Interesting modifications...

[SunbeamS7]

Greetings to Fellow Douglas Enthusiasts,
I am posting these pics as a matter of interest and conjecture, background as:
Frame # CF7878
This frame and its petrol tank (and another frame /misc parts) was advertised in the LDMCC newsletter some months ago, listed as: "For Free", located in Queensland and contact to owner via LDMCC. Contact made, transaction done, now said parts are in NSW with me.
History  Per previous owner, he acquired these Douglas parts 50+ years ago in MT. Isa, he has had them ever since, and most graciously he wanted them to go to a Douglas enthusiast and not, the tip.
I am curios about rationale regrading the rationale behind frame/petrol tank modifications.
Thoughts, welcome.
Regards,
bryan

[douglas1947]

Hello Bryan,

may be this is the first "Easy Rider Bike"!
Decades before Peter Fonda + Dennis H. prepaired their Harleys.

Michael

[cardan]

Hi Bryan,

CF7878 seems to be a CW from the end of the 1925 season https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/aa-files/html/identify-part1/veteran3.6.htm , so the mods were likely made in the 1930s when an old flat-tank bike was out of fashion and cheap. In the early 1930s there was not much money about...

This sort of mod was extremely popular around 1912-13-14, when new bikes all had a dropped tank rail to get the saddle height down so that a seated rider could plant two feet on the ground. Lots of early bikes (particularly good quality ones like four-cylinder FNs or v-twins) had their frame tubes dropped - there were plenty of adverts from workshops offering to "update" old bikes.

Of course the CW was reasonably low already, but nowhere near as low as the EW and other saddle-tank bikes of the late 1920s. Someone wanted a very low saddle; I guess we shouldn't rule out someone of unusually small stature.

There were a couple of bikes that left the factory with a flat tank that curled down at the bank: Grandex in the UK and Leitch/Riley in Hamilton in western Victoria come to mind. Not a bad look! At least you'll recognise the bike if it appears in a period photo - I'd be tempted to leave it as it is.

Cheers

Leon

[SunbeamS7]

Thanks Michael and Leon for your thoughts about the modified Douglas frame, i appreciate it.
No plans for it at this stage, although the petrol tank may be "unmodified" to suit another Douglas (?).
Cheers
bryan

[douglas1947]

Bryan,

please understand my thoughts to the modified Douglas just for a joke!

Michael