[darrenimo]

I bought a Harley-Davidson Special Edition 96 today, from a second-hand shop. It's cap is numbered 58896I bought it for US$42. It is a black fountain pen with a screw-on cap, cartridge filled, I think. It is kind of heavy, and about as long as a Parker Vector. Is the pen worth the money? Any information will be greatly appreciated.

Here are some photos:

This is the nib
[attachment=19320:IMG_3313.jpg]

Here's the pen, compared to a Parker Vector
[attachment=19323:IMG_3321.jpg]

This post has been edited by darrenimo: 25 January 2008 - 01:57 PM

[Ondina]

I have that exact model in also, black, and another blue one. They write really well. Super value for the money, they feel heavy, quality finishing type of fountain pens and they are made by Waterman. Which I find quite good. The bad; they don't come with a converter. Mines have yet to be tried with a universal or waterman made one. The Waterman cartridges get stuck in the upper section, the barrel, so better use european stardart size -the small fatty ones-. It was a generous steel nib that writes quite pleasantly in most papers, mines are both "M". I used to used mine as an everyday workhorse for years, stucking it into my jean's back pocket, and sure still looks good!. Barrel is made of metal and the lacker is thick, sturdy -my toddler just took a good bite at the black 3 days ago- and nice.

The only thing I remember about mines is that I purchased them before 96, long before. One is from 89' or 90' if I'm not mistaken?

Good piece to keep and use. The price is average, too, I think. This is a rare model, hardly seen for sale on Ebay anymore.

Congratulations.

This post has been edited by Ondina: 25 January 2008 - 03:17 PM

[darrenimo]

Wow, and the shop I bought mine at has, like, 4 more. Can this pen be fitted with a converter?

[Nellie]

Wow, and the shop I bought mine at has, like, 4 more. Can this pen be fitted with a converter?

Hi darrenimo,
I used to have one of those as well (in bright orange with chrome trim - it was beautiful, but eventually became clogged by the Penman Emerald I used to use all the time) and can only agree with what Ondina said. I'm not sure these were made by Waterman (like the later Harley pens were) - I think I read/heard once that they were made by Stypen (a company that put pens on the European marked for a while and seems to have disappeared now)?
Anyway, I just put a standard international converter (maybe Pelikan, possibly Waterman?) into mine and it worked fine.
HTH
Nellie

[jlepens]

I have one also but the body feels like hard rubber. Great rugged jeans pocket pen. What city did you find them in? Speerbob had the ballpoint version on his ebay site last year.

Joi

[Arthur]

Wow, and the shop I bought mine at has, like, 4 more. Can this pen be fitted with a converter?

Hi darrenimo,
I used to have one of those as well (in bright orange with chrome trim - it was beautiful, but eventually became clogged by the Penman Emerald I used to use all the time) and can only agree with what Ondina said. I'm not sure these were made by Waterman (like the later Harley pens were) - I think I read/heard once that they were made by Stypen (a company that put pens on the European marked for a while and seems to have disappeared now)?
Anyway, I just put a standard international converter (maybe Pelikan, possibly Waterman?) into mine and it worked fine.
HTH
Nellie

Slightly off subject byt Stypen are still trading, now owned by BIC and making pens such as this commemorative offereing for ferrari.

http://www.edirector...pen/pid/5839812

[Ondina]

Wow, and the shop I bought mine at has, like, 4 more. Can this pen be fitted with a converter?

Hi darrenimo,
I used to have one of those as well (in bright orange with chrome trim - it was beautiful, but eventually became clogged by the Penman Emerald I used to use all the time) and can only agree with what Ondina said. I'm not sure these were made by Waterman (like the later Harley pens were) - I think I read/heard once that they were made by Stypen (a company that put pens on the European marked for a while and seems to have disappeared now)?
Anyway, I just put a standard international converter (maybe Pelikan, possibly Waterman?) into mine and it worked fine.
HTH
Nellie

You might be right, Nellie, French based Stypen was bought by the BIC group and although they still make pens and fountain pens, rollers and so, they are not so widely distributed as they used to (great marketing, BIC, by the way). What makes me think you may be right is that at their web www.stypen.com they are a few FP with a nib that resembles the Harley Davidon one very, very closely. It may be the exact same. The following models are indeed Waterman made.

Confirmed is an Stypen made model ;
http://www.stylo.ca/...P...r&manId=222 Here they still have the black BP model.

Thanks for the tip on the converter. Hunting for one right now. :)

This post has been edited by Ondina: 25 January 2008 - 03:16 PM

[darrenimo]

Thanks too for the tip on the converter. Jlepens, you asked what city did I buy the pen from, did you not? Well, I bought them from Singapore (I thought this was obvious...). So, how expensive are these pens supposed to be, anyway?

[jlepens]

Thanks too for the tip on the converter. Jlepens, you asked what city did I buy the pen from, did you not? Well, I bought them from Singapore (I thought this was obvious...). So, how expensive are these pens supposed to be, anyway?

Sorry, early in the morning in California, I did not read everything. I got mine from an antiques dealer maybe 10 years ago for $45.00. At that time I could not find any info on the pen but love Harley Davidson and as the cap twists on, I could hang it from my badge lanyard. And the spring clip made it a secure pocket pen.

This was very interesting info on a pen i have. Thanks.

[pilgrim]

We were talking about HD pens here

[Shelley]

I have seen a few around, never for a good price though, and I quite like them, its the clip, I think, it just looks nice.
Another 'one day' pen...

[graceaj]

Nice pen that. Any chance you'll tell me where you got it or are you looking to get the rest yourself?

[darrenimo]

I got it at the Cash Converters store next to AMK Hub, quite close to Jubilee. Of course, it is in Singapore.

[speerbob]

Hi, I can confirm these were made by Stypen in France from the early 1980's to early to mid 1990's or so. The price you paid was fair. Typically you can find them in the $50.00 - $60.00 range, and they are worth the price. I have some brochures on them from when I bought out the stypen dealer in Bangkok. It says the colors are all true Harley Davidson colors. The rarest of these is the rubber coated ones that look like a tire tread on them. They are pretty hard to get now.

I have the BP's in my eBay store still (SPEERBOB). FP's long ago sold out. I have 6-7 colors I guess. One nice thing about the BP is that it also takes a short Schmidt rollerball refill. The BP refill is a Parker type. They are a very nice pen for the price.

Stypen also made a special edition of this pen with gold trim. There was also a safety type Stypen Harley pen. It is a totally different design but has a nib that screws in and out of the barrel. They can easly go over $100.00.

Cheers, BOB

[speerbob]

Oh, and on your 1996 special edition. The only thing that makes it different from the regular one is the black trim (cap band and top of cap) vice chrome trim. Might be worth buying the rest as the special editions are harder to find and I think 1996 or 1997 was the last year these pens were made. Cheers, BOB