Fort Smith (Jul 03/06) - A Harley-Davidson motorcycle has joined the crafts, stuffed animals and assorted items from Fort Smith's past on display at Northern Life Museum.

But it's not like any of the high-powered machines that cruise the roads today.

Brett Clarke displays the 30 cc Harley-Davidson he restored for Fort Smith's Northern Life Museum. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

This 1966 Harley-Davidson has only 30 cc of power and, instead of being ridden by leather-clad bikers, Oblate brothers and priests once used it to get around Fort Smith.

It was restored by mechanic Brett Clarke, owner of Mobile Tech automotive and small engine repair services.

When Clarke first got the bike from the museum, it was in rough shape, he said.

"It was covered in concrete. It looked like it spent five or six years next to a concrete mixer. It was caked."

After picking the concrete off, Clarke had to find some replacement parts.

For instance, the motorcycle had no headlight and he eventually located one from an 80 cc model at a junkyard in Edmonton. "That took like six months to find." Clarke worked on the motorcycle on and off for almost a year, but he had it running a week after he got it.

The model was only produced in 1965 and 1966, and just 1,200 were built.

"I think this is the smallest Harley ever built," Clarke says.

The bike was built in Europe by a company owned by Harley-Davidson.

"The 30 cc didn't catch on," Clarke says, noting he has a chain saw with more power.

The most interesting thing is the oddity of the motorcycle, he adds, noting it has a grip shift that he has never seen on a street bike and a kickstart on the left side.

"It's backwards," he says. "It's weird."

Plus, the bike has no signal lights or mirrors.

Clarke, a motorcycle enthusiast, volunteered his time for the project, explaining he thought it would be fun and a challenge.

The bike's odometre reads 2,678 miles, which Clarke explains is a lot for a two-stroke motor.

The motorcycle was put on permanent display last week at Northern Life Museum.

Museum curator Kevin Brunt requested that it be restored just to what it looked like when it was used in Fort Smith.

Brunt says more research needs to be done on the motorcycle, but it is believed to have been owned by the Oblate Mission and used by priests and brothers in the 1960s and 1970s.

It has been in the museum's collection since at least the 1980s. While the museum had a record of the bike, Brunt says, "It was one of those special objects that kind of fell out of sight." Clarke says he and some friends spotted the bike in the museum warehouses during an open house, and talked to the museum about it.

"If it wasn't for their interest, it would still be sitting in the warehouse," Brunt says.

That is an example of why the museum holds open houses, he explains. "It really helps us, because things get noticed and brought to our attention.