1940 Inline 4 questions.....

Couple of questions regarding an inline 4 I have at the shop (1940).

One: it has a Crocker Steering Damper on the fork stem (leaf springer). Was this an accessory add on available in the day and was it brass or chrome plated (this one has been chromed but the owner wants whatever is original).

Two: the choke actuator is on the left side, but the owner is sure that there was something that moved the actuator to the right side back by the fuel tank. Was this OE for some models or aftermarket?

I look forward to any insights. Thanks. Brent.

The Crocker dampener pieces that I dug out of a barn floor are chromed.

I was told that it was an accessory for specifically for Indians.

....Cotten

Howdy Brent,

The two most common steering dampeners for these machines were an Indian badged unit using a handlebar nut secured slider plate with a yoke straddling the top fuel tank ears and the Crocker to which you refer which is the best of the two. Have both types on my machines and prefer the Crocker. Got mine completely original in chrome years ago (too expensive) and only replated it because the knob had come adrift and skipped down the road prior to my purchase. It, like all I've seen - except one- was chrome. This unplated one was polished like an old door knob on a crusty old 442 with chair and as he'd copper plated his Indian head tank badges and polished them to match, the dampener finish was suspect.

What varies on the ones you see now is the restored finish done to the brass components before plating. The originals were a tad rough but as brass is very easy to buff, platers often turn these into jewelry to distract the customer from the fact their rims didn't come out nearly as well. As I'm sure you're aware, Michael Breeding reproduces these fine units here.

Choke position: 440's were fitted with a one year only DLX 124, last of the Scheblers before the Linkerts commencing with M441 in 1941 and their crude choke handle consists of a short bent plate mounted on the left directly to the choke shaft as you face the machine behind the a/c and have no provisions for cammed low speed needle enrichment. Never seen any extension for this choke arrangement.

Howdy Brent,

....something just occured to me. He thinks it was moved to the right back behind the fuel tank. There is indeed a small button choke looking assembly in that location: it's the manifold heater actuation knob that you pull up to close the butterfly in the header and route exhaust to your intake manifold to reduce iceing.

If your machine is not so fitted, I got a couple of choke assemblies from Elmer Lower of the AMCA years ago and Roy Davies has the butterfly assembly and shaft.

Wow - great information! Thanks so much. Brent.