Highway 50, just outside of Great Basin National Park
You might not know, but there are 59 national parks and 4,092,729 miles of roads in the United States.
All the roads in Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, and France combined would not equal the length of America’s roadways.
Believe it or not, there was a time in our not-so-distant past when there were no paved roads bridging the gap between civilization and the North American wilderness. The earliest Harley-Davidson motorcycles had the same suspensions as bicycles of the time: none at all. The roads were a hodgepodge of dirt, stone, and other materials. Bumps were everywhere! Harley-Davidson’s weren’t necessarily the fastest bikes on the market, but they were built with reliability in mind and were among the first truly heavy duty motorcycles in the world that could be relied on for safe running over the atrocious roads of the day.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Valve Side
The transformational American road-trip essentially became touring wide-open spaces from the saddle of a motorcycle.
In last months posts, I touched on a collection of classic motorcycles in the northwest and provided tribute to an inspirational man (Bob) with a genuine love of wrenching motorcycles. I also illuminated his first restoration in the collection — a 1937 Harley-Davidson Model U-Series Flathead.
In this post, I’m plunging head first into another motorcycle in the collection, a Harley-Davidson 1913 Model 9-B Single. It was already Harley-Davidson’s 10th anniversary when this bike originally rolled onto the showroom floor. From their humble beginning and that first bike built in their 10′ x 15′ shed, they had overcome the competition to produce over 1,000 motorcycles in 1909 to almost 17,000 bikes in 1913.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Transmission Side
According to an advert for the 1913 Chicago Motorcycle Show, Harley-Davidson states (page 10) that they sold out their entire manufacturing output in 12.5 weeks! Clearly, the Milwaukee motor company had grown past the “motorized bicycle for fishing trips” into planning motorcycles for large volume production.
Postured affectionately in the corner of the vintage collection showroom, you’ll want to gaze at this motorcycle for hours, and each time notice something new. A small hand-turned screw on a throttle linkage, a one-off brass cam on the carburetor body, a perfectly machined castellated nut on the rear hub that firmly holds the pedal sprocket – a few indicators of its origins as a commercial motorcycle. All of these details amaze and remind me of just what this bike was built to do – both by its original designers and by its inherited restorer.
1913 Model 9-B Single — Valve Side Close-up
It was interesting to learn that Bob’s motorcycles were never chosen for specific “provenance” or heritage — the range of manufactures in the collection represent personal tastes as well as unique expressions — beauty, performance, functionality and style that resonated with him through the years.
This 1913 Model 9-B single originally sold for $250.00 at the factory in Milwaukee and it took Bob more than 15 years to fully restore. It’s the oldest motorcycle in the collection, and was one of Bob’s top-three favorites, but not the rarest or most collectible in the world.
Restoring a Milwaukee icon is no easy task, but with Bob’s guiding hands this motorcycle showcases exceptional restoration craftsmanship, pristine attention to detail, and along with some unique history it might well mean that it is destined to be in a museum some day.
1913 Model 9-B Single — Transmission Side Close-up
The condition of this single-cylinder, four-cycle, air-cooled model is truly immaculate and a bill-board poster of simplicity. It’s also the foundation of what generated the Milwaukee motor company mystique. The motorcycle features a 35 cu in (565cc) motor with a nominal 5 HP, an overall weight of 235 pounds, a 2-gallon fuel tank, a 3.5 quart oil tank, and a Bosch magneto placed behind the motor to keep out road grit.
For the 1913 model year, the Harley single was updated with the mechanically operated inlet valve (replacing the ‘atmospheric’ type), which was developed first for the twin cylinder models, and at the same time boasted a balanced bottom-end, alloy piston and improved carburetor. The stroke was increased to 4 inches as compared to 3.5 inches of the former model. The wheel-base on the singles were 1 inch shorter than the twins.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Front Fort Close-up
Harley-Davidson also made a small change to the form of the clutch lever operating the “free wheel” in 1913. On the flat belt models a guard was mounted. These motorcycles were popularly known as the ‘5-35’ (5 horsepower, 35 ci displacement). The 9-B single was available in belt and chain-driven versions while ease of use was considerably enhanced by the adoption of the rear hub clutch first seen on the twin cylinder. As the twin’s popularity grew, the single declined, accounting for only 4% of sales in 1917 and production of the Harley-Davidson ‘5-35’ ceased in 1918.
