Edward “Murph” Murphy - 1959 XLCH

 

Murph's original paint 1959 is an excellent example of an early XLCH. His bike has a couple of period modifications. First is the dual carburator setup, sold as a kit by racer Larry Schaeffer. The second is the tachometer, which wasn't available until mid-1962 - pre 62 XLCH  4044 magnetos did not have the tach drive. So this bike features a custom tach drive connecting to the engine sprocket. Besides those two mods, it looks just like it did when it came out of the factory.

Right Side

Left Side

Twin Linkert DCs	Custom Tach Drive
Original Royalite Seat	Decalcomania

1959 Factoids – The front fender struts changed from the full-length ridges to the shortened ones sometime in mid-1959. Clutch and brake cables changed from cloth-covering to vinyl-covering sometime in mid-1959.

More Factoids – Early XLCH Laconia Bars had a very small spacing between the horn button and the handgrip ring. Early XLCH clutch levers had an 18° offset on the perch - but the front brake lever did not.

Instrumentation	Early Laconia Bars
Tach and Eyebrow	Long-ridge Fender Braces
Original Kicker Pedal	Murph Shows Off a 1962 Horn