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11-06-2018 #1Junior Member
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Vintage Springer Identification Needed
I recently asked for help on identifying a vintage girder and TriNortchopz replied with a very detailed and thorough answer. Well, I have another vintage front end (springer) that I need help identifying as well. I'd appreciate any information at all.
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11-06-2018 #2Senior Member
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Some close up pictures of the upper portion would help - with the top tree off to see the shape of the upper spring perch - the metal part between the upper and lower springs. What is the diameter of the neck post?
The lower front leg sleeved connection at the rocker, shape of the rear part of the rockers, and shape of upper spring perch are some identifying features.
Take a look here:
The designated springer ID thread
https://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/...1883&showall=1
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11-07-2018 #3Junior Member
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Hello again TriNortchopz. I've attached some close up photos of the springer. I looked over the photos on the link you provided and didn't see any matches. The neck stem is 1".
Originally Posted by TriNortchopz
I'll take more photos if needed. Thank you for your help.
Last edited by MsEvette; 11-07-2018 at 7:31 PM.
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11-07-2018 #4Senior Member
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It looks like the portion of the back leg above the upper spring perch (where the upper tree fits on) is a smaller diameter than the rest of the rear leg - is it?
Further identifying features include the 'cone-shaped' nuts on top of the spring rods, the curved sides of the upper spring perch and the back of the lower tree has a 'raised' flat - not straight across from one side to the other...those rockers are definitely funky!
EDIT: Can see now (photo 4) that the sleeves on the bottom of the front leg are threaded, and notice that the rockers are not a continuous smooth arc - there are some flat segments - which typically leans to homemade...
I'll be searchin'.Last edited by TriNortchopz; 11-07-2018 at 7:42 PM.
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11-07-2018 #5Junior Member
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Yep, it's .900" above the upper spring perch and 1.245" below it. The shape of the rockers are funky indeed. What's your thoughts on the grease fittings where the legs are attached to the rockers?
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11-07-2018 #6Senior Member
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Grease fittings are good, but those ones seem to be mounted really close to the rocker plate - can you even fit a regular grease gun fitting on there? Originally Posted by MsEvette
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11-07-2018 #7Senior Member
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I think...I think ya got a 1966-67 Dick Allen springer.
Check out this photo from The Chopper Handbook:
"The photo below shows a set of the 'improved' forks made with the new perch around late 66 or early 67."
Note any similarities?
"As long as Springers have been around people have been making all kinds of modifications to these sweet little front-ends. They've been shortened, lengthened, widened, narrowed and hacked apart and reconfigured in dozens of different ways by countless chopper enthusiasts and fork builders but the Master of the Art was Dick Allen.
Nobody knows for sure when Allen first started to mess around with forks and most of the oldest photographs show him riding bikes with hydraulic front ends but I first talked with him in 62 about working on a set of Girder forks. I got his name from a friend of a friend of a friend so he must have had a considerable reputation by then. I found myself needing a set of narrowed Harley Springer forks in 1964 and tried to contact Allen again but he had become the invisible man. I sent out some feelers and found him working in a transmission shop in Southern California but he was still building bikes and doing custom fork work..."
"In many ways Allen's 'fancy' rockers, as we called them, were probably the ultimate for long-lasting custom Springers. The trunnion added a significant amount of strength to the rocker and the larger bushing area contributed to long service life. As far as I know Lewis Dulin is the only guy still making these great rockers as seen below. You won't run across these to often as they are fairly rare. They were expensive and time consuming to build so not to many of these were sold on the production forks." See photo below with front leg adapter, but different rockers:
http://chopperhandbook.com/Dick-Allen-Springers-1.htm
and
from 2102 on ChopCult:
I found this by accident........
"In the April, 1973 issue, Bunch did a feature on Motor Mouse's fresh build, with a '64 Pan/Shovel combo for power. As I was looking at the feature (and I've looked at this dozens of times over the years), I read the part of the article that said "Up front, Mouse chose an early (Note from me - notice it said early) Dick Allen 15 over springer, which runs on an 18 - inch tire and spool hub". Then I looked at the photo of Mouse's Dick Allen springer on his bike again.......do you notice what I did? Look at the distance separating the top springs.....it's a Dick Allen-built WIDE springer!"
http://www.chopcult.com/news/blogs/i...-17-40-02.html
It may be, and somebody built some different rockers...
Look at one of his early builds here:
http://flatbrokecustoms.blogspot.com...-springer.html
and a bit more here on Dick:
Remembering Dick Allen
The Socal Custom Master
https://www.bikernet.com/pages/Remem...ick_Allen.aspxLast edited by TriNortchopz; 11-07-2018 at 10:38 PM.
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11-08-2018 #8Junior Member
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I think you're correct! Wow, you have an excellent eye for detail! I admire your passion for hunting these front ends down. Your contribution on this forum is very much appreciated! Originally Posted by TriNortchopz
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01-19-2021 #9Junior Member
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Fats Noriega made that springer not Dick Allen.
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01-19-2021 #10Senior Member
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If the grease gun chuck isn't narrow enough you could replace the fittings with the smaller and less visually obtrusive "flush" style that use a needle gun tip instead of a chuck as used on the Zerk style in the photo. There are MANY grease fitting designs and thread pitches and materials (including stainless) and fittings are cheap so it's easy to have what you want. Originally Posted by TriNortchopz
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01-20-2021 #11Senior Member
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found this:Fats Noriega made that springer not Dick Allen.
Fats... The Other South Bay Builder
"When it comes to South Bay Choppers one might automatically think Dick Allen, but there was another well known local builder... Fats. I've known of him and his shop (Sportster Heaven, or was it Haven?), his brother and have a magazine featuring their bikes (The Brothers Noriega)..."
"Fats (R.I.P.), built his own version of the Dick Allen springer. It featured bolted/pinned trees with a square (bottom), spring perch. Steve Sharp continues to build them the Fats way. Photo sent by Joe Hurst."
https://motorcycleart.blogspot.com/2...y-builder.html
Had this one of Fats Noriega brothers in my files, with, note rockers:
and this one:
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