WHY WOULD SOMEONE BUILD THIS?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- In today's episode of #DriveForHistory we look at a true home-built motorcycle. Built sometime in the 1950s by Arthur Gunther, the bike is powered by a 1913 Harley Davidson single, but the rest is all Gunther's design.
Dale's Wheels Through Time Museum, located in Maggie Valley, NC, features over 375 American motorcycles, unique cars, and transportation history.
For more information about the museum, visit www.wheelsthrou...
To learn more about "The Drive for History," visit www.wheelsthrou...
To purchase tickets for a chance to win the 2020 Raffle Bike, visit www.wheelsthrou...
Like these videos and want more exclusive content? Become a member of "Dale's Channel" at www.daleschanne...
Facebook.com/wheelsthroughtime
wheels through time
I bet Ol' Arthur would be so happy to know someone is talking about his machine in the year 2020 !!!
he made several of them . It is not a one off .
I was going to say exactly the same thing! Bullshit like the Internet and youtube wouldn't have meant anything to him, but to know that his bike would still be running and people would still be talking about it in 2020 would have been an amazing thrill. Thanks for the vid.
@@wegert1
a. Bullshit like the Internet
b. Thanks for the vid
Pick one.
Agreed , would likely warms the fellers heart.
His name was Gunther not Arthur
Arthur was an engineer with absolutely no since of aesthetics. This is perhaps the homeliest motorcycle I've ever seen, but it worked!
Looks like an old Cushman Eagle. I still have a 1957 Eagle with it's original cast iron engine. I bought it when I was 14, I'll be 75 in March. I still ride it as well as my old "48" Harley.
Wow, that is cool. I'd love to even so much as see old bikes like that one day
I'm seriously envious, Tom!
22 here and bought a 2011 1583cc superglide, Hope to be in my 60s-80s with the bike still in my name lol. Bought it 3 years ago when I was 19. great bike
Yup, just what I said before reading your posting.
Tom Boyte can you make a video on that?
The transmission reminds me of the six speed set up in the German Kettenkrad tracked motorcycles from WW2.
Human ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. That bike is a real gem! Well done for keeping it running.
You ride this thing into Sturgis you'll be the talk of the Town
If you rode this anywhere you'd probably get stopped and checked since it looks like if someone made it by himself (which is true) from parts from a scrapyard which were welded together. Only a person knowing its history can apprceciate its value.
Mostly because you'll be one of the 3 guys who actually rode their bikes to Sturgis :- )
RockstarFarmer 😂😂😂
@@wegert1 lol
@@wegert1 that’s so true lol!
I would figure the small tank on the fuel tank would possibly be an oil drip. Many of these very old bikes had a pretty rudimentary oiling system, often needing a hand pump to get more oil into the crankcase, this may have been added to improve top end oiling.
A great engineering masterpiece.. and just now red that Dale has passed. Condolences to his family. I watched EVERY SINGLE episode of his TV series.
"Why would somebody build this?" You have no idea how many times I've said that about some of the custom choppers and baggers I've encountered throughout my life. 😆
It is so cool to hear these old engines run. We appreciate you starting them up.
Its cool to see you coming up in my feed. Enjoy your winter. Hoping to get down your way again this spring
Extremely unusual, I would have loved to have seen this machine being riden and put through its paces..The shifting mechanism is to me the most interesting...
But please on a dyno… don’t wanna see that creation getting wrecked
@@tronixfix *learns about every nanometer on how it works before riding* "I think I can handle repairs"
@@jaycreate7701 not if a drunk redneck hits you in a F250 at 80mph while you pull out the deiveway. There’s nothing left after, neiter of you or the bike.
@@jaycreate7701 can you see my answere besides this text?… it looks like answeres r getting deleted on my phone 🤔
@@tronixfix if you mean the text after ellipsis points then yes
When I was a teenager a friend's dad had a bike that I thought was a Frankenstein creation because of all of the custom fabrication he did. This beast makes that bike look like a factory model.
Wow, an honest to goodness one-of-a-kind homebrew bike! Thanks for showing it to us.
Cheers for preserving these oddities as frustrating as they can be.
That’s seriously really cool. Some of the home made items made back when are so sweet. You don’t see much of this kind of thing rolling out of the shop now a days.
As a young boy in Oklahoma in the 60's used to watch a group of these as a club.
Some were Cushman, but I remember a few were very customized. My dad knew them and was amazed by their creativity.
They were all very loud! And fast.
Quad sprung front end is sick as well as the gearsets. Bellisima. Simply magnificent. Ole Arthur deserves this sliver of immortality. Quite a marvel indeed.
He did it with time and love !!
I like the way you explain things in detail so even us laymen can understand . I think this bike couldn't be in better hands .
That video is a Diamond in the Rough, which TH-cam can by at times. Thank you very very much good sir...
