another trans. case tag---------50 fl

[tschukojr]

i, ve been following the recent post with the trans. case tag photo, here's mine is that left hand digit , an 8 or a B, i;ve been looking in my palmersa book, but can't locate any info on actuall date codes or anything, for transmisions, this is from my 50 FL., and it has the vent plug in the case-------thanks tony

[Hog54]

As long as thats a 0 on the right,its a 50.The other number dont really matter cause its just the month.

[RUBONE]

As long as thats a 0 on the right,its a 50.The other number dont really matter cause its just the month.

Despite what HOG54 says the month DOES matter as the production year and calendar year are not the same. How high is your serial number? That case is late in '50 and on the cusp of transition to '51 models. '50 was a pretty big production year so it might be fine for a high number, especially a 5 digit one. An early '50 would have a '49 date coded trans.
Robbie

[tschukojr]

thanks for the replies,--so the 0 on the right indicates, 1950, i assume thats an 8 on the left, because if it was a letter it 's a B--( i was under the impression that ,that digit is supposed to be a letter)- the 8 works meaning august, i assume---yes a high vin #50FL108XX------- i,am just curious about speculating what might be original, ( not much ) on the bike the kicker cover is not, and it has a foot ratchet lid.----thanks again ----tony schuko

[tschukojr]

you know, that number is easier to read in the pic , than in person-------------tony

[Speeding Big Twin]

Tony, Palmer’s main mention of the BT trans case is on pages 282-284 but he doesn’t include date code info. I think your code looks more like 8 0 (August 1950 casting) than B 0 (February 1940 casting) and in support of my opinion your second photo contains a clue: the type of insert for the mounting bolt on the right-hand side. With unaltered cases, there are at least three ways to tell the difference between 1950 and 1940 but I’ve never read about any of those three ways in Palmer’s book.

Notice the insert looks like steel as opposed to bronze. The change to said insert occurred around 1943–44 so a steel insert would be consistent with code 8 0 (Aug 1950). If your code was B 0 (Feb 1940) then I would have expected to see a bronze insert.

Can you please post two more photos: one of the bottom of the case showing the area around the two mounting studs on the left; and a photo showing the whole left side of the case. The first of the two photos I’m requesting may provide a definite answer and the second photo may also help.
Eric

[tschukojr]

wow thanks , lots of great info from you guy's here's they other pics "SPEDDING BIG TWIN " asked for , --------tony S.

[Speeding Big Twin]

Good photos, Tony. The area around the mounting studs on the left side is consistent with August 1950 casting.

Pictures I have of other cases indicate that up to and including February (and probably March) of 1949 the casting for those two areas was less beefy. The first case below is a February 49 (B9) casting and you’ll notice the difference between it and yours:



I don't know exactly when the casting changed but as early as July 1949 (G 9) the extra material was added:



The next photo is yours and we can see the extra material around the forward mounting stud extends up the side to the usual height:



Also notice the flattened bosses under the two red crosses. Both bosses were flattened as original for 1947-later models to accommodate the (hand) gear shifter lever which was changed from pointing up to pointing down. Prior to that the two bosses remained rounded. Bosses on some early cases have been flattened by people other than H-D but if you see a case with the two rounded bosses then they would indicate a 1946 or earlier model case.

Getting back to date codes for the BT trans case, the letter-number format appeared as early as April 1938 and remained in use through at least November (and probably December) of 1949. However, for 1948–49 the letter I wasn’t used because of confusion with the number 1 so the letter M was introduced to indicate December for those two years. Numbers-only codes began as early as January 1950 and at least two different formats were used over the years: sometimes only one number was used to indicate the year but sometimes two were used. And sometimes both formats were used in the same year--for example, in 1959 you'll find codes such as 1 59, 3 59 and 5 59, but also 10 9 and 11 9.
Eric

[tschukojr]

thanks eric, i cant say enuff how much i love learning this stuff---again thankyou----------tony s.