Identifying RotJ Speederbike parts

[RandomPropGeek]

Hello fellow enthusiasts,
i'm looking to identify the parts used for the handlebars of the lifesize, most iconic Speederbike from RotJ. My research has brought me so far as to conclude they where most probably from the front suspension, called "transverse control arm" of a car. The size suggests it's from a passenger car or small van/delivery car. The approximate size is 17,5 inches, that's about 45cm. As the bikes were build in the UK, the direction i'm heading to is common, english market 60's/70's/(80's?) era cars. I found similar shaped parts still used today, so i guess they were not of any earlier years. The material is Aluminium, forged or cast. the "brakelines" of the Speederbike are attached to some original looking fixtures, which underlines the suspension origin. At the end of the "arms", facing outwards are some kind of round "cagelike" looking parts attached. They look like some kind of a bearing component, which further points to suspension parts.. The motorcycle throttle grips used, are also yet to be identified. The horizontal cable outcome is cut off and fixed in such a way that it protrudes vertically downwards from the grip. This detail clearly shows on a lot of photos. The throttlegrip part itself seems not to have any knobs/buttons etc. (besides the screwholes to attach it to the handelbars) which on a motorcycle from the 70's/80's usually is a standard, it's quite unusual for the making of these handthrottles from later than 1960s onwards. The shape of the throttle grips, again suggests they were from 70's/80's motorcycles. I searched days, but could not find a match.
Also the rubber grips of the Speeder are yet to be identified. I read some mentioning of Honda grips to be used, but one photo of a Speeder grip shows a "Made in Italy" imprint. My research in this direction has brought no succes yet.


Now i'm especially calling out to all you UK based fans to ask anybody in your circumference dealing with vintage, english market passenger cars (Vauxhall, Ford, Morris...) and 70's/80's mass market motorcycles, if they have any clue of the model car/motorcycle the Speederbike parts were used from. I'd be happy to spark a new discussion/conversation about this topic.

Photo credits of the attached pictures go to Toro Model Studio/Miniaturas de Cine

 

[Halliwax]

Wicked interesting… I have been in the automotive field my whole life, I’ve never seen control arms like this

Do you have close examples of the arms on a vehicle?

This is wicked wicked interesting to me

 

[RandomPropGeek]

Hi Halliwax, guess you're located in Europe, or your suffering from insomnia...
I never found a picture of a close match, (even though the vintage parts geometry looks more like it) but of arms constructed in the same principle/similar geometry(now we talk engineering), yesss..!
See this photo, just a quick search for "transverse arm". The upper and lower fixing points are oriented in the same direction, as is the fixing point with the hole. Sure the shape and geometry is quite off, but you will agree that the principle fixing points/orientation are very close

 

[RandomPropGeek]

Correcting myself: 2 of the fixing points are in the same orientation, the one on the right side is completely different. But i strongly suggest that even then the Speederhandle is very close to this field. Passenger/ small load Vehicle, transverse arm. Could be that the more simple geometry from the Speederhandle is owed to a slightly earlier design of that part. Better example below.

 

[Halliwax]

I’m in the states, but only sleep 3.5/4 hours a night… many doctors tell me it’s impossible but I have the data for proof… my day starts at 3:30am

Ok; so when I’m told “control arm” I’m thinking of an actual control arm on front or rear independent suspension

This looks more to me as a “trailing arm” or “tail arm” this would connect to the rear axle

Then again.. I deal with a lot of vintage American cars.. so it could be possible this is some kind of modified control arm, like they cut off the other side of the wish bone

But from what you’ve shown me in these pics I see a “rear trailing arm”

 

[Halliwax]

 

[RandomPropGeek]

I see what you mean, but the orientation of the fixing points (at least in your picture) is so much different. I would also suspect american vintage cars are different in construction, regarding the mostly much more powerful engines. And take in consideration that the Speederbikes were built in the UK, so it's quite unlikely they sourced foreign made cars. All the results i get when searching for vintage european cars' lower transverse control arm are visually into the same direction which, to this point, look more convincing. I'm looking forward to a further discussion. People! Get involved!

 

[Halliwax]

I see what you mean, but the orientation of the fixing points (at least in your picture) is so much different. I would also suspect american vintage cars are different in construction, regarding the mostly much more powerful engines. And take in consideration that the Speederbikes were built in the UK, so it's quite unlikely they sourced foreign made cars. All the results i get when searching for vintage european cars' lower transverse control arm are visually into the same direction which, to this point, look more convincing. I'm looking forward to a further discussion. People! Get involved!

Just googled, sure enough I see it now! Wow! Totally different kind of construction

 

[Probe Droid]

My pix from the 2015 costume exhibit. Hope they help. Good luck!

 

[Dart]

The second photo, the one that shows the red button on the end of the grip - the piece that wraps around that end almost looks like a plug for a bulb (the thin slot pointing to the left in the photo). Reminds me of the bulb sockets on my old 2000 Chevy Cavalier.

The red button itself doesn't look anything special as you can get similar shaped ones in stores now.

Looking at the knobs on the control panel, I always felt like they were old radio knobs but I could never find the correct "castle" shape with the cone in the middle.

This is such a cool idea, and good luck! I feel like the body bits are obviously sized up from the smaller model (at least a few threads here that detail all the kit parts to build those).

 

[RandomPropGeek]

The second photo, the one that shows the red button on the end of the grip - the piece that wraps around that end almost looks like a plug for a bulb (the thin slot pointing to the left in the photo). Reminds me of the bulb sockets on my old 2000 Chevy Cavalier.

