Originally Posted by
Fibber
My 1950 (hub is marked '49) uses the same straight two piece fender stays nutted on both sides of a tab on the fender as you show, so at least 'some' of your bike is original '50's vintage.
Read my note above - a non-U.S.-market model as late as 1980 can have those stays.
Originally Posted by
Fibber
I also have something curious in the bend (or in this case absence of bend) of the handlebars. My '69 & '73 sweep forward before resolving in the straight center section. The '50 is very plain by comparison. I need to shoot pixs of these little details so that we can compare notes.
I've often hypothesized that the wider bars were something developed for the American market in the '60s (though I think a couple of U.K. examples also featured these bars). They pop up mainly on U.S. examples, and not before the '60s. Greater knee clearance for the big folk, I assume. Post-60's export models retained the narrower bar, and some U.S. models came with them as well (see SirMike1983 and CoreyK's posts).
'73, '73, '76
-Kurt