ok so heres my build off, starting with a 1952 Hawthorne found in San Antonio TX, then shipped by the perils of UPS and aircraft all the way to the United Kingdom - Sunny Rotherham!
The bike had been found quite rusty and had been stripped and re-painted to get it ridable again. Note that the fork is not the springer which comes later.
Once in the uk I "dry" assembled the whole thing to check condition. The forks were bent, the fenders crumpled, the tanks were dinted - all due to the shipping process. But never mind I soon stripped the whole thing back to bare steel and hammered and filled the bad bits. My plan was for a light custom, which entailed paintwork, tail dragger fender and high bars. Also the leading link arms for the springer fork were missing so I made some out of mild steel strip hanging about in the garage.
It was clear a trip to the chromers was on the cards, so the front chain ring and springer fork (shipped with the bike instead of the standard fork) were polished and dipped in the chrome vat. I was thinking about art for the tank, thats when my favourite 50's americana "Tales from the Crypt" came to mind. The front cover taped to the tank indicates where things were going.
The next door neighbour is very handy with the airbrush so over the tank piece went, a few weeks and a four pack of beer later resulted in this:
Back into the garage the full assembly takes place, coupled with some Wald high-rise bars
Enjoy! and know I have, probably the only Hawthorne in the UK. Front light yet to wire up, and possible seat re-cover but for now I'm riding.
The bike had been found quite rusty and had been stripped and re-painted to get it ridable again. Note that the fork is not the springer which comes later.
Once in the uk I "dry" assembled the whole thing to check condition. The forks were bent, the fenders crumpled, the tanks were dinted - all due to the shipping process. But never mind I soon stripped the whole thing back to bare steel and hammered and filled the bad bits. My plan was for a light custom, which entailed paintwork, tail dragger fender and high bars. Also the leading link arms for the springer fork were missing so I made some out of mild steel strip hanging about in the garage.
It was clear a trip to the chromers was on the cards, so the front chain ring and springer fork (shipped with the bike instead of the standard fork) were polished and dipped in the chrome vat. I was thinking about art for the tank, thats when my favourite 50's americana "Tales from the Crypt" came to mind. The front cover taped to the tank indicates where things were going.
The next door neighbour is very handy with the airbrush so over the tank piece went, a few weeks and a four pack of beer later resulted in this:
Back into the garage the full assembly takes place, coupled with some Wald high-rise bars
Enjoy! and know I have, probably the only Hawthorne in the UK. Front light yet to wire up, and possible seat re-cover but for now I'm riding.