55khkjoe wrote:is that a coil bracket, Dave
Joe - right you are. RogerM and JerryR just e-mailed me. Roger said
"this retainer is a 51526-52A; new for 1967 and serves as the coil mounting bracket for the electric start bikes (and continued in use as the retaining plate for solo seat optioned bikes). I'm pretty sure when this came along it superceded the old style plate; it was used well up into the seventies. The 1967 book shows both plates, but my 1971 book just shows the -52A as fitting everything with solo seats. I believe the -52A retaining plate was also used on the XLCH models starting in 1970 when the magneto was dropped."
And we learned something else from Roger - about the Seat Tees.
There are early and late 51902-54 seat T-bars; yours is the later version, which has added material around the nose where the bolt goes through. The early version is much lighter duty. No clear evidence when this changed; an original paint solo-seat (from new) '59 XLH I examined had the late version and is about 500 numbers higher than my CH serial number (59XLCH2361); a British magazine tested an early '59 CH and it has the early seat bar (also long ribs on the front fender struts). The early T bars are much more common since they were used '54 - (early/mid) '59, and the later ones would only have been used (early/mid) '59 and 1960 production; starting in '61 the dual seat was standard instead of the solo. Most people aren't even aware there is a difference.
Well Dang, I wasn't aware of the difference, and now I've bought the wrong one for my '54. But I guess that's the beauty of this website - others can learn from my mistake. I looked at the one on my 1962 XLCH, and it appears the same. My 62 came with the dual seat on it, but the solo in a box of parts, and springs and plungers in the bike. I think it was either ordered with the bike, or purchased as spare parts not too long afterwards.
The solo seats were available as an option, or as spare parts, at least through 1969. The 1976 Parts Book shows the solo seat as used through 1970. Interestingly, it shows the 51526-52A retaining plate through 1972 - I guess in 1971 and 1972 it was needed just for someplace to mount the coil?
Roger (and all the ships at sea) - do you have an early tee you could take photos of so we could post a set of comparison photos? (And anybody want to trade an early one for a late one?)
