Harley-Davidson Duo Glide 1956 - FL - FLH - motorcycle photo PHOTOGRAPH

Description

A superb and rare photo of the
1956
Harley-Davidson
FL
Duo Glide
-
Harley-Davidson FLH Duo Glide
, photographed for the publicity campaign of the
model year 1956
.
The
Harley-Davidson FL Duo Glide
and
Harley-Davidson FLH Duo Glide
model series have a very interesting history that start with the introduction of the FL model designation name in 1941. Mostly applied to Harley's large-framed bikes, including the current Touring series and Softail series, the FL was introduced to the Harley-Davidson model line in 1941. It used a 74 cu in (1,210 cc) version of the "Knucklehead" OHV engine that powered the EL in 61 cu in (1,000 cc) form. The FL shared its frame with the EL and with the U and UL, which used a 74 cubic inch flathead engine. The FL replaced the UH and ULH, which used the same frame with 80 cu in (1,300 cc) flathead engines. The FL continued relatively unchanged until 1948, when it and the EL were given redesigned "Panhead" engines of the same capacities as before. These engines had several improvements over the earlier "Knuckleheads", including aluminum cylinder heads to reduce weight and improve cooling and self-adjusting hydraulic lifters. The U and UL flathead twins were discontinued in 1948, leaving the OHV EL and FL models as Harley-Davidson's large-frame motorcycles. The Harley-Davidson Hydra Glide was introduced in
1949. A
year after receiving the "Panhead" engine, the FL was given a new front suspension. And in honor of their first production motorcycle with hydraulically-damped telescopic forks, the FL was officially called the Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide. This name would change twice in the history of the basic large-framed FL bikes, each time signaling an improvement in the bike's technology. In addition, the Glide ending would be used on other models, based on both and FL and FX formats. In 1952, the Hydra-Glide's transmission format was reversed from hand-shift/foot-clutch to foot-shift/hand-clutch, although the original format continued to be offered as an option until 1978. 1952 was also the last year of the 61 cu in (1,000 cc) EL, making the FL the last remaining large-frame model. A more highly-tuned engine with high-compression heads, higher-lift cams, and polished ports, was offered with the FLH version of 1955. The FLH designation has continued up to the present. The FL model was given a new frame in 1958. This frame included a rear swingarm suspended by a pair of coil-over-shock suspension units. In honor of this fully-suspended chassis, the FL's model name was changed from Harley-Davidson Hydra-Glide to
Harley-Davidson Duo-Glide.
(SEE PHOTO!)
Unlike OHV configuration, aluminum heads, and telescopic-fork front suspension, however, this improvement in technology was applied to the small-frame bikes first, the K-series having received rear suspension in 1952.
The
Harley-Davidson Panhead
motorcycle engine was nicknamed like that because of the distinct shape of the valve-rocker covers. The engine is a two-cylinder, two-valve-per-cylinder, pushrod V-twin. The engine replaced the Knucklehead engine in 1948 and was manufactured until 1965 when it was replaced by the shovelhead. As the design of Harley-Davidson engines has evolved through the years, the distinctive shape of the valve covers has allowed Harley enthusiasts to classify an engine simply by looking at the shape of the covers, and the Panhead has covers resembling an upside-down pan. The "Captain
America
" chopper used by Peter Fonda in the movie Easy Rider (1969) had a Panhead engine, as well as the bike ridden by Dennis Hopper's character. Currently, a number of third-party engine manufacturers produce custom Panhead-style engines in a variety of bores, many much larger than the original-design displacements. Each manufacturer includes significant subtle upgrades to the original design to drastically improve the performance and reliability while still providing the original styling and overall engine structure.
