# 1940's Shelby / Gambles Hiawatha Help Please???!!!



## Old Man Wolf (Mar 29, 2014)

Hey Guys!

My newest project arrived today...
... so I was hoping you guys would be willing to share any info you may know about this one Please???!!!

All I've been able to gather so far is that it's probably a 1940-'41...
... and I was told it was a "Shelby Built" Gambles Hiawatha???!!!

There's no mistaking it has a unique headbadge that clearly says Gambles Hiawatha...
... and it has the front portion of the Hiawatha Steam Loco on it with headlight blazing!

This also has some neat "gills" in the front of the tank...
... but no openings anywhere for a horn button???

Can anybody show me photos of what the complete original bike was supposed to look like???
ALSO - Is there a matching Ladies' bike to this and could you Please show me photos of what it looks like???

IF any of you have advertising photos, brochures, ect...
... I'd Certainly be willing to buy original advertising - or even photocopies until I can find originals to buy!!!

Would Certainly appreciate ANY LEADS OR PHOTOS to a Frame & Tank for a matching Ladies' Model if such a creature exists!!!



















A HUGE Thank You for ANY & ALL help on this one!!!

Talk Soon!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,


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## militarymonark (Mar 29, 2014)

mine without the springer


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## militarymonark (Mar 29, 2014)

although I haven't seen these colors with the Hiawatha. I've seen maroon and white, and green and white, two tone green, two tone blue with the hiawatha badge.


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## Old Man Wolf (Mar 29, 2014)

militarymonark said:


> mine without the springer




Hey Patrick!
May I ask what year yours is???
I can't see the "tank gills" in your photo...
... and since we have different front ends...
... I don't know which way to guess if ours is older or newer than yours???

Also - Have you ever seen a Ladies' version???

Thanks & Talk Soon!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,


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## falcondave (Mar 29, 2014)

Heres a pic of my hiawatha.Not sure of year.No horn either.Don't now if reflectors are original.Hope it helps.


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## spoker (Mar 29, 2014)

i have that same bike,got it from the original owner,mine is apart right now,the head badge show the hiawatha olimbic train that ran between mpls and milwakee,you chain guard might be incorrect and someone may have added the shockese fork as they usually had struts,n horn is correct for your bike,they have drop center rims with stripes rear hub is a morrow,mine is date coded 4th quarter of 41,they had peaked fenders,if you notice from the pic on here there is only 1 rear fender strut as the rear carrier bolts to the top of the fender,the old guy i bought mine from called it an arrow,he bought it new for his paper route,if you look at the chain guard you can see what it sould be shaped like and it is flat without ribs,cant remember what the name of the seat was but it had the cover sewn throgh the meta on the seat,does not have the shelby chain ring like the safty bike,some people think this is the shelby saftey bike but it isnt,it has the VERY hard to find biscuit light,handle bars where torrington half round,mine was originally 2 tone blue with white stripes,the one pictured is the only complete one ive seen in years,member alw on here had the head badge and lite for sale not to long ago,you might want to pm him to see if he still has themimho its avery uniqe bike,if you have toy trains i would like to find a 1957 canadian pacific bowde set LOL,any?pm me,hope this helped


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## Old Man Wolf (Mar 29, 2014)

falcondave said:


> View attachment 144687Heres a pic of my hiawatha.Not sure of year.No horn either.Don't now if reflectors are original.Hope it helps.




Thanks Dave!
I see the same tank gills, front end & chain guard on yours...
... now I just wish we could narrow down the year (range?)!!!

Any chance you've seen a matching Ladies' version???

Talk Soon!
Blessings!
WIll & Wendy,


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## spoker (Mar 29, 2014)

oh ya it came with amiller kickstand,may have beed some variations over the year nut scept for the colors and the chain ring monarks is a twinn to mine,slightly diff than the other one pitured


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## falcondave (Mar 29, 2014)

The guy mine was purchased from said it was a 1938 but from research it seems to be 1940-45.I would guess 40-41 because not many bikes built during the war.


