Older Bluffton residents knew the Althaus twins - Levi and Willie. Here they are on a 1914-era Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Jesse Steiner took this photo. He was a teacher at the Hilty school (corner of State Route 696 and Columbus Grove Road).
The Althaus brothers attended the school. This photo is from the collection of Alan Eaton, whose grandfather was Jesse Steiner.
Now for some details about the motorcycle, thanks to the Harley-Davidson Museum, Milwaukee, Wisc.:
It appears to be a 1912. It's one of the very first v-twins, and the headlight and horn would have been very new optional accessories.
It was most likely "renault" grey with deep red lettering and striping. It was still a "crank" start, which is why it has pedals like a bicycle. The rider would start it by sitting down and pedaling hard with the back tire lifted up by the stand.
It was the same as cranking an old car. Then a lever would snap a leather belt into place, the bike would be forced off the stand, and off they'd ride.
It could most likely get a max of a little under 60 mph, but it was really rare to get a stretch of road smooth enough to get up to that speed. At the time, it probably would have cost somewhere around $250 (approximately about $6,000 today.)
Once Harley-Davidson got a successful model going, their sales spread really rapidly, and there were dealerships all over the place. There were probably places in Lima or Findlay that sold these bikes.
