"New England" teens era wooden wheel bike. FOUND

[lobsterboyx]

my best guess is that this a teens era motobike - it had wooden wheels and solid button tread tires. it came across craigslist the other day. the guy had "40 or so" prewar bikes but he would not show them, nor did he want to sell them, talk about them or have us anywhere near them, he called this bike "the worst of the bunch" - did some horse trading and lost the wooden wheels - they were in really rough shape anyways. i have several early early new departure hubs - for now, the plan is to throw some normal 700s on it just for the meantime and find/restore a set of wooden wheels/solid tires for when i want to show it. i have a feeling that these may be the first photographs of this bike taken.

"knifes edge" cranks and beautifully preserved chain ring.

this is probably worth more than i paid for the bike.

amazing original decal

nice old horn - this thing is loud as heck.

i was concerned the red was painted on. but uppon cleaning it ever so delicately, im resigned on the fact that

google reveals nothing. my guess is that its a dayton, but then again, ive never had anything this old. im going to do a graphite rub of the headbadge tonight as its too big to photograph completely.

i do not believe this ever had a tank or chainguard, so now the only things missing are the wheels and the drop stand.

as found condition:

 

[deorman]

Wow.

 

[user 135]

THat is cool. The seat is worth what ever you paid. Rarely found in that nice of condition. Those Klaxon horns are valuable too.

 

[Road Master]

Simply Beautiful!

 

[slick]

Man you scored!!!!!!!! I needed those wheels too!!!!!!!!!! If you ever wanna sell it i'd take it off your hands bud!! I need to come visit you soon man and go for a ride with you and the cyclone coaster gang.

 

[slick]

O and no, these early motobikes never had chainguards. The tanks were optional as well. For rims you could use some Velocity Blunts that are 29" and Electra Amsterdam tires would look sick in the cream color. The Velocity Blunts hoops are like $62 each and the tires are $25 each. Pricey setup but they will fill in the fender spaces nicely and take up the gaps.

 

[lobsterboyx]

funny you mention that dude, i have a set of amsterdams that i was going to put on this thing... going to look up those blunts though. maybe ill lace them up with some blackout nd's or something crusty/rusty.

do they sell the blunts in woodgrain? 8)

this one is staying in the fam for awhile, ive always wanted one of these things.

i was going to PM you, but i called that guy we met jamie today to tell him about this:

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/bi ... 36510.html

 

[lobsterboyx]

the blunt is cool and all - but i think the P-35 is the way to go

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=715

 

[slick]

That April swap is very tempting. Let me check my schedule and i'll get back to you. And you are right those Plaid p-35's are awesome! Just kidding, yuck. The Teaks are way cooler than the Blunts. I didn't see those. That's what i'll run on my truss frame bike for sure.

 

[texasbigjon]

thats a killer score you got there! :mrgreen: and that is "the worst of the bunch"? :shock: would love to see his "good" bikes!

 

[Ratfink1962]

Those Velocity P35 in Teak.... AWESOME!!!

 

[lobsterboyx]

gotta work out the hub situation - ive got a few crusty old front hubs - thats no biggie - but as far as the back is concerned - i have a model D, but it just looks too new. anyone got an "a" or "c" for sale? it originally had an "a"

 

[outskirtscustoms]

And that is the "worst" of them??? Wonder what other goodies he's got in there.

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Looks great as it sits :shock: You should have tried to buy more because you "broke the ice" :mrgreen: Great score :wink:

 

[socal_jack]

Nice score, but a P-35 would be very wide even for a cyclocross tire.

 

[rustymotors]

What a great looking bike! Great find

 

[Skipton]

OH YEAH! That is one sick bike! can't wait to see what you do with it!

 

[lobsterboyx]

Nice score, but a P-35 would be very wide even for a cyclocross tire.

thats the idea - the original wheels for this bike are very wide - wider than the mostly solid pneumatic tires that were originally on it. the original tires were sew-ups that were glued to the wooden hoop. like i said - im going to be running these tires:

http://www.amazon.com/Electra-Amsterdam ... B0030ICFHU

they are ballooney enough to look the part, and the cream tires are indicative of the era. like i said previously - i will eventually hunt down a set of wooden wheels with a ND model "a" hub and an equally as old front hub with brick red sew-ups.

i think the p35's and amsterdam tires will be a safe riding alternative in the meantime.

as for the plans? i think the previous owner was a little bit wd-40 happy, everything on this bike has an oily sheen to it. i have to expirement on the bottom bracket to find a solvent mild enough to clean this without harming it. then clear coat the heck out of it. showing the original patina with a protective coating to showcase its beautiful original paintwork.

im basically going to be treating this thing as a piece of art, only i have entrance to the gallery, and i can use this piece of art to cruise around town

i greased up the klaxon... thats about it.

 

[Skipton]

im basically going to be treating this thing as a piece of art, only i have entrance to the gallery, and i can use this piece of art to cruise around town

.

Right On! :wink:

 

[Walker]

Sweet bike, and that was one of the worst ones! That's a treasure.

I'd suggest starting with Simple Green for clean up and non toxic. It's mild on paint and great for cleaning up greasy parts.