Time Capsule – Harley-Davidson Boat, And Golf Cart
Wow 1964 Harley Boat!
As if finding a never sold Harley Davidson boat isn’t enough, how about a Harley Davidson Golf Cart? My head is about to explode! Now, i am not a Harley collector, or even a motorcycle guy. but I get the passion for sure. if I wasn’t terrified at killing myself, I would be for sure. Two wheel art! The Chris Craft of motor bikes. And if I was a collector, the oddity of this would be like a wonderful find. Like a Aqua Plane by Chris Craft.
Golf Cart by Harley Davidson
But add to that the time capsule perfection of this, and KAPOW! And if you run a museum on motorcycles. This is for sure an interesting find.
I love the wonky stinker put on crooked. The imperfection of factory speed.
Original Fuel Tank
Gel Coat clean
Belonged to a Harley Dealer and was in the showroom
Not sure if the clear stinker is from a later time to protect it, or original.
Cool wheel
Original cover…and zipper?
Original seats
1959 Evenrude 75 – Now, this is where I ask a question. A 1959 Engine on a 1964 Boat? Was there a 1964 engine on it? Why the 1959?
Stunning finish
Simple interior
Close up of the sticker
The wording on the boat
Wonderful windshield sticker
If you are into vintage golf carts. Amazing! And just googleing around? Welcome to Woody Boater, we love all this stuff. We drive boats like you drive your Harley. Flathead Brothers and Sisters!
The Golf cart is amazingly clean
Like new
Tire clean
Wonderful
Oh that AMF logo. Brings back horrible memories. You may recall AMF smearing thier corporate crap all over great brands like Harley and Sunfish sailboats, hatterias Yachts.. Great bowling ally stuff though
I think this is a dealer sticker. Not factory. Fronrir Harley is still a dealership in Nebraska
Love the original stickers
Clean
So here is the big question. How much is this worth? Harley folks are for sure are the market. BUT, if you love both, and many do. This may be the one and only chance to combine all your passions. Including golf. What are the chances? If you are serious about possibly purchasing this set. Let me know. Matt@Woodyboater.com This is like the classic Donzi we sold in the spring. We are helping find the right home for this rare stuff. Not making any money, and don’t even know the price. but had a chance to talk about it before its released to the Harley world, we are breaking it first here.
Hopefully these two Harley examples don’t follow the old anti-marketing mantra:
“Buy a Harley, buy the best. Ride a mile, walk the rest”.
One gas tank for an Evinrude “Fat Four”? It should have at least three………………
Also, I don’t think a Quicksilver impeller will work in an OMC, but I could be wrong.
Pretty sure there are quite a few Harley golf carts out there.
I personally will take the black Chevelle.
Upon further review that is an El Camino. Same nose as the Chevelle.
There sure are some nice cars and trucks in that garage. Looks like a T-Bird, nice El Camino, and what is that white car with the fast back? Is that some form of Corvette? Is the blue car next to the golf cart a Camaro?
If this was owned by a dealer the 1959 Evinrude was probably an unsold leftover so why not put it on a boat that you are going to set in the showroom.
I’m not a motorcycle guy and definitely not a Harley guy, but I’m sure those AMF/Harley golf carts were made in great quantities. My dad had one in the 70’s and I remember almost every other golf cart at the golf course (small town Wisconsin: Definitely not a “country club”) was an AMF/Harley. I also remember one of my best buddies buying a new Harley during the same period -during the AMF years-and finding the quality to be, well, less than desirable. Like some boats that bore the Chris Craft name a decade or two ago, the Harley badge had its dark years.
Big question, is Texx going to bid on it? Is Texx and his Harley still ripping up the American roadways?
Hello Rick – Yes, still traveling around the country on my trusty Harley Davidson. This year I added an Italian made 1198 Ducati to the fleet which is fun (and very fast).
Love the HD / AMF boat, hopefully it goes to a good home with a good mechanic. – Texx
Hi Texx. Nice to see you chime in. Be careful on that Ducati crotch rocket. That is a serious machine!
When AMF took up the Harley brand, the motorcycles took a nosedive. We in the biking community called Harleys from the AMF era “bowling balls”. CQ
I have a HD golf cart for sale and cannot sell it for love or money.
Maybe HD boats are more loved….
Briant, email me location and price? Woodardwooden@gmail.com
I m sure that if washed it, you would get a few people to stop and look at it. ( Just kidding) Also I think nowadays not many people want a 3-wheeler. Most are probably looking for a 4-wheel model so they can to convert it
to an ATV.
I am wondering if it’s a rebranded larson or if they had the boat built 100% in house. Itlooks like an all American with the rise in the mold that meets the windshield.
Woodardwoodesen: Harley Davidson purchased about 50% of Tomahawk Boat Mfg. Co. of Tomahawk, WI circa 1961 and they bought the remaining stock about 1.5 years later. There was no connection between Tomahawk/Harley and Larson Boat Works. Harley still owns the old boat factory in Tomahawk. They ceased making boats about 1965 but continue to make fiberglass components for their motorcycles at the same facility
^^^ Thanks!
