1953 Harley Davidson — Scat 165 Hummer — SOLD!

SALE PENDING!

As reported by Jerry Hatfield June 15, 2019…

I grew up in a small town (Cleburne population 12,000) in north central Texas. I had the best job that a teenager could have: four parallel paper routes. I rode a 1953 Cushman motor scooter, from which I threw about 200 papers. One of my routes was a morning edition amounting to only 25 papers daily (M-F). My high school finished its daily routine at 3:45 pm. I enjoyed a smooth ride, north on Main, south on Main, north on Anglin and south on Anglin. Texas allowed kids 12 years old to operate motor vehicles. This was a big help to farmers, who darted about on various roads of questionable quality, using cars, pickups and tractors. It took an entire year of begging for my parents to run up the white flag and approve the paper routes. They were tough! But I was tougher.

My Dad bought me a used Cushman scooter, which was probably the ugliest two-wheeler ever built! I actually suffered a defeat against the Cushman. There was no visible engine. The Cushman made very anemic sounds of the chuff-chuff variety. I hated the chuff-chuff-chuff, while my friends were making ever noisier thud-thud-thud with their sportier Powell P Eighty-ones. Even the Whizzer motorbikes had soft musical thumpity-thumpity that Whizzer pooped out at 30 but added to the overall “manliness”.

I counter-attacked, which meant I could buy any motorscooter I could pay for. A new Cushman Eagle looked great to teen-aged jockeys. The riding position were remarkably similar to old Harleys and Indians: footboards instead of footpegs, foot clutch instead of hand clutch (but also an over-riding foot clutch). Yes, I was making progress in my quest for greater speed and more “motorcycling” atmosphere.

But along came girls and a 1930 Model A Ford. In the back of my brain, I still stowed the glamorous Harley Davidson 125 ccs and 165 ccs. I never got my own little Harley two-stroke fantasy. They were proudly labeled “Harley-Davidson”.

So, there I was, ready for full-fledged motorcycle. These weren’t fast, but they looked fast. The greatest factor was the Harley-Davidson decals on the gas tank. I guess it’s something about evolution. All I had to do was be patient, very patient. I finally got my little Hummer after I retired from the Air Force, retired from Hughes Aircraft, and my parents could no longer object in 2006.

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The owner of this 1953 Harley Davidson 165 Scat Hummer, is not just a guy who owns a bike, but Jerry has written articles for motorcycle magazines and is also a seasoned author of several motorcycle books over the last 10 years or more. 

The most current is “Flat Out! The Rollie Free Story.”  

In 2008 Jerry was featured in a local magazine where he and his wife were living at the time. We have a copy of that article. Great read!  Read Magazine Article