1955 KHK

[low_rider1979]

I don't pretend to be expert on Harley history, I got my first in 1980.  But today I was at the Kansas Harley Museum and saw for the first time ever a 1955 KHK, I had never heard of it (I guess they only made them 2 years), my buddy and I looked over the engine and never seen a head configuration like it.  What did they call this motor? The bike was stunning to look at, show room fresh.
[urlhttp://ksmotorcyclemuseum.org/][/url]

[smittyon66]

The K came out in 52, the KH in 54 and the KHK in 55. Replaced by the Sportster in 57.

Here's a little more about them.
http://motorcyclemuseum.org/classics/bike.asp?id=21

Here's a couple of pics I took of a KHK last year at the Springfield Mile.

[low_rider1979]

I'll never get this phot sharing thing with photobucket.  Anyway, I found the website you sent, but they don't mention what the engine nickname was, maybe there wasn't one?
http://s357.photobucket.com/albums/oo17/low_rider1979/Marquette%20KS%20Museum/?action=view&current=CIMG0039.jpg

[gryphon]

Everyone just called 'em "K" models. I owned one back in the early 70's. The head style is called a "flat head".

[FSG]

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo17/low_rider1979/Marquette%20KS%20Museum/CIMG0039.jpg

[FSG]

I'll never get this phot sharing thing with photobucket. 

Copy and paste the IMG Code to the left of the photo



which in this case is  [IMG]http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo17/low_rider1979/Marquette%20KS%20Museum/CIMG0039.jpg[/IMG]

[gryphon]

Mine looked nowhere near as nice. It was as I recall, a 1955 or '56 model and was the 900cc motor as opposed to the earlier 750cc model. I recall being told that they were popular hill climb bikes at one time which would explain why mine looked like it did.

[low_rider1979]

http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo17/low_rider1979/Marquette%20KS%20Museum/CIMG0038.jpg[/img]]
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo17/low_rider1979/Marquette%20KS%20Museum/CIMG0041.jpg[/img]]

[Neckball]

And on the front fender............

[smittyon66]

I may be mistaken, but isn't that fender badge from a 1953?
The KHK was only built in 55 & 56, so something doesn't quite jive.

[jsachs1]

First bike I ever had an accident on. ..Think it was in 1956 or 57.
John

[CraigArizona85248]

I may be mistaken, but isn't that fender badge from a 1953?
The KHK was only built in 55 & 56, so something doesn't quite jive.

Looks like a fender badge from a 1954 Hydra-Glide (panhead).  Somewhere along the line Harley changed their history.  The 50th anniversary was celebrated in 1954... which would have made 2003 the 99th anniversary.   

EDIT: I just did some research and it looks like there was a 1954 KHK.  So it's possible that the fender badge was original.  But it's still odd how Harley started counting there anniversary years different somewhere along the line.

[bagga]

50 year badges were on 54 models.

[Neckball]

I may be mistaken, but isn't that fender badge from a 1953?
The KHK was only built in 55 & 56, so something doesn't quite jive.

I have no idea on the history.  It's just a motorcycle I saw and took the pictures.

[Scooterfish]

50 year badges were on 54 models.

Oh No, what about all the 2003 100yr anniversay bikes bought as collector bikes  for future value. You 2004 owners are in the $$$$ 

Enjoyed the pics of the K models.

[garyajaz]

that bklack bike pictured is the flat track model.
my first harley was a KHK  it had shocks...they made a street model and a shocked racing model also...  (oops, as shown by the red and the yellow one..)
a 4 cam flat head sporty....just too cool...
was great fun at 17 years old and a good leg to kick...

brought back some memories.... thanks..

[Ultrashovel]

I may be mistaken, but isn't that fender badge from a 1953?
The KHK was only built in 55 & 56, so something doesn't quite jive.

Sorry, I don't know about the fender badge. You might be right.

The 45" model K was introduced in 1952. I had a 1953 KK which was a K with higher compression and slightly better cams. The KH came out in 1954 if memory serves me.  HD brought out the KHK in '55 and '56. The first Sportster came out in 1957.

Interestingly, the Model K's had no transmission trapdoor to get at the transmission gears without splitting the engine. I know this because mine broke a main drive gear and I had to split the engine all the way down to replace the main drive gear.

I think they added the trapdoor in '54 with the KH. They kept that feature in the Sportster all the way up through 2003. In 2004 they brought out the ruibber-mounted Sportster and the trapdoor went away.

I guess they don't have much trouble with Sportster transmissions but if they do nowadays, you would have to pull and strip the engine.

The KH's and KHK's had a lot of motor. They didn't have a nickname as I recall - someone already mentioned that. In fact, when I was a kid in Chicago, I never heard the names "Knucklehead" and "Panhead". I think that may have come around later from the West Coast. They always just called them "Big Twins".

[Ultrashovel]

that bklack bike pictured is the flat track model.
my first harley was a KHK  it had shocks...they made a street model and a shocked racing model also...  (oops, as shown by the red and the yellow one..)
a 4 cam flat head sporty....just too cool...
was great fun at 17 years old and a good leg to kick...

brought back some memories.... thanks..

Those competition models of the K and KH were called KRM and KHRM. They weren't flat track bikes but mainly for off road and TT since they had brakes and shocks. I saw Joe Leonard ride one and win when I was at the old DeAnza speedway in So Cal one afternoon. The KR was the successor to the WR and was one hell of a motorcycle. They didn't weigh hardly anything and they were damn fast.

People like Brad Andres, Joe Leonard and Paul Goldsmith were tearing up the tracks with KR's in the 1950's and 60's. Their main competition were Triumph Tigers and BSA Gold Stars.

[04 SE Deuce]

  Mert Lawill was one of the last to campaign a competitive flathead KR flat tracker before switching  to OHV XR's, somewhere around 1973-74. 
  Back before you could buy most everything to modify an H-D engine it was a popular mod to use KH flywheels in early iron head sportsters, turned a 55"er into approx. 65".  4-9/16 stroke I believe.   Rick

[gryphon]

Ultashovels, your remark about never hearing the expression Knuckle or Pan is kinda interesting. Where I grew up we heard those nicknames but most guys just said 74. As in "Hey, micky got a 74". The exception being if someone had an 80.

[hogmandon]

My first HD was a 1952 K it was a lot of fun, paid $150 for it in 1967. The KH engine won the Daytona 200 for HD in the 70s I think, Cal Rayborn drove it. After that Kenny Roberts and yamaha started to win every thing. As I remember it and I now have CRS

[Ultrashovel]

Ultashovels, your remark about never hearing the expression Knuckle or Pan is kinda interesting. Where I grew up we heard those nicknames but most guys just said 74. As in "Hey, micky got a 74". The exception being if someone had an 80.

When I first started riding in the early 1950's in Chicago, Harley-Davidsons were called "Big Twins" ( 61" and 74" cu. in.) and "Little Twins" (45" cu. in.). I worked as a handyman and later a mechanic at two Indian dealers shortly after Indian went out of business and also at one Harley dealer delivering blueprints on sidecar rigs and some mechanic work. I never heard those names from anyone at the time, nor were they in use with any of the riders that I knew.

My best guess would be that those nicknames must have come into common use in the 1960's, primarily on the West Coast and probably initially with the Outlaw clubs. I never saw such names in motorcycle ads or in any literature of the day.

Maybe someone can fill us in on the origin of those nicknames.