Wow

[rbenash]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/260961347905?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

And the auction isn't over yet.

I will be VERY careful as I get gas....

[c.o.]

Wow is right! I'd like to get my hands on a set of those but not those particular ones! Prices have been really strong on e-bay lately.

[exeric]

For example; say you're a millionaire and money is no object. You buy these caps and put them on your perfect, all genuine '47 Knucklehead that has many NOS perfect items on it. I would assume you would brag about the NOS speedo first, or the NOS shock absorber, or the untouched Linkert carb. . . . By the time you get to the NOS gas caps, the joker your're trying to impress is asleep. . . . Just buy the V-Twin caps.

[c.o.]

I hear ya Eric. Do guys really stand around and brag about all their NOS stuff....??? :D I'm still hoping to trip across a couple caps at the bottom of a swapmeet tub...

[exeric]

I used to find those Eaton caps at car meets. 50 cents to a dollar was normal. I think car guy liked them because they were chrome.

[c.o.]

I've heard tons of stories about car meet finds. I'm gonna have to see what the fuss is all about one of these days....:D

[Panuckle]

Hi Guys,
There's no doubt the box is genuine. The gas caps on the otherhand just don't look right. The knurl looks too wide, rivets bigger than normal and the rounded parts on each end of the hold-down blade don't go far enough towards the centre. Sez he bought them in Davenport.Maybe so.But from who ? Olddude !
This morning a real one sold for $ 565.

JMHO John

[Sargehere]

Just went for $637.77. Since AMCA judging is strictly "hands off," a judge will never see that Eaton trademark on the bottom of that cap. As long as it looks good from the outside, as the $25 repops do, it's all in the mind of the owner.

[rbenash]

Hmm - how much of the $637.50 was for the box?

[BNSONS]

Just went for $637.50. Since AMCA judging is strictly "hands off," a judge will never see that Eaton trademark on the bottom of that cap. As long as it looks good from the outside, as the $25 repops do, it's all in the mind of the owner.

I guess that comparison is a sad commentary on the value of AMCA judging.

Dave Bustamante #5189

[rwm]

Just went for $637.50. Since AMCA judging is strictly "hands off," a judge will never see that Eaton trademark on the bottom of that cap. As long as it looks good from the outside, as the $25 repops do, it's all in the mind of the owner.
why can't the judge ask the owner to remove the cap? cory stay away from car meets. they got nothing for you. i would put that little yellow face guy with the wink here but i can't find him.

[Erdos]

Is it only me or do these caps strike anyone else as less than authentic? The inside looks zink plated, I have never seen a Harley box that stated the item inside, they usually say genuine/logo/parts and accessories. I know they are making repops now with the eaton mark inside. Or maybe I am just a skeptic.

[c.o.]

why can't the judge ask the owner to remove the cap? cory stay away from car meets. they got nothing for you. i would put that little yellow face guy with the wink here but i can't find him.

This guy?? ;)

[Sargehere]

I guess that comparison is a sad commentary on the value of AMCA judging.

Dave Bustamante #5189

I think it's a commentary on the dilution of "antique motorcycles" by the rise of REPOPS! Anything, but anything, may be repops these days, I saw that $9,800.00 "8-Valve Harley top end" the other day. The one that pretty much started the complete re-writing of judging rules a couple of years ago, which in turn led to all the internal conflict in the club over judging matching-numbers, bogus numbers and all that. Bolt that to an ordinary F or J bottom end, does that make the bike something that it never was?

It's a new age, but judges can't touch a bike. All stands on what on the bike can be seen. It's not for the owners to stand by and take their bikes apart on the field for inspection. Hell, the horns don't even have to work, as long as the motor is seen to start when it gets there!

[ricmoran]

I can only laff at the folly of it....good for who ever got them, they gave themselves a brain orgasm.