On the outboard: yes, the motors were not bundled in those days, and dealers sold “loose” motors to go with their boats, selling whatever brand(s) they carried. Mostly, a Johnson, Evinrude, or a Mercury. Often, leftover outboards were sold on later boats. My dad’s first boat was a new 1963, but took a new leftover 1962 on it to save a few bucks. He later bought a new 1966, but the dealer put on a slightly used 1964, again to save a few bucks. My 1966 boat has a leftover 1963 on it, and was sold that way. Happened all the time.
BTW, that Evinrude is a 1960 75HP, first year for that HP. In 1959, Evinrude (and Johnson) was still selling only the 50HP V4. So it was a leftover or slightly used one, if the whole rig is original, which from the pictures, sure looks like it is.
One of these days, I’m going to have to write that article for the Rudder I’ve been thinking about for years on MFG boats, and how they got into the boat business when GM cancelled (temporarily) the Corvette in late 1954. MFG made the Corvette fiberglass bodies, and still makes about 25 carbon-fiber and resin composite body parts for the C7 Corvette to this day.
Diving into fiberglass recreational boat companies opens up an order of magnitude of new stories, with often surprising connections to other companies, because there were just so many more fiberglass boat companies. Those companies were often bought and sold several times over their life. Most of them have come and gone, but a number of them survive to this day. For example, MFG is still going strong, but got out of the boat business in 1980, interestingly the same year Lyman did (original company). Others are still building boats – Sea Ray, Chris Craft, Rinker, Larson, and many more. But most are long gone, and the ones still in business have often evolved into a very different type of boat company.
I know I’m weird, but while I love a wood Lyman, I have have gel coat in my blood, not varnish. Good stories, all around. And fun to hear about an Evinrude connection to Harley.
I worked at a marina in the ’70’s that also carried AMF Harleys. Don’t know why other than we also sold Sunfish and I’m guessing the factory rep talked the owners into it. Funny we had a real CA ex-Hell’s Angel that was one of the boat mechanics there too…………he knew better than to buy one of those AMF’s. He fuel injected an old H-D and that’s what he rode.
They bought a ton of those nightmares over a two year period and even stacked in their shipping crates unopened, it looked like the Exxon Valdez had hit another reef all around them. By the end of that fiasco, they had marked the big Sportsters down to a thousand bucks each and still couldn’t give them away. The accessories and leather clothing the same. Being young and skinny back then, I bought one of the leather jackets.
As I recall, I got a working and good looking leather jacket that was a far better deal than any of the AMF Harleys that went out our door…………….
I agree with Dave. That is a 1960 75 hp. My Dad bought one new in 1960, biggest one Evinrude made that year, or for a few years to come. Im still running it. Great ski motor, I have spent a lot of fun times looking at the back of that motor while whipping around on water skis. Looks like that one had the power lift. It makes me feel young to be able to pull that big beast up, hold it, and flip the lock lever into place. The H D golf cart. Had a guy give me one. I never went and got it. H D went through some dark years while involved with AMF. Glad they came out of it. It is neat to know that Ole Evinrude And William Harley were friends.
Reddog…
I did wash it.
It has been for sale so long that it got dirty again !
Not really. I just gave up and left it with the barn that will soon be demolished.
Forgot to mention on my photo of that darn HD golf cart…
The paper on the windshield is a copy of the cash donation form for the local Police Dept’s fundraiser….’cause we occasionally drove it on the streets….
In retrospect, we should have kept that cash and given them the stupid cart !
Why is this stuff on Woody Boater? I see no wood on that ugly thing. They should have stuck to motorcycles. Now we are doing golf carts? If Chris Craft or Hacker or Dodge Bros. made gold carts, maybe I could understand. I don’t think Christopher Smith or Gar Wood even played golf.
Harley-Davidson/AMF also made snowmobiles…. There are many great examples around because they didn’t run very well, were heavy like tanks and spent most of their time parked.
Great story Matt, really enjoyed it and all the good comments.
There’s more to the story. As Andreas said the Tomahawk Boat Company was in Tomahawk WI, and they produced “wood” boats,—cedar strip models, (which justifies having this topic on Woody Boater) and as all manufacturers did, converted to fiberglass. The Evinrude engines in the late 1920’s, Speeditwin and Fastwin, had accessory “twist grip” steering handles that allowed control of the throttle and steering. Those handles used Harley Davidson rubber grips. Johnson used aluminum grips.
A second connection between Evinrude and Harley. I’ll bet there are more.
When you dig into a wood boat story, you will often find connections between wood and fiberglass boats. They’ll all get you on the water and share a common heritage. And many early fiberglass boats had fiberglass hulls, but wood everything else. It’s all part of the evolution of recreational boats.
I like when Matt throws in something only indirectly related to wood boats once in a while. Helps to keep things varied and interesting.
yep