Prewar bike find - What is it?

[Toeslider]

Got this at an antique mall, so of course I paid too much for it, but it is for me so I didn't care. Was priced $150 but I got it for $100. At first with the sweetheart sprocket I was thinking Schwinn DX, but in another thread someone said the dropouts on a bike that looks just like this one didn't look like Schwinn. They guessed Columbia on that one.

Morrow hub, skiptooth sprocket and chain that are good despite how they look, and patina you could never recreate in a million years. Rear wheel even still has all its spokes. Serial number looks like 4L204.

Pics:

[ratina]

Not sure what it is but you got a good deal!

[mos6502]

The fork crown doesn't seem proper for a Columbia. They usually used a forged crown in this era.

[Toeslider]

The way the seat post is secured seems unique...what bikes would use a system like that, or what era would that be typical of? I haven't found a Schwinn that looks like it online yet, what other manufacturers would have used the heart sprocket, assuming it's original?

[mos6502]

I think Snyder and Colson used a sweetheart sprocket too.

After looking for some pics, I'm leaning towards Colson.

This thread on the cabe pictures a couple of different Colson motobike: http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread ... ike-please

Crown appears to be the same. But there are different variations of seat clusters on each bike. I'm guessing based on different years.

[B607]

The earliest sweetheart chainring that I've seen was on a 1911 Hawthorne. I think they were used on many brands over the years. Gary

[Rustinkerer]

Looks Colson-y to mee too. It looks like there might be more digits at the far right on the BB. Colsons had a 2 digit code, stamped separately (and often perpendicular to the s/n), where the second digit is the year. I have a 1937 frame stamped F 7 , and a '39 stamped K 9. -Adam

[Toeslider]

After somebody suggested Colson I searched a little, and I think it is a Colson. I thought I read somewhere that pre-1937 Colsons had a serial number like mine, with the first digit being the last number of the year, which would make it a '34, and that after '37 they went with the two extra digit format. I could be wrong, don't have time to look it up again now. At any rate, it appears to be an early to mid 30's Colson, from all the pictures I've looked at.