I was looking over the 1952 K Model museum bike the other day when I noticed something on the safety guard I hadn't noticed before. The top strap bracket is about twice as tall as other early safety guards I've seen. Looked for other pictures that showed this feature and only found one. The Harley Davidson Service school picture of the 1952 K Model. I know there are a few very early pieces or prototype parts on the museum bike i.e. rear fender with no bead around the bottom, exhaust support tube and muffler clamp, sprocket cover, welded on rear fender strut mounts, frame with threaded seat post down tubes so no seat post retaining plate and now the safety guard. There may be more that no one has noticed yet. The museum bike may not have been a production bike but the service school bike I assume probably was. That means there may be a few of these super early safety guards out there somewhere. The big question is, has anyone ever seen a real life one or possibly have one? The pictures are of the museum bike and the service school bike. The third is a comparison picture of the safety guards on the museum bike and my '53 KK which has a '52 to '55 safety guard that most would be familiar with. The taller strap bracket would have made the guard itself shorter so when they went to the common early guard they would have had to redo the whole thing.
Stan