If Great Minds Think Alike, I Shoulda' Been Born A Century Ago

I like the old rigid frame stockers and choppers. Used to love a 45" trike I had as a kid, that seat was a nice big ol'seat, and felt like a great big tractor seat. Hmm, maybe it's the fact it was a Servi car?? At any rate, I always liked the way it looked, no springs in the back, and rode up and down on internal springs inside a down tube on the frame. Nice sleek concealed mounting place, holding adjustable springs, a really beautiful, well thought out design.

Moving forward a few years, I got into Brit bikes and choppers, the early ones having kidney killer seats, bolted directly to the rigid frame! The smart guys would throw on little 3 inch springs to cushion the road a bit, but far from adequate. At one point I had switched to a 1951 Triumph Thunderbird, rigid framed, but with about 9 inch springs. Fairly comfortable, decent travel, but those bloody springs could scratch the paint on a severe pot hole bounce, not to mention the chrome rusting and pitting as time took it's toll. So I began to look at a way to get rid of the springs, or at least conceal them.

A close look at my frame showed the possibility of mounting and internal spring horizontally in the upper support tube, much like the old Harley seat post, but at a different angle. Although the idea had it's possibilities, it was never implemented; I was content enough to keep bouncing along in relative comfort and swearing at the crappy chroming whenever I'd clean the bike.

Imagine my surprise when I found this lovely little nugget! Just what I had imagined, but dating back to 1946 on an English made Sunbeam motorcycle! Although the ad does not mention it, it could probably be adjusted for a taller rider as well by adding a "U" shaped strap of metal at the nose of the seat with a couple of different holes drilled into the sides of the "U" to set the nose a 1/2", 1" or maybe even 1 1/2" taller! Yep, great minds think alike, even if they are decades apart........