Harley-Davidson
has a long and very interesting history that started as early as in 1901. That year, William S. Harley, age 21, drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and four-inch (
102 mm
) flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. Over the next two years Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson labored on their motor-bicycle using the northside
Milwaukee
machine shop at the home of their friend, Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon completion the boys found their power-cycle unable to conquer
Milwaukee
's modest hills without pedal assistance. Will Harley and the Davidsons quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment. Work immediately began on a new and improved second-generation machine. This first "real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle had a bigger engine of 24.74 cubic inches (405 cc) with 9.75 inches (
25 cm
) flywheels weighing
28 lb
(
13 kg
). The machine's advanced loop-frame pattern was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee Merkel motorcycle (designed by Joseph Merkel, later of Flying Merkel fame). The bigger engine and loop-frame design took it out of the motorized-bicycle category and would help define what a modern motorcycle should contain in the years to come. The boys also received help with their bigger engine from outboard motor pioneer Ole Evinrude, who was then building gas engines of his own design for automotive use on
Milwaukee
's
Lake Street
. The prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was assembled in a 10 ft × 15 ft (3.0 m × 4.6 m) shed in the Davidson family backyard. Most of the major parts, however, were made elsewhere, including some probably fabricated at the
West Milwaukee
railshops where oldest brother William A. Davidson was then toolroom foreman. This prototype machine was functional by
September 8, 1904
, when it competed in a
Milwaukee
motorcycle race held at
State
Fair
Park
. It was ridden by Edward Hildebrand and placed fourth. This is the first documented appearance of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the historical record. In January 1905, small advertisements were placed in the "Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal" that offered bare Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April, complete motorcycles were in production on a very limited basis. That year the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Carl H. Lang of
Chicago
, sold three bikes from the dozen or so built in the Davidson backyard shed. (Some years later the original shed was taken to the
Juneau Avenue
factory where it would stand for many decades as a tribute to the Motor Company's humble origins. Unfortunately, the first shed was accidentally destroyed by contractors in the early 1970s during a clean-up of the factory yard.) In 1906, Harley and the Davidsons built their first factory on
Chestnut Street
(later
Juneau Avenue
). This location remains the Motor Company's corporate headquarters today. The first
Juneau Avenue
plant was a 40 by 60-foot (
18 m
) single-story wooden structure. That year around 50 motorcycles were produced. In 1907, William S. Harley graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a degree in mechanical engineering. That year additional factory expansion came with a second floor and later with facings and additions of
Milwaukee
pale yellow ("cream") brick. With the new facilities production increased to 150 motorcycles in 1907. The company was officially incorporated that September. They also began selling their motorcycles to police departments around this time, a market that has been important to them ever since. Production in 1905 and 1906 were all single-cylinder models with 26.84 cubic inches (439.8 cc) engines. In February
1907 a
prototype model with a 45-degree V-Twin engine was displayed at the Chicago Automobile Show. Although shown and advertised, very few V-Twin models were built between 1907 and 1910. These first V-Twins displaced 53.68 cubic inches (879.7 cc) and produced about 7 horsepower (5.2 kW). This gave about double the power of the first singles. Top speed was about
60 mph
(
97 km/h
). Production jumped from 450 motorcycles in 1908 to 1,149 machines in 1909. By 1911, some 150 makes of motorcycles had already been built in the
United States
– although just a handful would survive the 1910s. In 1911, an improved V-Twin model was introduced. The new engine had mechanically operated intake valves, as opposed to the "automatic" intake valves used on earlier V-Twins that opened by engine vacuum. With a displacement of 49.48 cubic inches (810.8 cc), the 1911 V-Twin was smaller than earlier twins, but gave better performance. After 1913 the majority of bikes produced by Harley-Davidson would be V-Twin models. By 1913, the yellow brick factory had been demolished and on the site a new 5-story structure of reinforced concrete and red brick had been built. Begun in 1910, the red brick factory with its many additions would take up two blocks along
Juneau Avenue
and around the corner on
38th Street
. Despite the competition, Harley-Davidson was already pulling ahead of Indian and would dominate motorcycle racing after 1914. Production that year swelled to 16,284 machines. In 1917, the
United States