The gray color paint on the restored motorcycle includes a bold striping scheme, which complements the original manufacturing process of taking great care during the enameling procedure with three hand rubbed coats of paint followed by a protective varnish.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Transmission Side
Manufacturing the Model 9-B single made up the majority of the company’s production in the early years. By 1912, all Harley-Davidson’s had gained mechanical inlet valves and all-chain drive, but this restored model, included the belt option, which was offered for several years. Both singles and V-twins had single-speed transmissions with a robust rear hub clutch operated by a tank-side lever, and their new mechanical inlet valve meant more power and higher revs were possible. The valve side has a pedal-and-chain drive. With the rear wheel raised up by the stand and with the clutch engaged, the pedals are used to crank the motor. The brake is engaged by a slight backward pressure on the pedals.
The rider sits on a leather brown saddle, mounted with a central, sprung pillar sliding with the frame’s vertical saddle tube, which was positively located by an articulated lever pivoting from the top frame, just ahead of the saddle nose.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Top Looking Down at Valve Side
Harley-Davidson called this the “Full-Floteing” seat—a riders comfort not-with-standing accurate spelling—as the system should be quite familiar to any Duo-Glide owner. The oil tank hid with the tool box. While the engine’s drip oil feed was “automatic,” any hard riding owner could give a visible shot of fresh lubricant from a tank-top hand pump.
The 1913 motorcycle frame was reportedly stronger than the previous year models and provided better handling, while the new vertical fins atop the cylinder head allowed the engine to run cooler.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Transmission Side
As mentioned earlier, the Bosch magneto was placed behind the motor to prevent collection of road grim, and proved to be a reliable instrument, making the machine easy to start via its bicycle pedals on the stand or off the stand using the valve lifer to take off. The motorcycle has 28 X 2.5 tires with an Eclipse Knockout front hub that allows the tire removal by taking only one nut off. The brakes are “coaster type” on the rear wheel like today’s simple pedal bikes.
In the late summer of 1913, a new board track was opened in Milwaukee, right in Harley’s back yard. The company’s professional race abstinence came to an end as Harley-Davidson change its corporate mind and the Racing Department was formed, with William Ottaway as its first Assistant Engineer to racing engineer William S. Harley.
1913 Harley-Davidson Advert — Courtesy of Motorcycle Illustrated and Google Books
The Harley twins pulled ahead of Indians and would dominate motorcycle racing in 1914. The Racing Department was referred to informally as the “Wrecking Crew.” However, one of the racers acquired a pet piglet, which was quickly adopted as the team’s mascot, and helped popularize the nickname ‘the Harley Hogs’ due to the race team carrying the team’s mascot around on the motorcycle fuel tank during victory laps.
The 9-B single is truly a peppy machine and can be ridden all day long at 40-45 MPH, as proven in the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run, where a 1914 single-cylinder Harley-Davidson won the 2018 event with a steady, thumping pace.
This 1913 Model 9-B was a frame-off full restoration which Bob completed in the 1980’s. Parts were sourced as needed from various swap meets, nickel ads, flea markets, yard sales, and scanning newspapers to find an elusive part! There was no Dubya, Dubya, Dubya (i.e. Internet) in those days. Most of us will never know the feeling of satisfaction derived from unearthing the perfect part at a swap meet and haggling its price down to a bargain.
1913 Harley-Davidson Model 9-B Single — Transmission Side
During the course of multiple interviews, I ask if anyone knew why Bob was so fervent about recruiting parts from swap meets. It turns out that Bob and his wife loved to travel. And, in the course of seeing America from a motorcycle, he recruited ever more vintage enthusiasts to help him find and locate parts for motorcycles he had in the restoration queue.
Those early days began the tradition of keeping motorcycles running and riding as much as possible. It was called “self-assemble.” Buying a complete front end may wipe-out your budget, but if one guy has a set of tubes for $40, and you remember seeing a triple tree on that table over by the Port-A-Potty, and you manage to negotiate a wheel and axle for $35… well, you are most of the way to having a front end cheaper than buying a complete unit — if it existed! The rides and swap meet experiences were some of the best and fun times for Bob and his wife.
This is one of the finest restorations of an early Harley-Davidson model anywhere!
Previous posts on this vintage collection:
Vintage Restorations Uncovered In The Northwest
A Northwest Collection Gem – The 1937 Flathead
Photos taken by author. The black & white Motorcycle Illustrated advert courtesy of Harley-Davidson and Google Books.
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