I.D. that bike

[fillibuster]

That's it! I just learned more about the 20's chiefs (hope I can retain it all) than I've realized in 27 years. Thanks a bunch Gene and Eric! .... now, I always thought that '27 was first year of removable head also, but I've read on Facebook that it was as early as 25 on Chief. I still think 27 makes more sense, a hunch about the castings. Also, leading link vs trailing link? Was '21 the end of one (leading, I think)?

[T. Cotten]

The reason I asked, Gene,...

...Is that the bowlstems on DLXs are not somewhat symmetrical like HXs.
They have obstructions, presumeably the reason for the center of the float to be eccentric. The 'bulge' for the lowspeed needle and idle circuit gallery in particular.

(Selfishly, I need to know the installed positions to be absolutely certain that installed floats will not hang up when returned to the owner!)

In my collection of vintage pics, snagged off the 'Net, half of the HXs (on various models of course) have the bowl indexed either forward or right in the middle (a curious inconvenience, but probably a carry-over from the Hedstrom fuel line location.)
The very few pics I have of twins with DLXs (Some Scouts of course, and some that are probably PowerPlus's and I don't know the differences..) all show the bowl indexed forward, like more "modern" models.

This places the 'eccentric' hole in the middle of the DLX float where it would have the best chance of clearing the casting.

Indexing to the rear strikes me as quite an anomaly!

....Cotten
PS: Just one more reason why I would never dream of being an AMCA judge.

[gharper]

Cotten,

OK, did some digging in my books, sales brochures etc. Based entirely on original factory photos and sales brochures, I feel confident in saying that HX as well as DLX carbs on the early Chief and Scout models (through 31) all had the bowl stems indexed to the front. I did see an occasional pic of one to the rear but that was not a factory picture, someones modern assembly. Hope that helps.

Fillibuster,

1927 was definitely the first year for removable heads on the the Chief. These were cast iron heads, sometimes referred to as the starburst head, as the fins are arranged in a radial pattern when looking at the top. Though they will interchange from '27-31, there are at least 4 variants of the head, as the spark plug hole moved and the bosses changed location. Also 30 and 31 had 2 fins trimmed a bit for clearance to allow removal as the lower tank tube sat lower to fit the aluminum tanks. The introduction of removable heads increased the compression ratio considerably, with the Ricardo shaped compression chamber and lots of "squish", and a nice jump in performance must have been noticed. Of course this made starting much more difficult, so in '28 the kick start ratio was changed to allow easier starting. I believe the Scout came out with removable heads in 1925.

The fork on the Powerplus (later the called the Standard after the Chief arrived) early Scout and Chief was the leading link type with the loop spring. 24 was the first year for the trailing link and flat leaf spring on the Chief and Scout. The Standard remained the same leading link through the end of production in 24.

There you have it, more than you ever would want to know unless you are trying to piece one together!

gene

[T. Cotten]

Thanks again, Gene!

But I bet every rule has an exception, such as this H indexed in the center (just like many H-Ds).

The DLXs are the only ones I worry about positioning,...
(And Linkerts of course. M-88s are such a pain it makes you wonder how the Allies won the War.)

....Cotten

[ihrescue]

Hi all - I thought the idea of a quiz was a good one. Are there still thoughts that you may like to try it? Heck you could name that part, name that tool, name that rider.

The Forum for BMW Owners Association has a sub forum called The Lighter Side where they have their "Everything Else" forum like our Parking Lot Chatter and they also have a Photography sub forum here. This is where we could put a "What Is It" forum as well as Photo section.

Thoughts? Still some interest?

Mike Love
AMCA Forum
Moderator

[Chris Haynes]

The officer on the bottom is Los Angeles County Motor Patrol which morphed into the California Highway Patrol. I hope he doesn't make a left turn with the stand down.