UA Numbers

Hey all, do these numbers and letters look correct? I have open top U on my other bike which is a 1942, but I'm not sure about a 1940.

This isn't a trick question....I know the 0 is damaged, but is the U & A correct or not. I don't have anything to compare them to except my U

Kurt

I have a couple of 40U case sets in the shop for repair, I'll have a look.

Kurt,
They look good to me. I used to have a 40 UA that I regretfully no longer do, so I can't check the numbers for you. Hopefully Kyle has the answer to your question.
Robbie

Both the 4 and the U are different from the factory numbered examples I have here. If you need pictures Kurt, send me a PM with email address and I'll send some.

Both the 4 and the U are different from the factory numbered examples I have here. If you need pictures Kurt, send me a PM with email address and I'll send some.

Thanks a bunch amklyde!!!

Yes, please send them to info@45partsdepot.com

I'm going to guess the 4 is suppose to be an open top and the U doesn't have the dashes (can't remember the word for those) on top.

Kurt I believe the 4's are correct and believe that they are closed into 1943. I would not count the U wrong until I had further input. Sometimes there is not much logic to be applied on something that was not a science.

Jerry

Kurt, the photo below shows the only UA serial number in my collection. (And the three characters I blacked out also appear authentic.) The usual 4 for 1940 Flathead and Knucklehead serial numbers had a closed top and a wide serif base. The seriffed A appears to be authentic and I’ve also seen the seriffed A in a 1940 WLA serial number, although my photo of that one is blurry. For the 1941 WLA, I have good photos showing that both the seriffed A and the sans serif A were used.



I have U-series examples for every year of their production except 1943 but the only ones that have a seriffed U are from early-1937 models. Later in the 1937 production run, H-D changed to several different stamps, including a sans serif U. So it seems unusual for a seriffed U to be in a 1940 production serial number.

But the seriffed U in your photo could just be an exception, assuming the characters you didn’t show are correct for 1940? Or it could be a replacement case stamped by a dealer who applied the wrong U. Do you know if it was a replacement case? Eric

Both the 4 and the U are different from the factory numbered examples I have here. If you need pictures Kurt, send me a PM with email address and I'll send some.

Thanks a bunch amklyde!!!

Yes, please send them to info@45partsdepot.com

I'm going to guess the 4 is suppose to be an open top and the U doesn't have the dashes (can't remember the word for those) on top.

The dashes are serifs.

Sheriffs?????????????

RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello,
I too have had a 40 UA for several years now. Currently not running, but hope to have her operational the middle of next year. Hopefully the image will upload properly and not display too large. Still somewhat new at this.
Ed

The more I read about this stuff, the more convinced I am that there are NO DEFINATIVES regarding this situation! The #'s in the original post appear Un-Altered, but are different from other Supposed #'s that others have possession of. I think that Individual Employees had their stamp sets, and while similar, there could be MANY instances where Legitimate #'s could Vary Widely!! Anybody who has Ever Been In A Factory would knot that NOTHING is ABSOLUTE!

[Pa]

Flathead Ed's photo. Pa

I'd say it's good. The number stamps don't match - but then that's so common that I'm inclined to accept it if the case and boss look virgin, and in this instance they do.

A great many '40s had the year digits together on one stamp, like Flathead Ed and Eric's uniformity suggests.

But that doesn't mean that all did.

Note the sharp point at the top of the "4"
The earlier font had the point truncated.

This collection suggests that the serifs were dropped on big twins in 1937 somewhere between 1760 and 1765.


Perhaps old stamps were dedicated to the military, along with old stock of cases. It would be interesting to know the belly numbers, of course.

....Cotten
PS: photo credit to Panic for some of the examples.
PPS: Do these thumbnails open up for everybody?

Here's the belly #'s

Yes, but slowly.

A hint: when linkage to an image on another site, there's a method for forcing the browser to open it on a new page (making the "back" button redundant).
Instead of <a href="XXXXX.com"></a>, use <a href="XXXXX.com" target="_blank"></a>

a 4000 vin #, and 1555 belly number is a very unlikely combination.

Tom.....it's not a 4000 vin.......which is now why I know the cases are bogus, plus they don't fall in line with anything Bruce has in his Military book. And after looking at the pix I have again, the cast date on the gear case is H 7....can't read the left case.

Thanks for all of the input and replies.

Too bad about these cases....I got them from someone years ago who I thought was a reputable person in the business.....now I know better.

Too bad about these cases....I got them from someone years ago who I thought was a reputable person in the business.....now I know better.

Why would you say that? You can't be certain. No one who has replied can be certain. What would make you Assume then, that the person who sold you the cases was Certain one way or another?