When Did The First 1952 Ks Appear?

[hennesse]

The 1952 K was pretty late-to-market. The first Ford Mustang was labeled as a 1964-1/2, and the K probably should have been called a 1952-1/2. But exactly when did it start?

We only have a few dates to work with. The K was announced at the November 18-21, 1951 Dealer's Convention in Milwaukee, as reported in the January 1952 Enthusiast. Four Ks were shown at the conference: two were up on the stage, "resplendant [sic] in white and chrome", a dark-colored bike, and a racer.

Nov 19, 1951: "resplendant [sic] in white and chrome"

k-1.jpg (161.59 KiB) Viewed 8443 times

Nov 19, 1951: Dot Robinson

k-2.jpg (71.38 KiB) Viewed 8443 times

Nov 19, 1951: Sam Arena

k-3.jpg (94.99 KiB) Viewed 8443 times

The next mention of the K's comes in the May 1952 Enthusiast, where there are three dates: March 15, when Texas dealers received their first K demonstrators; March 29/30 when 5 Ks were entered in the Shreveport, LA Pirate Treasure Run; April 6, when a St Louis, MO dealer won the St Louis Easter Egg Hunt. Also, there is an article by a dealer who took his K to Greenhorn Mountain, near Bakersfield, CA (no date given). There's a nice 2-page ad in that issue - you can see it down on the bottom of the Literature page - which may signal the start of public availability.

So it looks like 1952's weren't shipping, at least in any quantities, until around March 1, 1952. As The French Owl pointed out, the December 1, 1951 date I used in the Shipping Date Guess-O-Meter is not realistic. I revised the 1952 calculations to start on March 1.

Do you have any better information on the start of 1952 production?

[thefrenchowl]

Photos are from Nov 18, 1951, not 52!!!

Even March seems early to me...

They might have been available from then, but it's still winter/cold and I can't see the boys rushing into the dealerships that early apart from maybe Texas and California!!!

Which also makes the factory figure of 1900 or so K sold in 1952 model year very unlikely?

As for the models shown at the convention, the Polhman shots of K models start on 1st of November 1951, photos HD 19609 till 19616
The KR shown and its KRTT sister are HD19617 to 19621, same date.
Then there a series of shots, HD19622 till 19651, from 2nd of Nov till the 10th of Nov.
All 8 x 10 glass plates...

Thanks for following that up, Dave...

Patrick

[hennesse]

Which also makes the factory figure of 1900 or so K sold in 1952 model year very unlikely?

The K was Harley's answer to the early 1950's British Invasion of Triumph and BSA 500cc and later 650cc twins. I think they sold a boatload of the new K model in 1952 - because it was a Harley instead of a Brit, and because it was a fancy new model. But then word got around that the K was less peppy and more expensive than the Brits, and sales for 1953 fell badly. The "Standard Solo" option for 1953 knocked the price difference down a little, but didn't do much for performance. The KH in 1954 tried to close the performance gap, but sales did not improve.

Production (excluding racers and other specials)

chart.jpg (17.35 KiB) Viewed 8413 times

The chart shows sales of regular production K and XL through the years. Sales of Ks and Sportsters continued at a dismal level until 1964, when things finally took off. These bikes just couldn't match the price and performance of the British twins. What happened in 1964 and 1965? I don't really know, but I suspect the currency exchange rate and import tariffs, which had propelled the British imports, probably turned.

As for the models shown at the convention, the Polhman shots of K models start on 1st of November 1951, photos HD 19609 till 19616
The KR shown and its KRTT sister are HD19617 to 19621, same date.
Then there a series of shots, HD19622 till 19651, from 2nd of Nov till the 10th of Nov.
All 8 x 10 glass plates...

Do you have digital (or print) copies of any of these?



Patrick[/quote]

[thefrenchowl]

Hi Dave,

I have 8 x 10 prints of a few, jpgs of which are on my site, galleries section. But with Pohlman HD number removed...

http://www.harleykrxlrtt.com/1_gallery_kr_xlr.htm

http://www.harleykrxlrtt.com/gallery_sportsters.htm

Patrick