Help with 1913 Douglas running boards.

[George Kulisiewicz]

I have been looking for a set of Douglas runningboards to fit by 1913 model R Douglas… I have seen pictures of these runningboards that look to be constructed out of wood with brass trim around the edging… Since I have been having no luck finding any originals I was thinking on making a set for my bike… I am curious to know some details and dimensions of these runningboards and possibly some pictures of how the connection or clamping mechanism is on the bottom side… Would anyone be able to help me with either some pictures or dimensions along with any details regarding the construction of these runningboards ?… Thank you in advance George

[Hutch]

Hi George,

I don't have the dimensions of original footboards but found this from the 1916 "The Handbook of the Douglas Motorcycle" showing the
 2 3/4 HP footboards and the brackets that are used to attach them. I would assume these are the same as the 1913 ones (?)

You may be able to estimate some rough dimensions from the picture.

Cheers

Hutch

[George Kulisiewicz]

Thank you Hutch… that’s a good start for sure… these were definitely pretty basic… I’m wondering what type of wood they wood have used? Thank you for the pictures and information!

[eddie]

The boards that were on the LDMCC's 1912 were a single plank of timber with a brass angle surround, and light brown lino top surface. The underside view (above) shows a slightly darker surround - that is a chamfer
 of about 10 degrees on the underside of the board. The holes for the fixing bolts for the fittings were drilled and the bolts pulled into the timber before the lino was glued to the top.

  Hope this helps,
                          Eddie.

[EW-Ron]

What colour was the lino ?
Jist curious ...

[EW-Ron]

Couldn't help noticing these on the adjacent Barn Find 2¾hp Restoration thread
Later than 1913 but ...

(what is that little heel ? peddle )





SessionId removed from image link - Dave, 14May2024

[Hutch]

.... The underside view (above) shows a slightly darker surround - that is a chamfer
 of about 10 degrees on the underside of the board. The holes for the fixing bolts for the fittings were drilled and the bolts pulled into the timber before the lino was glued to the top.

  Hope this helps,
                          Eddie.

Very interesting about the chamfer on the underside of the 1912 footboards, Eddie. I have never seen any originals (edit - in person) so didn't know this existed! :-). I have no idea if this feature was carried over to the later years. In the picture "footboard A" which is a 1913 or 1914 2 3/4hp there appears (?) to be a gap between the support tube and the underside of the footboard - I had not noticed this before you mentioned about the chamfer - so maybe you are onto something there?!. I did have some pictures of some original footboards that were on e-bay a few years ago but unfortunately cannot find them......I found the link I had to the advert but when I went into ebay to look at the pictures they were well and truly expired...such is life!

I had a quick look through some period pictures of 2 3/4hp footboards (circa 1913-14) and these are the best I could find. I think the wider bracket (599D) at the front of the footboard would have been used when the brake pedal and/or clutch pedal is used at the front of footboard to help locate the pedal on the rest? Hard to find good pictures tho'!.

EW-Ron, the little pedal shown is the rear brake pedal and on the models it is used on, is usually mounted on a bracket (619D) which also doubles as the rear engine mount.

https://www.douglasmotorcycles.net/index.php?topic=6802.msg25750#msg25750 has some more information of this subject. On Doogle's bike, this is missing and the pedal has simply been mounted onto the footboard. (Edit - Cutout on RHS footboard seems to indicate it did have the bracket 619D and little pedal mounted on it at some stage in the past....)

Picture footboard D is included as it shows the approximate spacing of the fasteners that hold on the brass edge strips.

Cheers

Hutch