entered World War I and the military demanded motorcycles for the war effort. Harleys had already been used by the military in the Pancho Villa Expedition but World War I was the first time the motorcycle had been adopted for combat service. Harley-Davidson provided about 15,000 machines to the military forces during World War I. By 1920, Harley-Davidson was not by far the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, though their motorcycles were sold by dealers in 67 countries. Production was 28,189 machines. In
1921, a
Harley-Davidson, ridden by Otto Walker, was the first motorcycle ever in the
USA
to win a race at an average speed of over
100 mph
(
160 km/h
). During the 1920s, several improvements were put in place, such as a new 74 cubic inch (1200cc) V-Twin, introduced in 1922, and the "Teardrop" gas tank in
1925. A
front brake was added in
1928. In
the late summer of 1929, Harley-Davidson introduced its 45 cubic inch flathead V-Twin to compete with the Indian 101 Scout and the Excelsior Super X. This as the "D" model, produced from 1929 to 1931. Riders of Indian motorcycles derisively referred to this model as the "three cylinder Harley" because the generator was upright and parallel to the front cylinder. The 2.745 in (69.7 mm) bore and 3.8125 in (96.8 mm) stroke would continue in most versions of the 750 engine; exceptions include the XA and the XR750. The Great Depression began a few months after the introduction of their 45 cubic inch model. Harley-Davidson's sales plummeted from
21,000 in
1929 to
3,703 in
1933. Despite those dismal numbers, Harley-Davidson proudly unveiled its lineup for 1934, which included a Flathead with art deco styling. In order to survive the remainder of the Depression, the company manufactured industrial powerplants based on their motorcycle engines. They also designed and built a three-wheeled delivery vehicle called the Servi-Car, which remained in production until
1973. In
the mid-'30s, Alfred Rich Child opened a production line in
Japan
with the 74ci VL. The Japanese license-holder severed its business relations with Harley-Davidson in 1936 and continued manufacturing the VL under the Rikuo name. An 80 cubic inch flathead engine was added to the line in 1935, by which time the single-cylinder motorcycles had been discontinued. In 1936, the 61E and 61EL models with the "Knucklehead" OHV engines was introduced. Valvetrain problems in early Knucklehead engines required a redesign halfway through its first year of production and retrofitting of the new valvetrain on earlier engines. By 1937, all Harley-Davidson's flathead engines were equipped with dry-sump oil recirculation systems similar to the one introduced in the "Knucklehead" OHV engine. The revised 74 cubic inch V and VL models were renamed U and UL, the 80 cubic inch VH and VLH to be renamed UH and ULH, and the 45 cubic inch R to be renamed W.
In 1941, the 74 cubic inch "Knucklehead" was introduced as the F and the FL. The 80 cubic inch flathead UH and ULH models were discontinued after 1941, while the 74" U & UL flathead models were produced up to 1948. One of only two American cycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression, Harley-Davidson again produced large numbers of motorcycles for the US Army in World War II and resumed civilian production afterwards, producing a range of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful both on racetracks and for private buyers. Harley-Davidson, on the eve of World War II, was already supplying the Army with a military-specific version of its 45" WL line, called the WLA. (The A in this case stood for "Army".) Upon the outbreak of war, the company, along with most other manufacturing enterprises, shifted to war work. Over 90,000 military motorcycles, mostly WLAs and WLCs (the Canadian version) would be produced, many to be provided to allies. Harley-Davidson received two Army-Navy ‘E’ Awards, one in 1943 and the other in 1945, which were awarded for Excellence in Production. Shipments to the
Soviet Union
under the Lend-Lease program numbered at least 30,000. The WLAs produced during all four years of war production generally have 1942 serial numbers. Production of the WLA stopped at the end of World War II, but was resumed from 1950 to 1952 for use in the Korean War. The U.S. Army also asked Harley-Davidson to produce a new motorcycle with many of the features of BMW's side-valve and shaft-driven R71. Harley largely copied the BMW engine and drive train and produced the shaft-driven 750 cc 1942 H-D XA. This shared no dimensions, no parts and no design concepts (except side valves) with any prior Harley-Davidson engine. Due to the superior cooling of the flat-twin engine with the cylinders across the frame, Harley's XA cylinder heads ran
100 °F
(
56 °C
) cooler than its V-twins. The XA never entered full production: the motorcycle by that time had been eclipsed by the Jeep as the Army's general purpose vehicle, and the WLA—already in production—was sufficient for its limited police, escort, and courier roles. Only 1,000 were made and the XA never went into full production. It remains the only shaft-driven Harley-Davidson ever made. As part of war reparations, Harley-Davidson acquired the design of a small German motorcycle, the DKW RT125 which they adapted, manufactured, and sold from 1947 to 1966. Various models were made, including the Hummer from 1955 to 1959, but they are all colloquially referred to as "Hummers" at present. BSA in the
