. love the homespun engineering.

[@m-roddr.funtimes3144]

Wow!!! Unreal. Thanks for sharing!

[@WaylanEE]

Nice work all of you. The camera guy is awesome.

[@angiefav1847]

Thanks for your loved of motorcycles great history and machines cheers

[@joeboyko2138]

Great video...The rigid swing arm is unique, as is the whole bike. Oh...Why would someone build this?? Because, Arthur Gunther could.

[@Motorhead-y3]

I LOVE everything about that Bike !!!

[@SanguisNeveck]

Holy crap! It sounds like a monster! I love it!!!!!!

[@joezednick3197]

Another great video,,,,I'm in quarantine, so I really look forward to them! Ocala Fl

[@aishayana4298]

Matt, that bike is absolutely crazy. What a funky bike, looks like a mini bike.

[@41BeachComber]

Very neat to see history. I've never ever heard of that person or that early cycle.

[@dhess140]

Good memories with dad. I love hearing about it.

[@teddybear9029]

What a wonderful machine!

[@ModernNeandertal]

Something about that bike really speaks to me. Guy that built it was a mechanical savant.

[@owenbrau63]

He spent so much time on whether he could do it, he never thought about whether he should do it.

[@joeldawson442]

Appreciate the solo genius effort with the trans.

[@adamdorris4081]

If the dude can vulcanize rubber for the tires and weld the rims together, I totally give props to the guy!

[@danoweston6185]

Thanks so much for your videos! Very informative and fun!

[@Srennoc]

I have to come to see this collection in person ! Amazing!

[@garydean0308]

Dale's Harley Davidson, Mt Vernon, IL. Love that sign. I've been there.

[@HeatherSpoonheim]

Wow, looks like the motorbike I drew in grade 3!

[@joshuastelter8074]

What an impressive piece of machinery

[@Hillcapper1]

Function over form, you have to be impressed with the mechanical genius involved in this.

[@rustyaxelrod]

Amazing piece of motorcycle history!

[@norbertzoltanszentivanyi-m8105]

Why do some people NOT like this video? How come...? What I think is this: Each and every piece of automotive history should be worth repairing and restoring. These items show us the mental greatness with which we could actually develop into the level that we have today. I am Hungarian, and in my country the communist regime after World War 2 basically demolished everything that was not related to the communists, including automotive achievements, designs, buildings etc...I really know what it is like looking at a photograph of a national (prototype) bike, knowing that ALL its component were intentionally destroyed and melted somewhere at a metal factory. So sad. And don't forget those innovators who created something great in their shad in their backyard... some made it great, some not unfortunately (just let me remind you of the great late Mr. John Britten, may he rest in peace!) So guys, keep up the good work, cheers and Great Like y'all!

[@acr21957]

I'm amazed every video I see with such unique machines

[@bartjacobs3394]

I love seeing these old bikes they are awesome as hell 👍

[@sw651]

Seeing the pushrod going on the outside I immediately thought of how injury lawyers would love that bike.

[@jackfarrell4727]

Way cool and thank you for the video, love this stuff. And over 30 years ago I saw, in a magazine I think, a giant home made motorcycle. The man made two of them. I saw the bike again on TV. I am having no luck trying to find anything about this bike on the internet. When you see it you will know right away, that is the machine.

[@Xubuntu47]

Whoa, if he could design and build something this sophisticated, what else did this guy build?

[@Spac8]

I'm sure that you know more about it than me, but on such an old engine, could he not have fitted that upper tank as an oiler tank rather than a gasoline tank? Rather than injecting gas into the port, a light engine oil or Marvel Mystery Oil might have been a good upper cylinder lube. Great video by the way, and amazing channel. Thank you. :)

[@immrnoidall]

If that is not art .nothing is. truly amazing work.

[@1pcfred]

Arthur Gunther had to be a blood relation of Rube Goldberg. That bike he built is awesome!

[@gilliantill1214]

He did it with time and love !!

[@TheNextGoogification]

Hey Matt you have twice the number of front springs that you need. It has two assemblies for the front spring mechanism, all you need is one. I'm going to be building a custom chopper electric bicycle with a Springer, perhaps you want to get involved? Mine will have a tow in design, to keep the bicycle geometry more or less where it should be.

[@MegaAndroyd]

That kick-start is terrifying.

[@Wooley689]

Yes. Many bike from this era had that fan style kicker though.

[@brucehart4627]

I like that. The push rod operated valve really ramped up their power to a huge 4 horsepower

[@edwardchance2543]

That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen thanks so much for sharing subscribed, I absolutely love this bike

[@feellucky271]

A beautiful machine. I has a '54 Harley Hummer 3 speed parade bike. Looked like a small Sportster. Great show man.Thanks.

[@paulbennell3313]

Brilliantly insane! You could upstage absolutely anyone or anything with a bike like that!

[@lawrenceklein4918]

This channel is SO COOL! Great work!!

[@iant720]

I love it. 100% raw engineering proof of concept. Too bad he never made a 2nd more refined version.

[@mrsaizo0000]

Why someone would build that? Why not? If Da Vinci would make a motorcycle - this would be it. A piece of art.

[@rossbryan6102]

WOW !!! A SCOOTER THAT IS TOTALLY BAD-ASSED CLASS!!!

[@chloedevereaux1801]

4HP.... lol pretty much the same as " modern " hardly driveables today then :D

[@sammolloy1]

This explains the Turboglide and the Roto-Hydramatic. He was insane.

[@markmartin5248]

Wonderful, Thank you.