Footboards

[exeric]

I'm currently working on a '48 FL. My frame was a chopper frame and the rear footboards lugs were axed in it's jaded past so I'm now in the process of welding on a set of real nice reproduction lugs from Competition Dist. My question would pertain to all big twin frames from '37-'57 I presume.

There are 3 types of studs used. The front left and right are the same length (3.25" oal) and part # 50658-36. No problem. The rears are different from each other. The right side rear is the short "L" with the hole for the brake return spring which is only used on BT's. Can't be mistaken for anything else, no problem. The left side rear stud is the tall "L" which I assume is made to clear the primary cover. My question is; are the footboards suppose to look all crooked and out of whack to each other ?

[bmh]

Are the replacement tabs located on at the correct angles? Right side should be 16 deg. off verticle and 36 deg. for the left.
Brian

[exeric]

Brian, I've bolted the front and rear studs to the footboards and then bolted the front studs and footboards to the brake bracket and clutch bracket. By doing this I had hoped that the rear studs (bolted to the new Comp. Dist. lugs) would automatically align themselves to the frame so I can weld them on. I am using all new hardware and new studs in the front. I have found a few "front on" pictures of Big Twins in Bruce Palmer's book and it looks to me that the footboards are not on equal planes. Logically they shouldn't be with the unequal length of the rear "L" studs. I'll try aligning the lugs to the 16 and 36 deg. angles you suggest and see what that does.

[Ohio-Rider]

Eric, I'm working on putting footboards on my 56 this week as well. Like you, I need to weld new lugs to the frame also. Like you, I have also found that if I mount the rear studs to the lug that the lug does not fit squarely to the frame tubing causing the footboards to be out of whack.

What I did was to mount the front and rear studs to the footboards then mount the front stud to the bike. Now put some masking tape around the frame tube where the rear lug will need welded on. Now eyeball the footboard to a comfartable location and rock it around against the masking tape a bit. Now remove the lug from the stud and grind some off it as indicated by the marks left on the masking tape. It doesn't require grinding much off the lug to get it to set nice and flush to the frame tube. I ground about 1/16" off the left side lug and about twice that for the right side. Good Luck. -Steve

[exeric]

Steve, I kind of did what you suggested and got the lugs to fit reasonably well. . . Well enough to weld them. anyhow. I was surprised to discover that Brian's lug hole angles were just about right on. I'm not 100% satisfied but I really don't think you can expect the two sides to be equal given the different lengths of the rear "L" studs. Upon closer examination of factory photos of left and right side views of a Big Twin you will notice that the rear portion of the footboards is indeed different (i.e. higher on the left footboard). Regardless, they're on there now. Thanks for the tips.

[Robert Luland]

YOU CAN DO THIS THE WAY YOU'Re DOING IT. You need a true point of reference which would be verticly straight up through the frame. The frame has to be locked in a jig to position the brackets properly. Bob

[Ohio-Rider]

I sure can’t argue that having the frame in a fixture would indeed be the best way for locating the correct positions for welding the footboard lugs on. Sadly for me being a simple back-yard mechanic, I am constantly force to improvise from the correct way of doing many things just to finding a functional method.

It is this back-yard engineering that keeps so many machines on the road and in use. Sure twenty years from now someone will certainly scratch their head and wonder why these lugs are not in the proper position. I see it as my little gift for the next guy to try and figure out.
LOL. -Steve

[bmh]

For stuff like this , Just block up the frame, level both ways. you can measure or protract from the table or a square. You can relocate alot of minor missing tabs and such this way. And from what I've seen of original frames over the years, the factory seemed to have a fairly wide tolorance on certain things for production.
Brian