United Kingdom
took the same design as the foundation of their BSA Bantam. In 1960, Harley-Davidson consolidated the Model 165 and Hummer lines into the Super-10, introduced the Topper scooter, and bought fifty percent of Aeronautica Macchi's motorcycle division. Importation of Aermacchi's 250 cc horizontal single began the following year. The bike bore Harley-Davidson badges and was marketed as the Harley-Davidson Sprint. The engine of the Sprint was increased to 350 cc in 1969 and would remain that size until 1974, when the four-stroke Sprint was discontinued. After the Pacer and Scat models were discontinued at the end of 1965, the Bobcat became the last of Harley-Davidson's American-made two-stroke motorcycles. The Bobcat was manufactured only in the 1966 model year. Harley-Davidson replaced their American-made lightweight two-stroke motorcycles with the Aermacchi-built two-stroke powered M-65, M-65S, and Rapido. The M-65 had a semi-step-through frame and tank. The M-65S was a M-65 with a larger tank that eliminated the step-through feature. The Rapido was a larger bike with a 125 cc engine. The Aermacchi-built Harley-Davidsons became entirley two-stroke powered when the 250 cc two-stroke SS-250 replaced the four-stroke 350 cc Sprint in 1974. Harley-Davidson purchased full control of Aermacchi's motorcycle production in 1974 and continued making two-stroke motorcycles there until 1978, when they sold the facility to Cagiva. In 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF) bought the company, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce. This tactic resulted in a labor strike and a lower quality of bikes. The bikes were expensive and inferior in performance, handling, and quality to Japanese motorcycles. Sales declined, quality plummeted, and the company almost went bankrupt. In 1981, AMF sold the company to a group of thirteen investors led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson for million. Inventory was strictly controlled using the just-in-time system. In the early eighties, Harley-Davidson claimed that Japanese manufacturers were importing motorcycles into the
US
in such volume as to harm or threaten to harm domestic producers. After an investigation by the US International Trade Commission, President Reagan imposed in
1983 a
45% tariff on imported bikes and bikes over 700 cc engine capacity, rescuing Harley Davidson subsequently. To remain profitable Harley continues to increase the amount of overseas-made parts it uses, while being careful not to harm its valuable "American Made" image. In that era also the "Sturgis" model, boasting a dual belt-drive, was introduced. By 1990, with the introduction of the "Fat Boy", Harley once again became the sales leader in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) market. At the time of the Fat Boy model introduction a story rapidly spread that its silver paint job and other features were inspired by the World War II American B-29 bomber; and that the Fat Boy name was a combination of the names of the atom bombs (Fat Man and Little Boy) that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively. However, the Urban Legend Reference Pages lists this story as an urban legend. 1993 saw the replacement of the H-D FXR frame with the Dyna, though it was revived briefly from 1999 to 2000 for special limited editions (FXR2,FXR3 & FXR4). In 2000, Ford Motor Company added a Harley-Davidson edition to the Ford F-Series F-150 line, complete with the Harley-Davidson logo. This truck was a Super Cab for model year
2000. In
2001, Ford changed the truck to a Super Crew and in 2002 added a super-charged engine (5.4 L) which continued until
2003. In
2004, the Ford/Harley was changed to a Super-Duty, which continues through 2009. Ford again produced a Harley-Davidson Edition F-150 for their 2006 model-year, as well.
This is a very nice and very rare photo that reflects a wonderful era of Harley ‘s motorcycle history in a wonderful way. This is your rare chance to own this photo, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of ca. 8" x 8.5" (ca. 20 x
21.5 cm
). It makes it perfectly suitable for framing!
Shipping costs will only be $ 7.00 regardless of how many photos you buy.   For 5 or more photos, shipping is free!
(Note: A. Herl, Inc. does not appear on photo, for ebay purposes only)
No copyright expressed or implied. Sold as collectable item only. We are clearing out our archives that we have gathered from various sources.
All items always sent well protected in PVC clear files
and board backed envelopes.
We have photographs that came from professional collections and/or were bought from the original photographer or press studio! They are all of professional and excellent quality.
After many decades of professionally collecting photographs and posters we are clearing out our archives. They make the perfect gift and are perfectly suited for framing. They will look gorgeous unframed and will be a true asset nicely framed with a border. They are a gorgeous and great asset in every home, workshop, workplace, restaurant, bar or club!
First come - first served. And you can always contact us for your requests. Please ask any questions before the auction ends.