Wonderful, Thank you.
Takes a brave man to kick that on camera, lol
The small tank on top could have been for water injection, to raise the octane rating of cheaper fuels, thus eliminating pre-ignition, or pinging, when the engine is hot. This was common on old kerosene farm engines from the same era.
Yeah, that line seems to go to the intake manifold so that's entirely possible
Love kickstarts.theres something special about using your own force to get a machine going
Thanks for the tour! When you said "chek this out Steve" for a second I thought you were talkin to me. Guther is a guy who lived out his dreams!
Why would anyone thumbs down this??!!!! Love you guys can’t wait for you to be able to be back open
The throttle control linkage on the handlebar, is worth the price of admission alone. That little thing, is an engineering Marvel and Masterpiece. Clearly Steampunk, years before anybody had even thought of Steampunk.
old motorcycle guys like me really do appreciate your channel,been riding since the early 60's.
1969 bought a 1953 Harley Hydra Glide ( 50 year anniversary) $350. , add oil ,charge the battery good to go . Rode it to high school. I weighed 120 lb. . After the military 71-74 I rode a 1960 pan head chopper visiting my old Army buddies for several years . With my Army buddy we rode from San Francisco to LA , 400 miles down HW 1 ,, took us 4 days. Playing with the Hippie Chiks drinking wine on the beaches camping in the foot hills.
Back in the day trucks had a set of sticks usually a 6 and a 4.You went through 6 gears 4 times. Never drove them but it was cool to watch the driver shift them.
I drove a cement mixer with one, you could skip A LOT of gears empty but not so much with ten yards of mud in the barrel.
Good memories with dad. I love hearing about it.
One comment. Your camera person does a great job. The panning is always smooth, he always stays with you and what you want us to see. 👍
Already learned something in your last video. You just gained another fan, I love these old bike and the history they carry.
WOW !!!
A SCOOTER THAT IS TOTALLY
BAD-ASSED CLASS!!!
Wow!!! Unreal. Thanks for sharing!
You guys have some of the coolest bikes i have seen in my life. Soon me and the wife will be coming to see them in person that is if Covid allows us too. Keep doing what your doing love you guys . God bless
As a host you have gotten a ton better as the summers went along. Great job.
"Down the road faster than you want to". Well said
First thing I thought of when you started it was something my dad used to say, "It's all out in front of God and everyone." Way kewl wheels. I like that he combined a 40 year old engine with cutting edge tranny and other parts.
I love that machine. That cacophony of sound is amazing bet it was real fun to ride that around and get the looks from people over it especially in the 1950's.....
Wonder how much Harley learned from Gunther? Ha! Good stuff- thanx!👍🇺🇸❤️
wow. that is incredibly cool. love the homespun engineering.
Wow that's amazing! Absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing it & your knowledge!
I always called this thing "The Tugboat" when I saw it in the museum:). Very cool!
Looks like a souped up Cushman scooter. I love it.
Want sum koosh man
If that is not art .nothing is. truly amazing work.
Extraordinary. Thanks for your work, showing us these machines, especially seeing them working.
When you buy the mystery crate at a junkyard auction and a kilo of grass, this happens.
One Incredible Mind put that together!
Totally awesome!!!
Are you sure that small tank Is not a Marval Mystery oiler? On some engines, where oil didn't circulate well, people added drip oilers to compensate. Marvel made kits for ford y-blocks that solved the problem of rocker shaft failure
Beautiful. Two kicks you guys are masters.
A twin stick motorcycle. That's genious! Seriously !
I'm going to watch the 2-minute 54-second mark like a million times and recreate that awesome throttle
a combination of simplicity and watch making
Strange vehicle, it resembles an ante litteram scooter, weighs like a car and has the sound of a Harley-Davidson.
The cylinder head just under the tank and close to the driver's body, to live dangerously. Fantastic exercise in style.
Thanks for showing it to us.
Harley could put this into production next year to try to hold onto their dwindling market. They could call it the Low Power Boy Springer Heritage Glide and charge $40,000 for it. Maybe $45,000 with the optional atmospheric intake valve
What an impressive piece of machinery
Amazing machine.
Thanks for your loved of motorcycles great history and machines cheers
Another great video,,,,I'm in quarantine, so I really look forward to them!
Ocala Fl
Nice work all of you. The camera guy is awesome.
Well done arthur n well done guys for keeping his existance worth it ... a true pioneer in self engineered fabrication
WoW, super cool. Thanks
Seeing the pushrod going on the outside I immediately thought of how injury lawyers would love that bike.
watching this makes me feel proud of humanity in a way
WOW.. i don't like so much HD.. so i like maybe a few of them XR750 as e.g. But you Guys... you the bearded one ... you're showing us very nice ingenius motorcicles into this channel .. and i have to say thou ... I LIKE IT ...WEll done
Amazing, keep up the great work and thanks for keeping the knowledge alive.
