The Fabulous Flexi Flyer

A genuine time capsule with history oozing from every single unique pore.

Dave Reidie

The Roaring Twenties were almost over and the Great Depression was tapping on the window when Harley-Davidson finally put their ultra-successful Two Cam race engines into a road-going model that was made available to the public. Called the JH for the 1000cc model and JDH for 1200, some 2000 were manufactured in 1928 and 1929.

The Flexible Sidecar Company began building its unique sidecars in 1917 and listed some seven different models. Often used for racing, they have a mechanism that allows the sidecar wheel to duplicate the angle of the lean of the motorcycle in corners. This makes the outfit far nimbler to ride. It also has a bar that with the installation of just one cotter pin will turn it into a regular rigid mount sidecar.

By the mid-1920s, the FLXI, like a lot of motorcycle manufacturers, had run into financial headwinds and faded away.

The performance of the road-going Two Cam models was not lost on sports-minded riders of the day and was used in competition events long after production was ceased. Such was their success that the AMA, in 1936, banned them from mainstream events – manufacturers preferring to see their current models getting the publicity of winning races.

Harley Two Cammers were the favorite of the early cut-down crowd with their lightweight and torquey engines making an ideal base for the first motorcycle hot rods.