The new unitized-construction 30hp 750cc 4-cam side valve twin was a heavily revised version of the old WL 45 twin. It didn’t take long before it was stroked to 888cc and putting out a respectable 40 horses or so. There were both street and race models straight from the factory and the beautiful and famous KR road racers and dirt trackers raced and won against the Brits in the highly contested AMA championships long past their due date.

 

   With the first rear suspension on a Harley, the improvements to ride and handling must have seemed shocking. The enclosed coil-over shocks were quite a style statement in their own right (and still look strangely cool today) and worked together with the hydraulically damped front fork to be competitive handlers against the Brit invaders. All things considered, the pre-cursor to the Sportster was a great stop gap measure until the introduction of the overhead-valve XL-series in 1957.

 

 But possibly what made these bikes the success they were can still be measured on their damn good looks alone. They were the cool, bad ass, sumbitches of their time and you gotta think the owners were too. The Series-K DNA still shows loud and proud in today’s Sportster and that’s not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned. But speaking of cool, what I think may have made it an icon is encapsulated in one single photo we’ve all probably seen by now. You know—the one of a young Mr. Presley and his bike. With a tip of his hat, he was one hip happy camper back then and who wouldn’t be with a cool K bike in the fifties?

 

     Well all of that brouhaha doesn’t get to the meat of the matter of this absolutely adorable (and I mean that in the very best way) lightly customized Series-K bike that Barnett’s photographer, Jackie-O Cofano, shot at Daytona Bike Week. It knocked me right out of my chair as I gotta admit an unknown and incurable weakness for the K bikes. They look bicycle-like compared to anything found on a Harley showroom floor and they look like really stupid fun. Riding one is like being stuck between antique and old bike, but it sounds good, feels wicked light, got some pep, and the view passing a store window is indescribably charming.

 

  Unfortunately Jackie-O was unable to find out any owner info on this bike, but couldn’t pass up taking photos of a bike this striking and cool. With no info, this just way to nice to not present to you for your approval so go roaming the photo gallery please. It’s not dead stock, but it’s not far from the factory silhouette and that’s just fine by me. The white paint is Jackie-O’s favorite (once again) and the asymmetrical graphics on the tank are just enough to make a walk around the bike more interesting and a bit of chuckle.

 

    The Series-K was Harley’s last gasp at a performance flathead and suddenly seems to be appearing out of a fog again to a growing number of hardcore fans. Whoever built this bike, you really, really did a nice job. At least Mr. Cofano and I totally think so. Sorry we couldn’t give you credit, you do deserve it, but you can always write who you are in the comments below.