Harley first used it in a single cylinder version. The Harley 45 flathead engine was left pretty much unchanged throughout it's 41-year production run. While the flathead Big Twins remained popular into the 1940s, production ceased on virtually all civilian models when war broke out so that Harley-Davidson could focus its production on the smaller 45-cubic-inch WLA used by the U.S. armed forces throughout World War II. Harley-Davidson's emerging models: HD's first electric motorcycle the LiveWire, the Pan America Adventure bike, the Ducati fighting StreetFighter … In 1936, Harley-Davidson introduces the EL model which had a 61cc engine and was later nicknamed Knucklehead and used a year later (1937) by Joe Petrali to set a new land speed record of 136.183 mph. In 1929 they came out with their first flathead v-twin , a 45 cubic inch. The Cleveland Motorcycle Manufacturing Company produced … Inside the rear of the engine cases housed a "unit" four-speed transmission. The last of the Harley flatheads, the "K" had a brief lifespan, but a great legacy. Servi-car 45 motors from 1966 and later came with a car-style alternator which was externally driven by a belt. 1937 wl chassis flathead side valve 45" antique original harley pick up only View more great items 1937 WL Chassis45" Models Frozen Engine & Seized Forward Controls 200000 Miles US, New York, Orange County, Newburgh Newburgh, NY 3 years at ebay.com Harley-Davidson was slow to capitalize on this demand, finally introducing the Sportster XR-1000 street bike for the 1983 model year, 13 years after the XR-750 racer. In the 1975 film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Eddie (played by singer Meatloaf) rides out of the deep freeze of Dr. Frank-N-Furter's lair on a Harley-Davidson WLA. In number 361-1722, the number 3 will probably indicate a round top case. ... Motorcycle Fuel Main Jets Jets for Harley-Davidson, Horsepower Motorcycle Fuel Injectors & Main Jets for Harley-Davidson, A bore and stroke of 2.75" x 3.18" made 742cc, advertised as 750cc, which is also 45 cubic-inches. [9] The official horsepower was never published, but estimates for the early 1972 engines were in the high 70–79 hp (52–59 kW) range, increasing to an estimated 100 hp (75 kW) or more by 2008. Produced from 1941 through 1945, the WLA engine had serial numbers beginning with 42WLAxxxxx. An important moment in Harley history comes in 1929 when the 45 cubic inch V-twin engine (also known as flathead) is made available on the D model. Auto-advance doesn't make an engine run any better, it just makes it easier to operate. The advantage of a flathead was simplicity -- no pushrods or rocker arms, and the head was a simple casting with a hole in it for the spark plug. Factory bore, stroke, pistons, and rods were the same for all years of Harley 45 motors. The second and third digit is the year (1961), and will probably be stamped in a closed-top letter style with a short horizontal stroke across the top. There were several different configurations of 42 WLA's during those years. Since 1957 this baby Harley has had many names but it still holds true to its roots be it Cafe or full custom 4 cams is the way to go! Flathead designs have been used on a number of early pre-war motorcycles, in particular US V-twins such as Harley-Davidson and Indian, some British singles, BMW flat twins and Russian copies thereof. ", Golf Coast Newspaper, October 2008, "Bartels' XLR 1200; Mile racer for the street", "America on the Move | Evel Knievel jacket and motorcycle", "A Harley lands in America, by way of Europe", "Backwater Bubba Leaps for Leno, Knieve's Marks", "Doug Danger Breaks Knievel's Record Daredevil jumps 22 cars at Sturgis, on Evel Knievel's 1972 Harley XR750! The 1942 Harley-Davidson Model WLA and all other motorcycles made 1894-2021. The overstressed engine did not last long, but held together long enough to win the AMA hillclimb championship. The H-D Night Rod Special exhaust has dual Harley mufflers with black end caps. home You modified your Harley-Davidson 45-inch Flathead to fit a Sportster top end to add more horsepower to wake up the engine while still being able to fit it into the tight confines of a rigid chassis. The new overhead-valve motor, fitting neatly under the gas tank, sported twin cylinder jugs sitting 45 degrees apart, topped off with a pair of cast-iron cylinder heads. [9] On the top center of the fuel tank was a leather pad with a round cutout for the left-side fuel filler cap. [9], Unlike the dirt tracker, it came with brakes: a rear disc brake, and in front, a Fontana four leading shoe drum brake,[9] which is two twin leading drum brakes paired side by side in two drums. The engine is a two-cylinder, 45 degree, pushrod actuated overhead valve V-twin engine with two valves per cylinder. Harley-Davidson Flatheads 1929-1974. The Harley-Davidson XR-750 is a racing motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson since 1970, primarily for dirt track racing, but also for road racing in the XRTT variant. Front: 3 in × 18 in (76 mm × 457 mm), This page was last edited on 16 December 2020, at 12:10. An XR-750 was included in the 1998 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition, and one of Knievel's bikes is in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History America on the Move exhibit. [10] Costing nearly twice the price of a base model Sportster XL, the XR-1000 sold poorly and many performance enthusiasts simply bought an XL and upgraded the heads, carburetors and exhaust themselves at significantly less total cost. Named for its flat-topped, vented cylinder heads, the side valve-equipped 45 cubic inch flathead engine debuted in 1929, and the 74 cubic inch V model Big Twin came out in 1930. The U.S. Army specified a slightly lower compression ratio than standard WL's, allowing them to run on low quality fuel. The XR-1000 used XR-750 heads, but kept the Sportster engine, frame and other equipment. The Evolution engine on