I just picked up this 30's western flyer. It is a heavy duty bike w/ lot's of patina & pinstripes.Just rebuilt the ND hubs & put some new rubber on it, and it rides smooth. I need to find a serial # chart or some info. on this bike though.
30's western flyer
- Thread starter radconsmoot
- Start date
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I’ve been doing a pretty good job of popping up right after being announced lately. The date on this bike is 1947-1949. The Bike was made by Cleveland Welding for Western Autos and, except for the missing headlight, it looks to be quite original (it looks like it came with a Delta front-load torpedo headlight.) The frame and tank style are known generically as the CWC 3-Gill and the easiest way to separate pre and post war versions of this frame is the inclusion or absence of drop stand stop tangs as part of the rear dropout blank. After the war CWC moved to the use of kickstands over drop stands and removed the ears. The bike is further dated by the deep curve of the down tube. 3-Gill frames built in 1945 and 1946 maintained the prewar style shallow curved down tube before incorporating the deeper curved design used on the new Luxury Liner frames. These frames continued in production after 1949 but for 1950 the design of the rear dropouts was again changed.
The serial number on the bottom bracket (including the Cw suffix if there is one) can date the frame more closely
The serial number on the bottom bracket (including the Cw suffix if there is one) can date the frame more closely
Thanks for the info. I had a feeling i was a little off on the year. It did come w/ a Delta Rocket ray mounted on the bars which was probably a replacement for the missing fender light. The story from the PO was that they traded it in for 2 pigs a while back, and then road it around the farm until it was retired in a nearby barn. Here is the serial #
Yep, puts fresh paint to shame i'd say :lol: Love that rusty look, along w/ all the squeaks & rattles.
I bought these tires a couple years back & they have been sitting in the shed. Then i found this beauty! 
I had a pair of white tires that i was also considering putting on instead.
I had a pair of white tires that i was also considering putting on instead.
Based on your serial number and my serial number model, I would place the production of your bike in 1948. That is also constant with the use of the CWC specific wide base rims. Earlier bikes were still equipped with drop center rims.
Hey, thanks again for helping me date that beast. Maybe you could help me w/ this Hawthorne i found. The forks, crank, and rims are orig. to the bike, but i stripped a 30's girls Hawthorne to get it together & riding.
