1948 Harley Hummer 125 Restomod

d20mox

Detroit Hustles Harder
Just finished up my CB360 Cafe and started a new project. It's a little bit older and little bit different but it should be a fun little scoot when all is said and done. It is a 1948 Harley Davidson Model 125 (later dubbed "Hummer" after a successful Harley dealer). Picked her up in Maine via eBay. The bike is fairly complete and the motor turns freely. Someone obviously did a quick repaint and used a much larger sprocket than usual. It was covered in mud so I'm guessing they used it as a dirt bike of sorts. Anyway, here are the photos of when my Dad and I picked it up and right before tear down. I will document the process here so check back.

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Very much on board...I love that thing already. What a killer looking bike 8) Can't wait to see what you got planned. I love how low the profile is. Ditch those highway/crash bars and it will already look 1000% better.
 
Very cool.
I'll be a challenge finding parts. I hope you do as much restoration as possible vs. any modifications.
 
Thanks everybody. The only modifications we plan on are a paint scheme that wasn't available for the model year but was available later on, a real leather seat, and maybe some internal engine mods since the original was pretty weak. Engine was sent out to be completely rebuilt by someone that does these for a living. I figured we'd leave it up to someone who knew what they were doing with the rebuild and would also do all the machining. Frame will go out to powdercoat shortly. I will try to update as much as possible.

Sidenote: The crash/highway bars are bolt on. I'll probably refinish them anyway for future use if we decide to use them.
 
One of those popped up on the local craigslist yesterday. It's a few years newer but looks very similair.
http://omaha.craigslist.org/mcy/2709999146.html
 
noahdog said:
One of those popped up on the local craigslist yesterday. It's a few years newer but looks very similair.
http://omaha.craigslist.org/mcy/2709999146.html

That motor looks great. I believe in 1951 they changed to a hydraulic suspension system on the front end of the Hummers. 48-50 used "rubber bands" springer style. Pretty neat setup, can't wait to see how it rides.
 
Alright everybody, there has been some progress. I apologize for the delay but with the holidays and being out of town, my work schedule has taken a backseat for a few weeks. I have yet to document the aftermath of the teardown of the frame but here is what has been done with the motor. I sent it out to a man in TX that does vintage motorcycles (more specifically Hummers) for a living to do the rebuild. He documents the whole process and sends it back to the customer and now I am going to share the rebuild with you all.


This is when he opened the crate that we built to ship the motor in. Looking pretty sad..

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Unfortunately our packing job was not sufficient and we had a damaged fin. No worries for Charlie but it would end up costing us a pretty penny to fix it.
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Cracked open the motor. The piston in it in this photo was a .040 but it needed to be bored (obviously)
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Here it is being bored to .050
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This motor had an early rod with a 1/2 inch brass bushing (not good for longevity) and wrist pin. The factory never made a .050 piston to fit the original rod but since it was shot anyway he used a rod from a 1951 and newer motor with needle bearings and a larger wrist pin and crank pin. He said he didn't think the bottom end had ever been torn apart but that the owner kept rebuilding the top end. I think this bike used to be used as a makeshift "hillclimber" based on the tires and size of the sprocket.
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The flywheel being disassembled. The rod, rollers and crank pin were way out of spec.
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Here is a shot of how bad the rod sags.
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Two teeth were missing on the kicker gear.
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Charlie welded and reshaped it into working order.
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Here is the flywheel rebuild and reassembled. It is being trued on his special truing stand.
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This is the transmission disassembled, blasted, and cleaned.
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Transmission reinstalled into the blasted case half.
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Crankshaft main bearings and flywheel installed into the left case.
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All of the seal housings were refinished and new seals installed. Cases assembled and sealed.
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New sprocket installed (he said the original was the most worn he had ever seen). Armature also installed.
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He rebuilt the generator. Here it is reinstalled.
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Sidecovers refinished and installed.
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This is the new .050 piston assembly, studs, hardware, and head/base gaskets.
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Piston assembly installed. He even replated the dipstick in this photo
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Cylinder installed and motor being timed with a dial caliper and an ohm meter for true accuracy.
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Starter assembly reinstalled with the completed kicker gear.
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Clutch basket and new primary chain installed.
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Completed assembly. Notice the fixed fin.
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View from the other side.
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Here is the motor as it would be shipped. Charlie hooked me up with a completely restored carb and throttle cable as well as the correct spec spark plug.
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I will try and get some shots up of the disassembled bike. It will go out to powder hopefully sometime this week!
 
Very Nice! That is some quality work. I love that little carb, it looks sweet. Well now that it looks like you have a killer motor to throw on your bike, you need to get to work with the rest of the bike ;D Loving this build, and thanks for the update.
Where is that gentleman in TX?
 
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