From: hennesse@oasys.dt.navy.mil (David Hennessey)
Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles.harley
Subject: The Harley Hummer Club
Date: 7 Jan 93 01:52:35 GMT
Reply-To: hennesse@oasys.dt.navy.mil (David Hennessey)
Organization: David Taylor Model Basin, Bethesda, MD


 /===========================================================================\
|                         THE HARLEY HUMMER CLUB                              |
 \===========================================================================/

     Short History of the Hummer                 The Harley Hummer Club

In 1948, Harley-Davidson released the    The Harley Hummer Club is a non-profit
MODEL 125, a small but sturdy            organization dedicated to the
two-stroke road machine of 125cc dis-    preservation and restoration of the
placement. After the war, America was    American-made Harley-Davidson
ready for economical transportation,     lightweight motorcycle.
and the Model 125 was introduced to
fill that need.                          I had advertised in several magazines
                                         to try and find parts for a 1960
The Model 125's design was an adapta-    Super-10 which I has purchased for $10
tion of the German DKW motorcycles       back in 1979. I found a number of
whose engineering designs were for-      people across the country who also
feited to the Allies as a part of War    were seeking parts and information for
Reparations at the conclusion of World   their bikes. I started sending out
War II.                                  what information I had at irregular
                                         intervals, and soon began xeroxing my
The Model 125 put out a whopping three   letters to save time.
horsepower. One of its more
interesting features was a girder-type   The Club began as I realized that the
front end whose suspension consisted     only way to get parts and info flowing
of five large rubber bands. In 1951,     was to get people in touch with one
the rubber band front end was replaced   another. A "newsletter" was published
by a more conventional hydraulic unit,   on an irregular basis during late 1980
the "Tele-Glide".                        and 1981, and by 1982, HummerNews was
                                         being published regularly every other
The Model 165 was introduced in 1953     month.
as a replacement for the Model
125. The larger engine size (165cc)      HummerNews is published four times
boosted horsepower to 5.5. And           yearly. Pictures of members bikes,
restyled sheetmetal gave the Model 165   reprints of old magazine articles and
a much cleaner look than its             advertisements, tech tips, history and
predecessor.                             classified advertising are featured in
                                         the magazine. Classified advertising
But the 125 wouldn't be out of the       is free to members. Display
picture for long. It was re-introduced   advertising is accepted from
in 1955 as the economy model             businesses at a nominal charge.
HUMMER. Although the HUMMER appeared
to be a stripped-down verion of the      Membership cards are distributed
165, the engine had been                 yearly. A Membership Roster is printed
redesigned. This new "B" model engine    at the end of each year, and
would see service through many newer     distributed in January or February.
models. A 1955 HUMMER weighed 178
pounds, put out 3 1/2 horsepower and     Dues are Ten Dollars per year. The
sold for $320 F.O.B.                     membership year runs from January to
                                         December. Members joining in the
In 1960, the SUPER-10 emerged, replac-   middle of the year are sent back
ing both the HUMMER and MODEL            issues for that year.
165. This new model sported a 165cc
engine, but it was the "B" engine that   In January 1991, we celebrated our
had formerly been available in the       Tenth Anniversary. We are proud of the
125cc HUMMER. This would be the end of   progress we have made in the past
the road for the MODEL 165s "S"          twelve years, and look forward to con-
engine.                                  tinued growth and progress in the fu-
                                         ture.
Radical changes were in store for
1962. Three models were available. The
165cc RANGER was a stripped down back-        For more information, write:
woods version similar to the SUPER-10,
and was discontinued after only one              The Harley Hummer Club
year's production. Rear suspension was              4517 Chase Avenue
incorporated in the street PACER and               Bethesda, MD 20814
trailbike SCAT, both 175cc versions of
the "B" engine.

By 1966, Harley was hard-pressed to compete with the Japanese invasion. The
SPRINT-series had been introduced five years earlier and the decision was made
to shift small-bike production to Italy. One model was produced in 1966, the
BOBCAT, which sported an innovative fiberglass "body" similar to the one used
on the first SUPERGLIDES a few years later.