1949 Front fork lower legs..

[villy]

Hi there.
i have a discussion with a friend here about the 49 only black painted lower legs.
i'm pretty sure they are sand cast aluminum but he claims they were/are cast iron???
Any help??
Thanks and regards from denmark.
Villy

[junkyarddog]

You win.
Cast iron would weigh a ton

[Sargehere]

Yeah, you were right, Villy. The difference in '49 lower legs is that they were sand cast, not die cast, and were painted black. Ask your friend to imagine what they would weigh if they were iron, and since they were bolted to the ends of the axle, are "unsprung weight."
If you know anything about vehicle suspension, you know that you do everything you can to minimize unsprung weight, which, upon being deflected by irregularities in the road, are placed in motion, and the less mass that is being deflected, outboard of the springs or damping mechanism, the easier to control and lighter handling is the vehicle. Cast iron lower legs would be like hanging a ball-and-chain on each side of the bike's front wheel.

[Rubone]

'49 legs also have the casting number on the upper inside just below the machined portion. sometimes the machined part cuts into the numbers. No die-cast legs have this feature.
Robbie

[panz4ever]

Should look something like this. Have also seen one set of casting numbers that were on the inside of the legs, in the middle and extended along the vertical length of the slider.

[Bobber59]

And to add, the '49 sliders were NOT the only sliders painted black. Police sliders in the following years were also black...but like has been stated, they did not have the "49" numbers as shown.

Bobber59

[villy]

Thanks very much Gent's........
Actually i was rather sure i was right, i won the beer..
Thanks again.
Villy