[exeric]

Is it only me or do these caps strike anyone else as less than authentic? The inside looks zink plated, I have never seen a Harley box that stated the item inside, they usually say genuine/logo/parts and accessories. I know they are making repops now with the eaton mark inside. Or maybe I am just a skeptic.

I thought they looked too new as well. Even unused Cad plating tends to get dull and powdery with age.

[gigolo258]

I was at Oley about five years ago and bought a single 40 up footboard for $30, in the bottom of the same tub was a nice single long knurl tall cap,the guy says "oh you can have that for free".I gave it to my buddy Tommy that gives me stuff all the time.

[portagepan]

Honestly, prices like this have pretty much killed the joy of old bikes for people like me. I have one Panhead, and over the years I have enjoyed getting oem HD parts to keep it on the road and mostly original. Not to be judged, just for it to be what it is supposed to be. I didn't want a repop bike. I have no interest in them. But now, the prices are out of my reach for most original stuff, so my days of looking are pretty much over. I could use a tall cap for my left side '65 gas tank, but I hate to ask what one would go for. I have plenty of the short ones, that say Eaton on them. Oh well....
Mike

[upsrod]

Mike, your 65 takes the short one, first used in 65 and non vented.

[Sargehere]

Is it only me or do these caps strike anyone else as less than authentic? The inside looks zink plated, I have never seen a Harley box that stated the item inside, they usually say genuine/logo/parts and accessories. I know they are making repops now with the eaton mark inside. Or maybe I am just a skeptic.


I thought they looked too new as well. Even unused Cad plating tends to get dull and powdery with age.


http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/EatonRepopCap03.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/EatonRepopCap02.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/EatonRepopCap01.jpg

Well, they look identical to the "short serrations" Eaton repop caps I bought from Old Dude a coupla years ago at Eustis. I think I gave him $75 for the pair. Same "flat topped" rivets, same color gasket, same simulation of the Eaton trademark, but no box; "indistinguishable." And the ones we're talking about don't look any older. Including the box for a real one is a nice touch, psychologically.


Hmm - how much of the $637.50 was for the box?

The seller started bidding at only $9.99, but claimed from the beginning that they're real. I'd score it: Box = $550; Caps = $87.77.

[rbenash]

Ahh, now we're getting somewhere. Getting to understand how much was paid for the box :)

[rbenash]

Guess this guy got ripped off. Just got one used cap and no box:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item4162c02509&item=280829633801&nma=true&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&rt=nc&si=qJ8Or4kIHmqvNUwxQnQ3m5g8q5c%253D&vxp=mtr&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

[Sargehere]

Guess this guy got ripped off. Just got one used cap and no box:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&hash=item4162c02509&item=280829633801&nma=true&pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&rt=nc&si=qJ8Or4kIHmqvNUwxQnQ3m5g8q5c%253D&vxp=mtr&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I think that's what the seller sez it is:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/1926-3702.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/1926-3701.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq90/Sarge_74/Tex/1926-3703.jpg

Note the "ledge" around the rim on top, unlike the repop. The rivets have no "flat" in their centers. And the apparent age. Unless, of course, it was artificially aged, but I don't think so. That, from this distance, at least, and the crappy photos, I would say that is probably a real '36-37 gascap. But no box!

[rbenash]

Yeah, I've been doing searches on completed auctions and seeing what you point out. Looks like someone got seriously ripped off.

[portagepan]

"Mike, your 65 takes the short one, first used in 65 and non vented." Rod, the right is short, the left is tall. First year, I think for that, used on the turnpike tanks. I have several "eaton" caps. I didn't know there were repops with the emblem on them! I think Chris Haynes mentioned one time that the later eatons were different. Maybe he will chime in. Also, one difference i see in mine, is the smooth area below the serrations is about 1/16" longer on some. The oldest looking ones, with some pitting on the latch bar inside the caps have taller rivets that stand a little proud, more rounded. None of the rivets on my caps have the flat top, but the finnish on some inside looks yellowish, possibly zinc?
Mike