What would love to see those who get that bike running. He's going to have the most amazing memories with his father.
Very neat to see history. I've never ever heard of that person or that early cycle.
Pretty cool! I'm happy it still runs!
I liked it till moment I realized wheels size. Now I adore its style. I Think, that it wouldn't be problem for rebuild it for bigger wheels but better is stays like it was build.
I thought that it was a modded Cushmn
Lol me too..definitely looks like he went for the scooter type look..not sure why but I guess there are tons of scooter obsessed people who have a thing for them. But he'll I couldn't make that so what do I know! Lol
Me too
I would say it probably is a heavily modded Cushman despite the narrative, give it another 60 years and people will say the engine was built from scratch to.
And I'll bet the "Direct injection" feature is all about starting it in the cold Michigan winters, I'm sure that's to get some gas directly into the intake port to eliminate having to prime kick it multiple times in cold weather, especially with yesteryear's straight weight oils, believe me I ran a kick start only Troublehead in Pennsylvania winters for years and without multi weight oils the engine stops dead the moment the kick mechanism disengages, even with straight #30W, it takes #15W/40 to start one below freezing, there's no way you could turn that system on while the engine is running and warmed up it'd definitely flood it out, without some sort of boost system or something like that you can't just dump gas into an engine with a carb, it's already jetted to run on a particular amount of gas that's mixed with the amount of incoming air.
@@dukecraig2402 hah your right that soon people will say/think a 1974 Firebird was "built from.scratch".at least from the insane behaviors,over all ignorance, and lack of critical thinking being displayed by current young people..even some.older people..
Snappy throttle response love it
Dale's Harley Davidson, Mt Vernon, IL. Love that sign. I've been there.
Holy crap! It sounds like a monster! I love it!!!!!!
What a wonderful machine!
A very cool bike 👍😆☮️
That is probably the most incredible motorcycle I've ever seen. He'd be happy to know it's still running.
Like hear you discuss more of the items on the bike. And if they were hand made
I LOVE everything about that Bike !!!
Why do some people NOT like this video? How come...? What I think is this: Each and every piece of automotive history should be worth repairing and restoring. These items show us the mental greatness with which we could actually develop into the level that we have today. I am Hungarian, and in my country the communist regime after World War 2 basically demolished everything that was not related to the communists, including automotive achievements, designs, buildings etc...I really know what it is like looking at a photograph of a national (prototype) bike, knowing that ALL its component were intentionally destroyed and melted somewhere at a metal factory. So sad. And don't forget those innovators who created something great in their shad in their backyard... some made it great, some not unfortunately (just let me remind you of the great late Mr. John Britten, may he rest in peace!)
So guys, keep up the good work, cheers and Great Like y'all!
Dig that springer front end!
Way cool and thank you for the video, love this stuff. And over 30 years ago I saw, in a magazine I think, a giant home made motorcycle. The man made two of them. I saw the bike again on TV. I am having no luck trying to find anything about this bike on the internet. When you see it you will know right away, that is the machine.
I have to come to see this collection in person ! Amazing!
Thanks so much for your videos! Very informative and fun!
I think he used the mini tank fuel driper as a cruise controle and help on a steep hill
That is one of the coolest things I've ever seen thanks so much for sharing subscribed, I absolutely love this bike
And fifteen years later, the Velocette motor cycle from Redditch, in Worcester, England, put in a hundred miles an hour for twenty four hours at Montlery banked circuit, near Paris France.
I love seeing these old bikes they are awesome as hell 👍
That fuel dripper was probably used to aid frigid starts. Like an affixed, refillable can of starting fluid. I can’t imagine there being any performance gains.
Function over form, you have to be impressed with the mechanical genius involved in this.
The hi-lo is probably an overdrive extension on the transmission. Same gears, just shifting them all by a factor (of usually +10 to +20%).
They probably have a very low compression ratio, so the performance will probably be close to a modern 125cc.
I'm just wondering if it was relying on leaded gasoline to run?
A beautiful machine.
I has a '54 Harley Hummer 3 speed parade bike.
Looked like a small Sportster.
Great show man.Thanks.
I live in Michigan and my grandpa used to talk about him my grandpa has been gone for 6 years now so that thing is so cool
Great video...The rigid swing arm is unique, as is the whole bike. Oh...Why would someone build this?? Because, Arthur Gunther could.
this thing is AWEEESOME!!!!
Amazing piece of motorcycle history!
Matt, that bike is absolutely crazy. What a funky bike, looks like a mini bike.
Might look a bit fugly but hey it works. Credit to the Arthur!! What is that on top of the back of the tank, looks like some sort of switch box, is it for the lights?