# Unknown Bicycle



## GlennV (Mar 14, 2009)

Hello,

I am new to this hobby and to this site.  

I recently purchased an old bicycle that the owner said belonged to her mother.  She said her mother purchased it about 1948.  It has been heavily hand painted.  I cannot find any identifying marks or serial numbers.  I hope someone can help me to identify it.

I want to restore it for myself.  I have been looking at photos on the web and I think it may be a Western Flyer.  Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Glenn


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## RMS37 (Mar 14, 2009)

Hi, welcome to the site and the hobby.

Your bike was made by the Cleveland Welding Company. Their house brand was Roadmaster but they supplied bicycles to several second tier distributors. They produced a version of that frame from late in 1937 till perhaps as late as 1941. The pattern of the chain ring is the style that was used on Montgomery Ward?s Hawthorne bicycle line between 1936 and early 1940.  Cleveland Welding was one of the suppliers to MW so it is likely that is how the bike was originally badged. If so, the badge holes would be horizontal rather than vertical. Cleveland Welding supplied the same bike to Western Autos where it was sold as a Western Flyer but WA used a different pattern chain ring.

There should be a serial number under the house paint stamped on the bottom of the crank hanger. The serial number will help pin down the date of the frame. I would guess the frame is probably from 1937-1938 as it still has fillet brazed top tube joints.


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## GlennV (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks, Phil.  I will look for the serial number when I can get through that paint.  I appreciate the help.

Glenn


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## GlennV (Mar 18, 2009)

*Serial Numbers*

I removed the green paint and the red paint and the blue paint below the crank and found the number B95874.

The coaster brake said New Departure Model D.

Glenn


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## RMS37 (Mar 18, 2009)

B95874 places the bike where I would have guessed it to be, probably produced in Summer or Fall of 1937.  

I have recorded B79907 which is the same as your bike save for the placement of the lower top tube. On the earlier bike the two top tubes are spaced about an inch closer together. Your bike is the earliest serial number I have recorded for that model with the repositioned lower top tube.  

The reason for the reconfiguration seems to be to allow for the fitment of a tank. My speculation is that this was done to sell the bike through Montgomery Ward as a surrogate version of the contemporary Snyder built Hawthornes which have a similar shaped frame and were available with (or without) a tank.

The good news is that there is a tank that will fit your frame; the bad news is that it is uncommon (turns up once or twice a year on average on eBay). The reason the tank is uncommon is that most of the CWC bikes with the frame you have were sold tankless.

I have recorded ?C? serial number bikes with the same frame you have, by the time the ?D? serial number bikes were in production  (about 1938-1939) many of the hand fillet brazed joints had been replaced with internally lugged and welded flush joints.

I have a copy of the one MW Hawthorne catalog ad that depicts a version of your bike that I will post later.


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## RMS37 (Mar 18, 2009)

Here is the ad for the CWC built Hawthorne Comet for Spring and Summer of 1938. This is the only appearance of a CWC built Hawthorne with this frame in any of the Catalogs but the bikes seem to have been available through MW for several years painted in the current year's pattern and generally without tanks.


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## AntonyR (Mar 18, 2009)

Very similar to the men's Standard that Roadmaster made available during the late '30s


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## GlennV (Mar 19, 2009)

Thanks, guys.

I really appreciate the work and information you have provided.

I commented to my wife,  Just think how long it would have taken to get this bicycle identified if it were not for the internet.

Now, I have to learn what steps to take to restore it.  I cannot afford professional restoration.  I will simply have to do the best I can on my own.

Thanks for all the help!

Glenn Vowell
www.mccomboh.com


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## Aeropsycho (Mar 20, 2009)

*Info $$$*

There is a certain person who charges for his lame pompus Attidute you are lucky you did not go there first! 

Chubby Checker...  NSMB!


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## JLarkin (Mar 20, 2009)

If you were closer I could help you with those fenders.  It's not too difficult once you get the idea.  The frame is easy: sandblast and prime.


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