Harley's 1200 models has a bore of 3.5 inches and a stoke of 3.8 inches. This one quietly awaits its turn on the lift. Magnetos work well at higher speeds but produce weaker spark at low RPMs. The newer flathead cyclone motors do have some advantages. It was only one of two American motorcycle brands to make it past the Great Depression. [8] The public was buying 650 cc (40 cu in) and larger displacement British bikes, and they would prove to be competitive, given the chance. It produced 7 horsepower with a displacement of 49.5 cubic inches. From the seller. The Panhead E and EL engines had displacement of 61 cubic inches and generated 8.77 horsepower. Prior to the failed practice jump, Knievel jumped either cars or trucks (or a combination of the two) on the XR-750. Custom bike builders favor the latter because it's visually cleaner; removing the spark control grip and cable unclutters the handlebar area. Named for its flat-topped, vented cylinder heads, the side valve-equipped 45 cubic inch flathead engine debuted in 1929, and the 74 cubic inch V model Big Twin came out in 1930. It was powered by the Flathead WL 45 V-twin – the engine that would be the backbone of the company’s lineup, and would also power the iconic Harley-Davidson WLA that was used extensively by the US Army during the Second World War. Until the Sportster surpassed it in 1998, it was Harley-Davidson's longest running engine in production. Read: Early Sportster 1957-1966 The Sportster bottom end was nearly the same as the Harley K-Series flathead motor. The long-serving Sportster first appeared with that name in 1957 with overhead valves, but that bike was an evolution of the flathead powered Model K from 1952. 1965 Ford Mustang 302ci V8 - 425 Horsepower - 5 Speed Manual Transmission - Custom Orange Over Black Interior - Front and Rear Disc... More Add to Favorites More With hose and attachments. It was the third basic type of V-Twin engine used by Harley-Davidson, replacing the Flathead-engined VL model in 1936 as HD's top-of-the-line model. By 1937, all Harley-Davidson flathead engines were equipped with dry-sump oil recirculation systems similar to the one introduced in the "Knucklehead" OHV engine. The weapon of choice was the KR750, and this 1954 Harley Davidson Flathead offered on eBay now can deliver the buyer back to those bar banging days. STOCK HARLEY FLATHEAD WL WLA WR G NOS TRANSMISSION SHIFT CAM FOR 1941-1946 45″. If you think you’ve got the best of Harley-Davidson in the 22-horsepower flathead, or the 45-horsepower knucklehead, or the 55-horsepower Panhead, or the 60-horsepower shovel engines, or even the 70-horsepower evolution engines, then you have not tasted the new life Harley Davidson has brought. $28.99. Before kick-starting the engine, the rider twisted the cable-activated left grip outward, moving the ignition timer outward. The flathead (also called a side valve) engine design has been around for many years. The letters (up to four) are the model code. From 1953 to 1969, Harley-Davidson manufactured the KR750, the backbone of American dirt track racing. The other was Indian. There are two types of generators found on Harley-Davidson 45 flatheads. Why, build a “45 Magnum” of course! ", "7 Monumental Moments of the 75th Sturgis Rally", "1972 Harley-Davidson XR750; Mark Brelsford's racer", "1974 Harley-Davidson XR750 Dirt-Tracker; One bike, two champions", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harley-Davidson_XR-750&oldid=994571735, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 76 mm × 81 mm (3.0 in × 3.2 in) (1970 iron head), Triple chain primary, 4-speed, chain final drive, Spoked wheels, aluminum rims. Harley Davidson is probably the most well-known name in motorcycles. You can use these parts to increase horsepower, to boost speed, or to enhance torque. [8] These iron head XR-750s of 1970–71 were prone to overheating (humorously called "waffle irons") as well as having insufficient power. I finally had it restored in 1996 by former pro dirt-track tuner Jimmy Nichols at Star Cycle here inTucson.   |   privacy policy [9], Riders on XR-750s have won 29 of the 37 AMA Grand National Championships from 1972 to 2008 inclusive. He flipped end-over-end when he missed the landing, nearly died and was in a coma for months. The image of two cylinders in a 45-degree configuration would fast become one of the most enduring icons of Harley-Davidson history 1948 Harley Davidson WL Time to build: One year. Stamped in the left engine case, the serial (VIN) number starts with the last two digits of the year, followed by the letter designation, then a 4 or 5 digit assembly sequence code. [10] While the single camshaft of other Harley-Davidson designs was cheaper to manufacture, and quieter, four cams allowed better performance, such as greater flexibility in adjusting the cam timing, and the short single camshafts are durable, and give the pushrods a straighter path to the rocker arms. [8][9] To comply with AMA homologation rules, two hundred examples were made and could be had upon request at Harley-Davidson dealers, at a price of US$3,200, which today with inflation would be about US$ 21,067. It was too large to be legal, so a modified version was created using the same basic upper end parts (iron heads and cylinders) but with a drastically shorter stroke and shorter connecting rods to reduce the displacement to the 750 cc (46 cu in) legal limit. The United States Army was buying some Harley motorcycles in 1940, a military version featuring the company's 45 cubic inch (740 cc) engine and designated the WL model. [8] The flathead Harley-Davidson KR series had dominated Class C racing, but by the late 1960s BSA, Norton and Triumph had little market for 500 cc OHV motorcycles, and there was increasing pressure for a single displacement, without reference to valve configuration. The outgoing “ D ” model running engine in production a round top case 19... 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