E bay sand cast

[gary]

Hi all is there a opinion on the stamp pad of the bike on e bay, I am interested but my stamp pad on number 917 is a small pad, wider stamp numbers. Is it possible that a motor with such a low number can have a wide pad on the engine. Thanks. Gary

[kp]

There is no reason for all engines in the low numbers to have a small pads. The general rule is that the low numbers have a small pad but not guaranteed.  One can wonder but maybe the original cases were found faulty after the numbers were stamped. Maybe they just reused the number at a later stage. I've heard of later numbers with the small pad which probably isn't common either.
My personal view is that the engine is the original fitment. For me that is one of the best unmolested sandcast examples that has come up so far this decade. If it was a 2 digit it would be over the $30k already
Just my thoughts KP