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Mar 29, 2014)

Hey EW, I actually tried to buy that bike from a guy that had it listed on ebay must have been over six months ago !!!  
It didn't sell the first go round so I shot him a low ball offer which he declined. At the time it was sporting some wild one off homemade handlebars and as I recall a mismatched pair of tires I had no interest in. The bike didn't get relisted for months and when it surfaced again he was parting it out.
During my due diligence I came across some information stating those shockease forks were only available for two model years around 39-42. As usual, I have also seen bikes equipped with those forks claiming to be made in a year outside the specs I had earlier seen regarding those dates.
I also have seen a rebuild kit offered for the internal bushing part of the springer that goes inside the headtube so be advised they are out there to be had if those forks are feeling spongy.

Good luck with the project.

pap
.


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## Old Man Wolf (Mar 29, 2014)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> Hey EW, I actually tried to buy that bike from a guy that had it listed on ebay must have been over six months ago !!!
> It didn't sell the first go round so I shot him a low ball offer which he declined. At the time it was sporting some wild one off homemade handlebars and as I recall a mismatched pair of tires I had no interest in. The bike didn't get relisted for months and when it surfaced again he was parting it out.
> During my due diligence I came across some information stating those shockease forks were only available for two model years around 39-42. As usual, I have also seen bikes equipped with those forks claiming to be made in a year outside the specs I had earlier seen regarding those dates.
> I also have seen a rebuild kit offered for the internal bushing part of the springer that goes inside the headtube so be advised they are out there to be had if those forks are feeling spongy.
> ...




Thanks Pap!
Yes, I just got it as shown after being parted out on RRB.

I'll go ahead and look into the rebuild kit you mentioned...
... but more just to be able to pass that info along to whoever gets the shockease front end from this one!
(I bought it for the shape & style of the frame & tank - so I don't need the front end for my plans!)

Thanks Again & Talk Soon!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,


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## ThegoodThebad&Therusty (Mar 29, 2014)

Yeah, although the bike was all jacked up in certain respects, I dug the shape and style too. It's got real good potential and I would have kept the forks providing they weren't all washed out.
You know the guy that had those fork rebuild kits might be a CABE'r  

pap
.


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## Old Man Wolf (Mar 30, 2014)

ThegoodThebad&Therusty said:


> Yeah, although the bike was all jacked up in certain respects, I dug the shape and style too. It's got real good potential and I would have kept the forks providing they weren't all washed out.
> You know the guy that had those fork rebuild kits might be a CABE'r
> 
> pap
> .




Hey Pap,
Yes, that's all what drew me to this one...
... I was looking for something with good lines that was stripped out bad enough nobody would care if I made a HotRod out of it!!!

There's nothing here to restore - no original paint, ect...
... so I seriously doubt anyone would care if I cut & play on this one!!!
(Besides - I knew it was for sale quite awhile with no buyers too...
... so if someone wanted to restore it it would've been gone looong before I bought it!!!)

I already know I want to use one of the "new" Monark II springers for this build...
... so the "ShockEase" front end here will be offered in "For Sale" soon enough!

The reason I'm looking for original sales info though is because I like the lines of the bike enough that I'm hoping to buy one more complete to restore later on!!!

ALSO STILL HOPING to find out about a matching Ladies' / Girls' model for Wendy!!!

Talk Soon!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,


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## St.Peter (Mar 31, 2014)

*I have a gambles but dont know the year.*

I bought this one several years ago.


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## Old Man Wolf (Mar 31, 2014)

St.Peter said:


> I bought this one several years ago.




Thank You for sharing your photos St.Peter!

For some reason I'm willing to bet yours is probably just a little bit newer than ours with the horizontal gills on your tank!

Now if the one we just bought was in the same condition yours is...
... I'd Certainly have been restoring it!!!

Thanks Again & Talk Soon!
Blessings!
Will & Wendy,


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## Old Man Wolf (Apr 1, 2014)

*..........*

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