Weld swingarm to hardtail

[bluemarlin]

I have a 58 s/arm frame i want to hardtail. Are the weld on ones any good ? do they give a nice flowing line? any recommendations/advice?
thanks gary

[panfreak]

Are you serious? I can't believe you would butcher such a desirable frame. My advice would be to sell that frame to someone who wants it, thereby preserving another original frame, and taking what you get to buy any one of the many rigid frames you see on the net for sale.

[bluemarlin]

thank you for your reply
assuming it is a genuine 58 frame,[how can you tell for sure?] what is it worth without registration docs? it has not got the original swinging arm, bear in mind in the uk a hard tail frame is going to cost approx. £1500 a weld on hard tail £200 and a friend will weld it up for me.

[Cotten]

DuoGlide frames had no VINS stamped into them. This makes them legal in most USA states for any pre-'69 motor, without further stamping.

For the exact year and month of manufacture, look upon the gusset that supports the rear tank brackets and top motormount. There you will find a letter and a digit stamped. This corresponds to a month and year, such as B 4 would be February '64. (I am trusting my feeble memory a bit, as my literature is all at the shop.)

Welding a hardtail on a decent Duo frame would be stoopid.

[DuoDave]

I've got to agree with Panfreak and Cotten here. It would be a real shame to mess up a good Duo-Glide frame. Before you do anything drastic, make some enquiries with the Harley Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain. They have a site at http://www.hdrcgb.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
They may be able to put you onto to someone who has a hardtail frame at a reasonable price.

[MUTT]

I have my pan in a pacho frame i got for 600.00. I would walk to your house to trade you . PLEASE dont chop that frame .

[bluemarlin]

Joking aside, the previous owner has removed the majority of the original parts and altered the angle of the rear shocks to make the bike lower, the result being the rear suspension is pretty mutch redundant anyway.Even if i wanted to, finding original parts in the uk is going be like finding rocking horse s**t so i might as well make the bike look the way i like

[Welderman]

Hey Bluemarlin i agree with you, it's your bike and you do what ever you want with it. There are to many boring stock bikes around anyway ???

[dirtydistrict]

Hi Welderman, i agree with you on one point: everybody do his own stuff, but totally disagree about the "too many boring stock bikes"; original parts are priceless, they are part of history; too manies frames and parts have been tortured over the years for poor result, the market is full of these s...t. I could write for miles to reply to this post; well, i don't care, this is your opinion but I'm far from this.

[Cotten]

If its already boogered, then what the hell, make it serviceable.

BUT, make it safe!

A hardtail welded on a Duo frame usually has so much extra weight that it defeats the point of going rigid. That's the stoopid aspect, but then chops were never considered a diploma anyway....Go for it!

You could go really retro, and put struts on it. Haven't seen one of those in a while.
Just joking.
Honest.

[chopper]

Hi Eric, dont get upset but i must agree to some of that Welder says. I dont agree that stock bikes are boring but Choppers and Bobbers are Culture and PART OF HISTORY TO !! in fact all choppers are a piece of art and reflects an era and the person that build it. Ok some looks like shit and maybe newer should have been built but at least it's a try from someone to create something personal, choppers are often built from a bike that were a piece of shit and maybe would'nt' be around at all if it was'nt for that someone had the inspiration and the idea to do something with it. I think it would be a sin to take a fine stock bike and chop it but if you have a bike that is full of aftermarket parts and is far from original CHOP it and make it into something you will enjoy to ride....Well now i gonna grab a beer and go to the garage to see if i can find that old springer and the Ford A bone...

[bluemarlin]

I have found the following nos on the top motormount bracket 7d 73 and on a rear frame section 0735273 Am i correct in thinking it is a 1973 frame? now can i get the grinder out!

[haggis]

weld the damn thing right now!!! And while your at it rake the neck an inch...your bike do what you want!!!
Haggis.

[dirtydistrict]

" I think it would be a sin to take a fine stock bike and chop it but if you have a bike that is full of aftermarket parts and is far from original CHOP it and make it into something you will enjoy to ride...."
I totally agree with you Chopper, so do i when you says that Bobber and choppers are part of history; but also a stock Hydra is so beautiful that I wouldn't change a lot: this is the definition, for me, of a motorcycle.
I wanted to say that if you need a good knowledge of these bikes, you need references; only stock bikes can give you that; when you build a Chopper you can't mix parts from 1903 to 2003 cos' it doesn't works, good knowledge and references to stock can only help you in this way; so don't blame stock bikes thanks to her we know where we come from. As usual, i would say it is not a judgment, just my advice; motorcycling learns you doin' things in a personal way. Cheers

[well]

Anybody can restore a antique, but it takes a man to cut one up.