The red button itself doesn't look anything special as you can get similar shaped ones in stores now.

Looking at the knobs on the control panel, I always felt like they were old radio knobs but I could never find the correct "castle" shape with the cone in the middle.

This is such a cool idea, and good luck! I feel like the body bits are obviously sized up from the smaller model (at least a few threads here that detail all the kit parts to build those).

If the socket is for a bulb, then it must be one of those small bulbs with a flat socket made in glas, from which the wires protrude and are bent around the edge of the socket. Often used (at least over here in Germany) for halogen room lights, mostly in the 90's, where i know them from. I haven't put a focus on that part too much yet. The square "bumps" besides the suspected "socket" look like rubber bushings to take vibration/rubbing, also the quite thick material(steel or aluminium, i'd go for steel) looks as it had to withstand a considerable amount of force for such a small part. The button, as you mention, is easily sourceable and the endcap of the grip as well.
I'm much more curious about the handlebars and the model of gas throttle. Note: The square, stacked "washers"don't belong to a hand throttle. They look like stacked core material for solenoids or other electric components.

 

[eethan]

The second photo, the one that shows the red button on the end of the grip - the piece that wraps around that end almost looks like a plug for a bulb (the thin slot pointing to the left in the photo). Reminds me of the bulb sockets on my old 2000 Chevy Cavalier.

The red button itself doesn't look anything special as you can get similar shaped ones in stores now.

Looking at the knobs on the control panel, I always felt like they were old radio knobs but I could never find the correct "castle" shape with the cone in the middle.

This is such a cool idea, and good luck! I feel like the body bits are obviously sized up from the smaller model (at least a few threads here that detail all the kit parts to build those).

just for the record, the small radio buttons have been identified, there are several variations that exists, but the accurate ones are made by Bulgin.

 

[sparkmatter]

I’m in the states, but only sleep 3.5/4 hours a night… many doctors tell me it’s impossible but I have the data for proof… my day starts at 3:30am

My irl friend group is primarily college students with ADHD and that's a pretty average schedule for me and my crew so I believe it XD (although I'm a night owl so I go to bed a bit before you wake up lol)
Painting props at midnight by the light of a desklamp with some midnight snacks is pretty much my favorite calming routine at this point, theres something lovely about the quiet in the earliest hours of the day

 

[CatfoodRob]

Ive been a Car Mechanic in the UK since the mid seventies and certainly dont recognise the handlebar struts as being car suspension components .
looking at the photos above they look like plastic and wood .

 

[RandomPropGeek]

Ive been a Car Mechanic in the UK since the mid seventies and certainly dont recognise the handlebar struts as being car suspension components .
looking at the photos above they look like plastic and wood .

I stick with Aluminium, dropforged or cast.

 

[Mottrex]

The second photo, the one that shows the red button on the end of the grip - the piece that wraps around that end almost looks like a plug for a bulb (the thin slot pointing to the left in the photo). Reminds me of the bulb sockets on my old 2000 Chevy Cavalier.

The red button itself doesn't look anything special as you can get similar shaped ones in stores now.

Looking at the knobs on the control panel, I always felt like they were old radio knobs but I could never find the correct "castle" shape with the cone in the middle.

This is such a cool idea, and good luck! I feel like the body bits are obviously sized up from the smaller model (at least a few threads here that detail all the kit parts to build those).

Just passing through, the red button on the grip looks like a kill switch from a motor cross bike maybe?
That addon part looks like a UK fuse holder casing? Some dirt bikes and even my dad's mopeds had like a box with fluid in.

 

[RandomPropGeek]

Just passing through, the red button on the grip looks like a kill switch from a motor cross bike maybe?
That addon part looks like a UK fuse holder casing? Some dirt bikes and even my dad's mopeds had like a box with fluid inI

The red button is a controlpanel pushbutton, easy to source.

The 'end of the grip part' might well be a fuse holder, but then for what kind of fuse? I've never seen such a "keyhole" shape on a fuse.

The "box" you mention is the brake fluid container on a motorcycle, but that was not used on the Speeder. The "boxy" part you see is stacked 'washers' of some kind (i suspect solenoid parts) and the part they are fixed to is the housing of a gas throttle of a motorcycle, but which model i could not identify yet. There a two ways the cable from bike handthrottles protrude, vertically & horizontally. For the Speeder they used throttlegrips with hor. orientation, but cut them off to fix the silver cables vertically:

Here's a modern throttlegrip:

Speederbike:

 

[thd9791]

The "keyhole" thing is a cassette recorder button. That's a really common mount for the metal levers beneath the switches. It's not the TC-67 used on the Imperial Walker pilot helmets, I don't think we've found the right one yet.

 

[RandomPropGeek]

The "keyhole" thing is a cassette recorder button. That's a really common mount for the metal levers beneath the switches. It's not the TC-67 used on the Imperial Walker pilot helmets, I don't think we've found the right one yet.

That's a good hint!

 

[Alan Solo]

Ive been a Car Mechanic in the UK since the mid seventies and certainly dont recognise the handlebar struts as being car suspension components .
looking at the photos above they look like plastic and wood .

I can't claim that level of experience, but I would say they don't look consistent with any British car of the era built on a large scale. They look kind of exotic, but the geometry looks a bit off for car suspension. Makes me think perhaps aviation parts? Also, the top end looks a bit inconsistent with the rest of it, like maybe two items have been spliced together.