1950 Servicar questions

[Buddhahoodvatoloco]

I luv it "Andy", ' or just flip it over' eazy peezy said the frog to the mosquito. Thanks for your insights over the years. Respectfully, ruben............

$10,000 would be an underestimate....

Or… Flip that rear end over, buy a ratty Road King or Dresser for $3-4 grand, weld the rear adjustment parts to the swingarm, fab up the rest and have a trike with a 5 speed that will do 80 all day and will last. My friend in Ocala has done this a few times for his wife’s trike, I have ridden with her and the results are amazing.

Andygears

[RUBONE]

I have an extra complete 45 WLA lower end and a 3&R Servi-Car gearbox if you decide to go that way...

[1957flhchop]

Will that springer on a fit a Road King?

My next question was actually similar to this.

Is the steering stem different on these than the 74" and later bikes? I haven't pulled anything apart yet, but it looks smaller.

[RUBONE]

All 45 solo and Servi-Car through '57 used a 7/8" stem and not the 1" stem used on all big twins from '36 up. The steering head casting was also shorter than BT until '58 when they started using Hydra-Glide forks on Servi-Cars. I cannot see the neck of your frame to tell if it is the short or long one.

[1957flhchop]

All 45 solo and Servi-Car through '57 used a 7/8" stem and not the 1" stem used on all big twins from '36 up. The steering head casting was also shorter than BT until '58 when they started using Hydra-Glide forks on Servi-Cars. I cannot see the neck of your frame to tell if it is the short or long one.

Don't know if you can tell much from this or not because of the angle.

servicar 2 (2).jpg (144.29 KiB) Viewed 576 times

[RUBONE]

That is an early short small neck. The later one has an extended bell shape on top and is about 1" or so taller from the top tube up. And from the stem top nut the fork stem is short as well.
Luckily that frame has not been raked so is very restoreable as it sits. I personally would not mess with it unless you just put a Sportster or K model engine in it. If you want to build a Big Twin trike I have the back half of a frame that would work for that.

[1957flhchop]

That is an early short small neck. The later one has an extended bell shape on top and is about 1" or so taller from the top tube up. And from the stem top nut the fork stem is short as well.
Luckily that frame has not been raked so is very restoreable as it sits. I personally would not mess with it unless you just put a Sportster or K model engine in it. If you want to build a Big Twin trike I have the back half of a frame that would work for that.

So basically there is no way I can use this front end on a big twin pan or shovel?

I didn't really have any intention of building a trike. But, I bought this pretty reasonable and thought that I would build it if I could do it the way I wanted and without spending a fortune... which at this point doesn't seem terribly likely

[RUBONE]

So basically there is no way I can use this front end on a big twin pan or shovel?

No real way to tell until you take it off that frame and see what it all measures at. The stem should be easy to change, but it appears the lower tree is in a permanent spot so fabrication would likely be in order.

[1957flhchop]

I had a question about the front wheel also. Since it is clearly not stock, can I still post the question here? Or do I need to start another thread elsewhere?

[1957flhchop]

Thanks for all the help guys

[RUBONE]

I had a question about the front wheel also. Since it is clearly not stock, can I still post the question here? Or do I need to start another thread elsewhere?

You can continue with any questions you like in this thread.

[1957flhchop]

I had 2 other questions
1) Does anybody have any idea what this front wheel may have come from? It is an 18" with a speedometer drive on it(not sure if the 2 were originally from the same application).

servicar front wheel.JPG (313.87 KiB) Viewed 483 times

2) The guy who sold this to me was a close friend of the person who modified this around 1970. He said the front end was from Sugar Bear. Is there any way to either confirm or deny this?

Once again, thanks for the help.

[RooDog]

Rotate that speedo 180* and you won't need that loop in the cable....

And you could just ask old SB about it....

https://sugarbearchoppers.com/sugarbear_contact.html

[1957flhchop]

Rotate that speedo 180* and you won't need that loop in the cable....

And you could just ask old SB about it....

https://sugarbearchoppers.com/sugarbear_contact.html

Thanks for the link.

As for the speedo cable, that'll be somebody elses worry. Personally, I think having the speedo drive on the front wheel is ugly as all get out so it will likely go down the road with the wheel. If/when I get a chance to use the front end I will find a 19" rim for it... or I have a 21" around here somewhere.

[Mongrel505558]

Rotate that speedo 180* and you won't need that loop in the cable....

And you could just ask old SB about it....

https://sugarbearchoppers.com/sugarbear_contact.html

Good to see Sugar Bear is still doing his thing. He was the long forks main man, or at least one of them, in the chopper glory days.