Early 1900's HD shop in Stockton

[bikeama]

Saw this great picture on FB

Elaine Burke
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Here's a photo of my great grandfather's bike / motorbike shop at 531 E. Market St in Stockton, CA. I'm guessing this is sometime between 1906 and 1912, but I'm having a hard time pinning it down. Those are very early model Harley-Davidson motorcycles in front of his shop. The time estimate is based on those bikes, those look like the model first produced in 1906. This would make him one of the first Harley-Davidson dealers on the west coast. Probably not 1906, the company didn't expand to dealerships until a few years after that. That is great grandpa in the center, my estimate would make him between 19 and 25 years old.

[budman]

Cool find Bill.

Love that historical stuff.

[1962siia]

That is cool. Did the handle bars come off of those bikes? Looks like the bars aren’t attached but are just hanging between the tank and steering stem.

[SFMCjohn]

Originally Posted by budman

Cool find Bill.

Love that historical stuff.

Originally Posted by 1962siia

That is cool. Did the handle bars come off of those bikes? Looks like the bars aren’t attached but are just hanging between the tank and steering stem.

+1, so fun to see Stockton ... E. Market Street looks unpaved?

bikes are 1912 Harley-Davidson 8A "Silent Grey Fellow"s, maybe, fresh off the boat or boxcar? seats also still un-mounted, in addition to the bars ...



the cover with the four circles is for the magnito gear chest ... the 1912 was the last model with that feature, I think ... pics of a 1909 have the top two circles sort of Siamised, and reading H-D made a lot of 1912s, so that’s my guess ...

edit: OK, I’m wrong, not 1912s ... look at the back of the tank, the 1912 was the first model where the back of the tank angled down to the seatpost, so the bikes in Bill’s pic are 1909-1911 ... maybe.

[SFMCjohn]

here’s a 1911 Harley-Davidson Model 7A:



and a Facebook link to a pic of a 1909 ...

[1962siia]

Front fenders in the Stockton pic look like the 1911 model above. The bike on the far left has what looks like a tool box or case right behind the seat post tube. I dont see it on other ones. May need to geek out on the google later.

[bikeama]

Originally Posted by 1962siia

That is cool. Did the handle bars come off of those bikes? Looks like the bars aren’t attached but are just hanging between the tank and steering stem.

Look to the right, the bikes were just uncrated. Bars and the seats still need to be installed. Can you imagine what those 9 bikes would be worth now?

[1962siia]

No I can’t. Really cool stuff. So I haven’t been able to figure out the difference between the one on the left and the others but that little box seems to hold wiring and there is a large coil on the down tube of that bike. Thanks for posting the pic! I wonder what dealer cost and mark up was in 1911.

So looks like the one on the left is a model 7 and the others are model 7a.

[SFMCjohn]

Originally Posted by 1962siia

Front fenders in the Stockton pic look like the 1911 model above. The bike on the far left has what looks like a tool box or case right behind the seat post tube. I dont see it on other ones. May need to geek out on the google later.

good call on the fenders ...

Originally Posted by 1962siia

No I can’t. Really cool stuff. So I haven’t been able to figure out the difference between the one on the left and the others but that little box seems to hold wiring and there is a large coil on the down tube of that bike. Thanks for posting the pic! I wonder what dealer cost and mark up was in 1911.

So looks like the one on the left is a model 7 and the others are model 7a.

is the toolbox the difference between 7 and 7A?

something going on with the one on the left, can’t understand why we can’t see the magnito cover ... thought it might be the twin (7D), but that has the same magnito cover ...

anyway, fun stuff ...

[bikeama]

One of the local motorcycle restorers in Stockton commented on the small box. From the FB link "found on the battery ignition models only."

[CDONA]

Looks like 4 on end crates to the right, next to the hardware store.
Definitely unpacking.

[SFMCjohn]

Originally Posted by bikeama

One of the local motorcycle restorers in Stockton commented on the small box. From the FB link "found on the battery ignition models only."

boom, there we go ... lack of magneto cover explained, wolf-style!

[SFMCjohn]

[1962siia]

My buddy built a few of these a couple years back. Super fun to scoot around on. This one lives in a pizza place in Berkeley.

[budman]