Hydra-Glide fender emblems

[JimRaynovic]

I am restoring my 57 panhead and have a original fender that the previous owner had drilled three holes in the front sides of the fender for the Hydra-Glide emblems. Were those emblems ever available as an official accessory. I am at the point of getting ready to paint and now is the time to either plug the holes or go with the emblem. Thanks for all the helpful information.
Jim

[Rubone]

The emblems were indeed an over the counter accessory, however '52 is the last year they appear in the consumer catalogs.

[JimRaynovic]

I guess the question now is " will I lose points if my 57 has a 53 accessory even if it did come out of the dealers display case? Also I am using PPG Polyurethane paint and it has a very high gloss, will I lose points if my paint is too shiny? All I can find about the degree of shine on the paint is "a highly polished finish" I can reduce some of the gloss by using course rubbing compound or I could make the original paint shine like poly with the modern polishes. I am just looking for some clarification on the level of gloss on a mid 50's motorcycle.

[vph-d]

I don't think you'll lose any points over your Hydra-Glide trim, as they would be considered an accessory, not taking the place of any standard part, to be ignored during judging. You will, however, lose points for an overly shiny paint job. Try to scope out some restored machines for examples of correct paint. Avoid over polishing of the fork legs, and head light trim, too.
VPH-D

[JimRaynovic]

Thank you for the heads up. It is sometimes easy to confuse "Quality" with "perfection".