# About that bumper thing that keeps the spring fork from banging the frame.....



## bloo (Dec 18, 2020)

About that bumper thing that keeps the spring fork from banging the frame.....

I bought a reproduction one for my 41 straightbar. This is one rubber piece that snaps around the frame where the fork legs would hit. Some frames have a little steel tube welded under the downtube that accepts 2 rubber bumpers. My frame does not have that. Here is a picture of reproduction part I bought:






So this is made of pretty soft rubber. What holds it on? Does it glue in place or was it just supposed to stay put on its own? 

It came in a baggie with a piece of string. What is the string for?

The auction showed one on a bike with a tank. The gap was pointed up to clear the tank. Would it have gone the other way on a bike with no tank?


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## Freqman1 (Dec 18, 2020)

It should just stay in place. Its to keep the fork legs from denting the tank--no tank no function. Some DXs and Autocycles '39-41  had the little tube with the two bumpers. No clue why a string was included. V/r Shawn


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## rustjunkie (Dec 18, 2020)

didn’t the originals have a spring steel band inside so it held tightly onto the tube?


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## bloo (Dec 18, 2020)

With no tank, the fork legs crash into the frame and clobber the paint. Did Schwinn really send them out the door like that?


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## GTs58 (Dec 18, 2020)

Isn't that some aftermarket dohickey? So maybe the string is tied around that real tight and it keeps it from rotating on the down tube when the fork leg hits it?  
If you need to glue I'd use 3M's weatherstrip adhesive. I tried silicone to glue on the bumper strips on my Ma's Buick and that only lasted a little longer than a year. 


bloo said:


> With no tank, the fork legs crash into the frame and clobber the paint. Did Schwinn really send them out the door like that?




Yup. The only bikes that had the tube and bumpers were bikes that were factory ordered with a tank and a springer. I have about 10 Corvettes and those Mayweg front carriers always make a scratch on the downtube 1.25" long on the right side. Some have a V scratch.


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## bloo (Dec 18, 2020)

I think it is a repro of a real Schwinn prewar part, but can't swear to it. I have a vague memory of seeing it in some old catalog and trying to get one back in the mid 70s. No luck with that.


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## cyclingday (Dec 18, 2020)

The original Double Duty/Spring Fork bumper had a spring steel clip embedded in the rubber, that kept it held tight to the frame.
The reproductions do not have this, so they don’t clip tight enough to stay in place.
They would probably work better if they were made of a harder compound.
The built in tube type bumper was definitely an improvement over this first apparatus.


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## the tinker (Dec 19, 2020)

Make your own if your worried about it. Truss rods and springers of every make always hit the frame or tank. These bikes were for kids that beat the heck out of them[except the girls], and I don't think the bike manufacturers had many complaints about it . Some Monark Super Deluxe had the tubes to hold bumpers welded on like the 41 Schwinn's. I've had two Monarks that have had them and at least two Schwinns.  


I took the tank off this Murray yesterday, to paint some flames on it. I make bumpers out of anything I can find. On the Schwinns, I've cut out pieces of  thick rubber from an old auto floormat,[with a 3/4 ' round gasket punch] and glued them to the frame to protect the tank. It is aggravating to dent a fresh paint job.  Just have to think out of the box and make whatever you have at hand work. Looks like crap though.


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## bricycle (Dec 19, 2020)

The owner sells similar... maybe ask him. @sm2501


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## cyclingday (Dec 19, 2020)

It always seemed odd to me, because Schwinn had the fix for this back in 1934, with the Streamline Aerocycle.
They had welded a tab on the underside of the downtube, that would stop the fork crown from rotating past 90 degrees.
It was solid, worked flawlessly, end of story.
So, why all of the hokey stuff later on?
The Aerocycle tab was the way to go.


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## hzqw2l (Dec 19, 2020)

Probably an oversight in engineering that was addressed with the added rubber part after the fact. 
 I never heard of the embedded metal clip before.  Wonder why more don't survive since most bikes that are shown as found don't usually have the rubber bumper part.
I'll have to look at the one on my Ranger.  It's old stiff rubber but i can't recall it fitting tightly. 
i cut a thin strip of black velcro tape to keep it in place.


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## bloo (Dec 19, 2020)

the tinker said:


> Make your own if your worried about it. Truss rods and springers of every make always hit the frame or tank. These bikes were for kids that beat the heck out of them[except the girls], and I don't think the bike manufacturers had many complaints about it .




It bothered 11 year old me enough decades ago that on the first go around with this bike I had the fork yoke assembled backwards because I didn't believe the fork tubes were supposed to crash into the frame like that. After sorting that out, I glued little squares of cork gasket material to the inside of the fork tubes. That works fine, but doesn't last.


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## hzqw2l (Dec 19, 2020)

Hey Marty.  I guess you are correct.  Just investigated and my bumper does have metal clip inside.  Set off the metal detector so now I know it is original part.


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## cyclingday (Dec 19, 2020)

Good to know, John.
I have had the original bumpers before, but the rubber is so old and brittle, that it just breaks away from the metal spring clip.







So, if you have an original bumper on your bike, DON’T try to remove it.
If you have an original bumper, and you’d like to put it on your bike, drop it in some boiling water first, to try and soften up the rubber.
No guarantees, but that’s about all you can do with these anymore.


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## Dave K (Dec 19, 2020)

When I use a repop I glue it in place because they tend to slide down the frame and risk damage.
I did have a NOS original that did not need glue but it did need a moment in boiling water to be supple enough to be installed without cracking.


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## cyclingday (Dec 19, 2020)

I went on a road trip with a couple of guys to pick up a super nice 1940 Autocycle Special.
The truck we rode up in, had a super short bed, so when we got there and loaded the bike up, one of the guys turned the handlebar to the lock position, so that the fork was resting up against that bumper.
When the other guy pulled the tie down strap tight, I watched that original fork bumper shatter like glass.
We all called that, a teachable moment. Lol!


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Dec 20, 2020)

I guess if yer crashing all the time, one would THEN worry about the fork hitting the frame..


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## GTs58 (Dec 20, 2020)

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> I guess if yer crashing all the time, one would THEN worry about the fork hitting the frame..




And never park a bike with the front wheel turned to the right!


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## bloo (Dec 20, 2020)

No need to crash. Just use the bike. The first time you lift it off the ground to put it in a truck, or onto a bike carrier, or a bus... BOOM!  It's automatic. And if you don't have a tank to dent, it will chip a piece of paint off of the frame. It will be in an area that is most likely painted cream or white, assuring the damage can be seen for a couple of blocks.


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## bloo (Dec 20, 2020)

cyclingday said:


> I have had the original bumpers before, but the rubber is so old and brittle, that it just breaks away from the metal spring clip.




Is that paint on your bumper? Could that have been some previous owner's addition or did Schwinn paint them to make them blend in?


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## cyclingday (Dec 20, 2020)

That is paint, but not something from the factory.
They were just black rubber originally.


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## Ignoz (Dec 24, 2020)

Next time you're in Walmart look around where they have the picture frames and such or it might have even been where the lamps are but anyway they have little clear rubber Dome things that are adhesive backed for putting on the bottom of knickknacks so they won't scratch your end tables. I stick those in the proper position on the back of the Springer fork legs so you don't see them on the paint and after a while they get a little yellowed from age... Peel them off and put to fresh ones on. You get like 30 of them in a package for $4


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