Not only was Harley competing with their street bikes, but in 1952 they had a small amount of pure race bikes built from the K platform that would constitute the basis of their racing bikes for both flat track and road races. That continued even after the Sportster made headlines until 1969 when the legendary XR750 flat tracker made its debut. Every year they would knock out enough to win AMA championships and this lovely 1953 KR is a nice example of what you would have got if you ordered one when Harry S. Truman was still president.
You probably noticed that the KR does not have the standard bike’s rear suspension and that’s how they still raced on dirt ovals back in the day. Rear suspension was none of their business although the factory road racers retained that bit of engineering. The 30hp 45-inch Flathead engine of the K got hopped up to about 50hp in the KR and along with the light weight (320lb) could propel the machines down a mile track’s straight at up to 125mph compared to a K’s top speed of 80mph. That 125mph is still cooking today and I’d love to be able to verify that personally. It had to be really nice that Harley also incorporated the hand clutch and foot shifter that was becoming more popular every year to somebody barrel-assing around a dirt track wanting both hands on the bars as they slid sideways.
Brakes? Not so much, as they weren’t part of the flat tracker’s lexicon. My first AMA flat track race I went to as a kid was back in 1955 where these same bikes, maybe even this one, were flying around Foxboro Raceway at speeds I couldn’t believe especially after seeing them in the pits with no brakes. My father’s explanation of why they didn’t have them made no sense to me. I was dumbfounded as my five-year-old brain couldn’t comprehend why race bikes had no brakes. For me, that was about the craziest thing I ever heard up to that time. Those guys flying around the dirt horse racing track at speeds I couldn’t comprehend was something I still remember today like it was yesterday.
Our feature bike unfortunately has an unknown owner as I would’ve loved to know the back story on this bike which is claimed to be one of 18 built in 1953. That’s what you might call an extremely rare bird especially in this lovely condition. Although it looks just peachy to me, an educated purist might know otherwise not that’d I care in the least bit. What you don’t know won’t hurt you and I’d love to think this bike is what made somebody’s heart skip a beat as they uncrated it. Whoever the caretaker is, they’ve done a fine job of keeping it real with a finish that looks like the day after it got delivered to Durward “Woody” Wood and not some overdone restoration. It’s just such a classy classic look that never grows old even after New School eventually became Old School. Somebody slap some drum brakes on there and let me take it for a good spin and maybe even a bit of trashing. I think Woody would have liked it that way.