“Agricultural, weird, old, stinky. Yeah, but it’s really cool.” They just don’t build them like they used to, and that’s probably with good reason. If you’re looking for a bike with a certain hard edged feel, a unique flavor, and difficult-to-ride-factor there’s probably not much cooler, unique, or difficult to ride out there than a 100-year-old Harley. Unlike many cars from the 1920s, a motorcycle from that era is actually still pretty useable a hundred years later. So what does a bike from 100 years ago have that a modern bike doesn’t?
The old-school Model J is kind of the bike that tells the Harley-Davidson story the best. This is pure Americana in its best form, back when this country’s engineers were developing some of the best machines on the planet. The fact that an old Harley can keep up with modern traffic and ride on modern roads, even without modern conveniences like pressurized oiling, fuel injection, blinkers or a front brake is seriously impressive.
Look, is it easy to ride or comfortable? Absolutely not. However, you’ll look way cooler on this 100-year-old machine with its counterintuitive hand-shifting and foot-clutching. Nobody can call you a squid when you’re running something like this on the daily. Perhaps the best use of this bike would be running dirt roads all day, because that’s the kind of infrastructure this bike was built to handle ten decades ago.
If you’re the kind of person who wants to daily ride a 1924 Harley-Davidson Model J, you’re built of tougher stuff than even I am. Of course it’ll probably cost you a fortune in oil, and you’ll have to get really good at roadside repairs. But that’s just part of the fun.
