1952 Harley-Davidson KRTT
Hitting the beach on the '55 Daytona-winning Harley
March/April 2006
By Phillip Tooth
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Brad Andres and his 1952 Harley-Davidson KRTT, back on the beach 50 years after winning Daytona.
Photo by Phillip Tooth
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Engine type: Air-cooled flathead, 45-degree V-twin, two valves per cylinder
Displacement: 750cc
Bore x stroke: 70 x 97mm
Compression ratio: 7:1
Claimed power: 46hp
Top speed: 140mph
Carburetion: Linkert MR4
Transmission: Four-speed
Ignition: Magneto
Frame: Special KRTT, double-loop cradle
Front suspension: Telescopic, no adjustment
Rear suspension: Twin shock absorbers, no adjustment
Front brake: Drum, KRTT special
Rear brake: Drum, KRTT special
Front tire: 3.25 x 19in
Rear tire: 4.00 x 19in
Wheelbase: 1,321mm (52in)
Seat height: 738mm (29.5in)
Fuel capacity: 19ltr (5gal)
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As chaps-wearing, tattooed and pierced bikers watch check-book choppers and custom Harleys inch their way down Main Street, just a couple of miles away on Daytona Beach history is being revisited.
It’s March 2005, Daytona Bike Week, Daytona, Fla. I’m at Ponce Inlet on the south side of the old Daytona 200-mile course. The glaring sunshine is cutting into my eyes and eating through the sunblock that’s trying to protect my wickedly white skin. I’m staring at a black speck near the lighthouse at the end of a mile of pure white, hard-packed sand. The speck is getting rapidly bigger as the roar of a V-twin flathead running straight pipes gets louder and louder.
Rrrrraaappp! Rrrrraaappp! Rrrrraaappp! Dale Walksler flashes past, the KRTT Harley flat out in third gear as he nudges 100mph. Then it’s time for him to sit up and haul on the brakes before he runs through the markers and into the nature conservation area. He really shouldn't be enjoying himself so much — the police have only given him a permit to run at up to 50mph on the sands — but nobody is complaining. And what the hell. This bike was made to run hard.
The battered and bruised Harley is no ordinary flathead. This is the bike that Brad Andres used to win the Daytona 200 way back in 1955. And in 1959. And again in 1960. This is Harley-Davidson and Daytona history wrapped up in one neat package.
Flashback
The road-going Model K rolled out of the Milwaukee factory ready for the 1952 season. With an updated side-valve 45ci engine, triplex primary drive, unit construction four-speed transmission with foot shift, and a double-loop cradle frame with swingarm suspension and telescopic fork (a first for Harley) the K was a massive improvement on the old 750cc Model W.
Those antiques featured a rigid rear end, Springer girder forks and three-speed gearbox with foot-operated clutch. Harley claimed 30hp and a weight of 400lb, but the K was still no match for British overhead-valve 500s.
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