Auction score of the year?

So, while perusing the local auction website looking for an interesting auction (my dad taught me well), I came across a picture of a bicycle. Nothing was mentioned about it in the listing, just this picture.



After figuring out what it was, I consulted Nickinator on a good ballpark value, and deemed it was worth the 3 hour drive to a little town on the edge of the Bighorn Mountains (plus it was very scenic). It was an estate auction for a well known collector of indian artifacts, so while the artifacts were bringing in thousands of dollars, I was biding my time and watching people to see if anybody appeared serious about the bicycle. I overheard a couple of guys talking about giving it a "refinish" and bringing the seat down to some shop to get redone, everybody else just loved the look of it. So, the time for the non-artifact big ticket items came, and the double sided porcelain GMC truck sign went for 5 grand or so, between a guy in the room and a phone bidder, so I was starting to worry that there could be some serious interest in the bike. A couple signs later, the bike was up, and luckily, there was no phone bidder for the bike. Also, nobody in the room had done any research on it. So, I won it at a good price after bidding against one other person. Turns out the family and the auction company thought nothing of the bicycle, and were surprised that it brought what it did. So, as a grad student, I can actually afford to keep it.

I talked with the son of the bike owner and one of the auctioneers after the auction. The auctioneer said that the owner rode it all around town, and to high school. The son said that the bike has been sitting in the grainery on their property since before he was born, which I estimated him to be about 60 years old. He wasn't sure how his father had aquired the bike, so, it could possibly be a single owner bike, but it's not certain. The only thing I'm not certain on, is how the bike came to be dressed in glittery red handlebar grips.

When I got it home, after smiling the whole way home, I found a tattered, but original, wiring diagram for an Auto-Cycle in the tank. Bonus!

So, without further ado, here's a bunch of pictures. There's a couple comments, due to the 10 image limit, and I have some questions about the bike after the pictures.


904

906

944

955

946

948

952

956

Speedometer:

945

Tank:

926

911

909

908

963

Under the seat:

924

So, here are the questions I have about owning this bike:

1. It's a Mead Ranger, is it a him, or is it a her?
   
2. I'd like to clean it, what is the safest way of cleaning the paint? Nickinator warned me about the white pinstriping and how easy it is to remove. So, what has worked for people? Also, what are the opinions on dirt and grease? would cleaning diminish the value at all? I'm also concerned about marring the paint on/around screws and bolts if it gets disassembled, is it something that I should leave intact to avoid that risk?
   
3. The year of the bike, I know the serial number starts with an X, and that it's common to get a year by pulling the crank out, but what do people think?
   
4. A value, just for insurance purposes, the bike isn't for sale (unless it's a ridiculous offer, like you want to pay off the entirety of my student loan debt).
   
5. What is this rivet for? It's the same style rivet as the fender brace rivets, yet there's rubber between it and the fender. Both sides of the fender have it.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Parts, it could use a few things, but I'm in no rush due to my limited budget.
   a.) Tires and handlebar grips, what would the original grips have looked like? and tires, I know Made in the USA is important, but what style/brand originally came on it? The bike came with a spare tire that matches the front tire, both are Davis Deluxe from Western Auto Stores, but the tread is separating. Rear tire was made in Japan.
   b.) Battery holder bar thing, I'm missing it.
   c.) Air pump, I have brackets for it, but no idea what the correct model would have been.
   d.) Delta light lens, one of mine is busted. Says delta across the lens. Any ideas?
   e.) Fender Ornament: My ornament has been broken off, what is the correct style? I've seen at least two different styles of greyhounds.
   
   These postings have this style
   
   http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?22481-WTB-Cycleplains-and-autocyles-Will-pay-5k-to-15k-for-a-nice-one
   
   
   
   
   http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?31740-1937-38-Deluxe-Autocycle-Mead-Ranger-by-Schwinn
   
   
   
   
   And this posting has this style
   
   http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?37108-Mead-Ranger-Fender-Ornament
   
   
   
   
   This is my base, and I'm not sure either style is correct, as it appears the first style has some decoration that extends further down the support, and I would think that a portion of the decoration would be visible on mine. Also, the curvature of the support on the front of the emblem doesn't appear to match.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

its a him, i use boiled lin seed oil to clean the paint which it brings out nicely, you dont need to scrub just apply & wipe off and seems to protect the finish for the future pretty well too, others im sure will have other cleaning methods or products, i would deff. remove the dirt & grease and this will not decrease any value of the bicycle, this is somthing i would carefully take apart ... clean and put back together, others will be able to answer alot of your other questions great score

Wow....my wife would have my ass if I came home with this one....only because she would surmised I mortgaged the house to get it.
Nice score. I really don't know the value as I don't know much about the Meads. But he's a beaut!!! Love the tank!!
Nick is right to warn you of the painted on pinstriping. Use extra care when cleaning. Bon Ami mixed with some warm water has been suggested to me for such cleaning.
WD40 and very fine steel wool (0000 grade) works well with removing years of dirt and grime...again , care needs to be taken...don't not scrub too vigorously. But this method has great results.
If it were mine, I would just wash it, polish and service it. It is a true survivor. Well worth a 6 hr round trip drive.
Can't help on the serial prefix of "X".
Value.....more than I can afford!!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

My god what a beautiful bike. I would have driven a day each way for that. Super find. Wash it gently, grease and oil mechanicals and polish it with a quality car wax. That's all I would do. That paint is gorgeous. Someone said boiled linseed oil, sounds easy enough, I'm sure it will work fine. Post pics when "he" is cleaned up.

I was super excited years ago when I got a beautiful '41 Columbia F9T in about the condition of your Ranger at an auction for $175.00. I would have crapped my knickers with your Ranger. My favorite bike colors are maroon and Ranger brown. As you said, "keep it". That bike is a life long keeper.

JD, it would have been a 31 hour drive, so you would have had time to come up with something.

You know I'm a big fan of the "do grocery shopping the night before to get half the purchase price as Cash Back and then cover the rest with a check" routine takes the sting out of things when the wife looks over the checking account.

1938 model year.
Rear fender rivets were to guard against fender rattle between the rack brace.
The Delta headlight lenses can be purchased from Classicriders right here on the Cabe.
Wes Pinchot can straighten out any of the fender dings. He's also here on the Cabe.
The Whippet ornament is a pretty easy find on e-bay, they seem to pop up fairly often.
A careful light cleaning with NO! abrasives, and you're done. The bike really only looks to be dusty, you won't need to do much, so be really careful.

Congrats! You really did hit the auction score of the year.

$8,000 to $10,000 would be a pretty reliable estimate for a bike so complete and so original, in such excellent condition.

Definately the find of the year, maybe decade.....