[Jeff Higgins]

It's not an Army bike; too many details are wrong.

This would be a project for a guy who does a lot of these and has lots of parts already on hand. It would be a nightmare for anyone else. Yes, parts are "available", but you really need to know what you are looking at as far as real vintage Harley parts. There are an awful lot of repops out there, and most are cheap Chinese junk. It's a real problem in the Harley resto world; nothing devalues a bike more than being adorned with these parts. Some look pretty good to the untrained eye - good fit and finish, but inferior materials underneath, chrome (where used - there really isn't much on older Harleys) flakes off, corrosion starts underneath the finish, etc. It's a real minefield, and if you have never navigated it, you will almost certainly get into trouble.

45" flatheads are by far the least collectable or desireable of the old Harleys. They really are "a dime a dozen", and for good reason. They are barely usable in modern traffic. Fun to putt around on a lonely country road, but their thundering 12-15 horsepower gets old really, really fast.

In the end, if you grab this thing, it will be the most expensive, useless "free" thing you have ever acquired. Leave it to someone who does a lot of this and knows the game, and buy a finished one if you really want one. I bet you really don't...