It's a small world.

[kg993]

I've thought about that phrase several times over the years, and it hit again. Years ago I bought a left alt. Shovel case with a broken ft. mount. Yesterday I bought a mismatched set of cases and after the deal I started checking for a better match (I knew I had an 80 left somewhere) and it turned out that the right side I just bought was the origional match to the left case I had with the broken mount. What are the odds of that happening?

[Liz]

I'd say the odds are slim to none... emphasis on the 'none'.

That's very kewl Kerry. I got goose bumps reading your post.

[c.o.]

So...who got the photo of your expression when you figured that out???

[Rubone]

Many years ago (early '70s) I purchased a '47 Knucklehead that had no serial number on it. It had been assembled from a pair of NOS engine cases and built up as a rider by the former dealer in our town. It had a title with a factory number on it and was licensed and running. I used it for a couple of years during which time I was working at the local H-D dealership for the new owners and building and riding lots of bikes. During a restoration project ('45 EL) I was at the former dealers shop digging for vintage parts, my normal Saturday afternoon pastime. I was looking through some shelves for a pair of Knucklehead cylinders which were behind piles of crankcases of all variety. As I was moving the cases I happened to glance at one and something looked familiar. I took a better look and it was a case with the numbers that matched the title of my bike. Digging a little more I found its mate. They were pristine and a fine pair, so I carried them in and asked the old timer about them. He asked why I was interested in them in his normal gruff fashion so I pulled out my registration for the '47 and showed it to him. He just grinned and said he had built that bike up years before and when it cam time to title it he merely pulled a title out of a box of them he had and sent the new owner on his way without ever checking for a match. He wouldn't sell me the cases but would trade them for the blanks back so I went home and tore the engine apart in the '47 and completed the trade. I was back on the road the following week with the proper cases.
Robbie
The blank cased '47. It had a Hydra-Glide fork on it when I got it. This picture was taken the day I switched forks.

[pisten-bully]

And I hope you were able to hang onto that '47 all these years!

[Rubone]

And I hope you were able to hang onto that '47 all these years!

Nope, It went away long ago. Sold it to a "friend" with on of those promises to have first chance at it if he ever sold it. You can guess how that went. I bought and sold lots of Knuckles and Pans in those days.
But I still like Knuckles best and have one or two kicking around..

[kg993]

So...who got the photo of your expression when you figured that out???

No photo, but I'm sure both eyes went wide open before I started squinting and doing the double & triple ckeck. I'm happy but the Knuckle cases beat my find by a long shot.

[Rubone]

Don't forget that in those days Knuckles were as common as Shovels....

[c.o.]

No photo, but I'm sure both eyes went wide open before I started squinting and doing the double & triple ckeck. I'm happy but the Knuckle cases beat my find by a long shot.

I had a vision of bulging eyeballs and some audible yee haws!!! I think ya done good!

Don't forget that in those days Knuckles were as common as Shovels....

Super cool story Robbie. I missed those "Knuckles were as common as Shovels...." days.

[Rubone]

In the late '60s and early '70s Shovelheads were "New" bikes. Most of the Shovel stuff was either Police auction bikes or very recently liberated from their rightful owners. Often best to avoid, although I much preferred them to Panheads.
Another odd story, and one I regret to this day..
In the late '80s I got a call from a friend who bought and sold bikes for a living. Seems he had bought a '46 Knucklehead in Colorado some months earlier. The previous week he bought another '46 out of California. When he was going through the paperwork on the latest acquisition he noticed a similarity so pulled out the title for the Colorado bike. They were both FLs and were consecutive numbers. He was calling since he knew I liked vintage and odd stuff and offered them both to me for a very decent price. However it was one that at the time I could not afford, and after a short period of fretting over it I declined. Still wish I had them.....
One of my Pan/Shovel hybrids from those days. '56 custom, 1973..

[c.o.]

Another cool story Robbie! I'm thinkin' we need a "memory lane" thread..... If you have any chopper stuff left in your stash, you'd be a shoe-in for a Born Free build! Interesting sprung seat set-up. I've got a one piece similar style seat on my Beezer chopper. It's mounted directly to the frame and five or six hours in the saddle is plenty for one day!! I did a 12 hour stint one time and it damn near killed me!

[Duda]

Jim Garret had an Indian Patrol in high school. He sold it in 1962. A few years ago he found an Indian Patrol to buy and when picking up the bike he was given a box of parts that had been taken off. The bike turned out to be his old bike and the parts were what he took off of it in 1962. A year later he was looking for parts and called someone who said he had cases for a vertical. Jim asked for the serial# and they were his original cases. He is restoring that bike and two other Patrols and they should be done late summer .

[T. Cotten]

Back in the late '80s, Folks,...

I assisted a family to liquidate a large barnfull, and recorded all of the VINS.

Over two decades later, I helped empty out another estate, in the same town.
A set of Knuck cases smelled familiar, and sure enough, it was from the first pile.

Changing hands only meant moving from one shack to another, but since I logged it,.... it is not only 'provenance', it is also recorded History.

We are makeing History every day, Folks,
but loseing it just as fast.

....Cotten