Harley Davids 1909 Model 5

The 1909 Model 5A Harley-Davidson motorcycle, at first glance, looks like a bicycle, with pedals and drive chain on the right to supplement or even equal the sprockets, and leather belt on the left.

It's true, the Model 5, called this because 1904 was Harley-Davidson's baseline year, marked zero so 1909 was the fifth model year which successfully used a coaster brake, bought at the time from Thor company, which built its own motorcycles and sold parts.

While many rivals to Harley-Davidson were building motorized bicycles, the founders at H-D realized they needed to supply transportation. The Harley-Davidson was created from the very first as a motorcycle, with frame and wheels and controls that were larger and stronger that anything offered by the competition. The Harley-Davidson was heavier and cost more to build than the lighter jobs.

The 1909 followed the patterns laid down in 1903 and 1904 by using the bicycle type, with beefed up frame, wheels, brakes and controls as previous mentioned. The engine was based on a design by De Dion, the French firm that pioneered the art, and was mostly a set of round crankcases with flywheels and connecting rod and cast-iron piston inside, and a sprocket for the belt on the outside.

Model 5 combustion chamber used a technique to offset the bore of the cylinder, and its exhaust valve, which was lifted by a "cam lobe" inside the timing case on the right side next to the piston.

Instead of using a cam lobe for intake, the Model 5 valve was placed above the exhaust valve so when the pision started moving downwared during the intake srtoke the suction pulled the intake valve open, mixed fuel and air which was then sent into the cylinder. The piston starts back up and the positive pressure pops the intake valve closed. It's held closed by the expansion during the power stroke and the upward motion of the piston again, down pops the intake valve again, and the cycle repeats.

The exhaust valve was below the intake valve, so the design was called intake over exhaust, or IOE. The valves were off to one side of the cylinder bore, so the same design was called the pocket valve. The valve-train forms an F-shape, especially later with a pushrod and rocker arm, so the system has been known as the F-head.

To achieve carburetion in the Model 5 a basic instrument was used which floats and jets were fed by way of gravity from the tank at the top frame rail. By 1909 everybody had seen the wisdom in Glenn Curtiss' invention of the twist-grip throttle, so that's what the Model 5 used. Harley's had their twist throttles in the right grip while Indians had theirs in the left grip, and there was no proven reason for picking either side.

The Model 5 oiling system was as automatic as the intake: When the piston moved up, the motion created a vacuum in the crankcase and that pulled a controlled dollop of oil into the case, where is splashed around keeping things slick and cool until it was burned or leaked away. The process was called "total loss oiling."

The basic Model 5 came with battery-powered ignition, plug, points and coil with juice from three dry-cell batteries, which could not be recharged. New for 1909 was a magneto, producing its own electric charge and spark, driven off the timing case, same as for the single cam lobe. The magneto Model was a 5A.

The Model 5 headlight operated by fueled from a tank that would drop pellets which formed carbide gas, similar to that used in mines. The general purpose of the headlamp was so that other road users could see the Model 5 operator coming, instead of the Harley-Davidson driver seeing them.

Driving the Harley-Davidon Model 5 required getting all the controls operating in synch. The lever on the left side of the tank tightens the leather belt between engine and rear wheel sprockets. You ease off the belt and pump away on the pedals until you've got speed up, then pull back until the engine engages, catches, and fires. There's no clutch, no gearbox, and the belt doesn't like to be slipped.

Tweak the throttle, spark advance, and tension lever until belt and pulleys are fixed together and away the 5A goes. The engine runs best at about 300 rpm. The H-D single of 1909 displaced 30ci (cubic inches) and produced about 45bph (horsepower).

The first Harley-Davidson did 60,000-plus miles under its first five owners demonstrating the motorcycle worked and proving the integrity of the model and maker.