MY FIRST NEW HARLEY
Written by Henry N. Patterson
February 1994

After returning from my visit to the factory and the Worlds Fair in 1934 the desire for a new Harley was something I had to do something about. The ride out of Omaha had something to do with it. I started saving and it wasn't long before the announcement of the l935's was out. I decided on a blue-silver 45 complete with a speedometer, jiffy stand, cadmium rims and a buddy seat. Buddy seats hadn't been out long and weren't very comfortable. At that time they had only about 41 inch of padding below the leather but they would carry a passenger.

Back then the factory had to have an order before the machine could be produced. They had no extra ones to send out and when they announced a new model it was all new for that year. Shipping took about a month to six weeks after an order was received and then there was a wait for quite awhile because of shipping. Truck Freight, as we know it now, had not been started. The factory had to load the bikes on freight cars to Chicago and then they were distributed from there. In order to get a favorable freight rate they had what I think was called L.C.L. That meant that there was a freight car somewhere in the yards of Chicago that was to be sent to Denver and if enough orders were there for general freight maybe direct to Grand Junction. Then it took at least a week for it to arrive.

We received information that the bike had been shipped and I started bothering Frank Brodack, who was the freight agent and also a neighbor. Each noon hour I went to the freight depot to see if it had arrived. Finally the car arrived and I was there when Frank opened the door. There it was about two thirds of the way back in the car. I crawled over everything to get my first view and then started trying to move things. However, Frank stopped me and told me to get out of the way and he would soon have it out of the car. I don't remember who hauled it from the freight depot but I could hardly wait. Of course it had priority over any other work I was supposed to be doing. Then to get it out of the crate, which at that time was all wood. The crate sides were slates about 6 inches wide and about 4 inches apart so you could see in pretty good and it was well protected.

After cleaning it up and gas and oil put in, I started breaking it in. Breaking in a bike back then was a chore. I averaged 100 miles a night after getting off of work at 6 o'clock for the first week getting it broken in at 30 miles per hour. You were not to go 50 miles per hour until you had 1500 miles on it. Going that slow was hard to do but it had to be done because bearings were not as smooth then and the pistons had to be cured. They had not found out how to mix other metals with aluminum so they would not collapse with too much heat. A collapsed piston did not sound very good and it has no efficiency.

After I got my new bike a friend of mine and his buddy both ordered the same model for themselves. That was the beginning of Harleys becoming popular again in Grand Junction.

I took several weekend trips on it and then in the late summer another golfer and I thought we should go to the State Amateur Tournament in Denver. Since my friend couldn't get off work until four in the afternoon, we took off at that time. At a little gas stop in Avon (which is now bustling with condominiums and golf courses) it started to rain. With no windshield and not much protective clothing we continued riding in the rain to Leadville. Vail Pass had not been built at that time. When we arrived in Leadville we found an all-night restaurant and went directly to the kitchen to warm up and dry out. The cook was very nice to us and let us stay as long as we wanted. When we got ready to leave he gave us an old oiled table cloth which I could use as a lap apron. I think that was the coldest I have ever been on a bike. We took off and it was still raining all the way over Loveland Pass. The clouds were so thick that the cars on the road could hardly see but with nothing in front of us we made pretty good time. At this time the roads were still gravel and until we got to Denver there was no pavement. The chain took an awful beating with the sand and water on it. We probably put a 4000 mile wear on the chain that night.

We played in the tournament but not very good. However, the person who took our clubs over to Denver for us brought back a leather golf bag that I had won and did not know it.

Looking through Harley's book, "The Ledgend Begins", I came up with approximately what the bike cost me then. The bike itself was $305.00. An accessory group was $24.00. Buddy seat was $6.75 extra, cadmium rims were 50 cents each and the freight was around $30.00--making a total cost of about $366.75 and no sales tax then. There was a small 50 cent registration fee and a tag for $2.00 per year. Maybe there was a couple of bucks personal tax. I kept this machine until late 1935 and when the new models were announced I got a 4 speed Eighty. It was quite a step-up but it was fun.