# Notes on the Airman Comet



## Freqman1 (Aug 2, 2017)

I probably really should update my Five Bar Article. I have continued to study these bikes and have picked up a few things along the way that should be added. One thing that I have learned a lot more about is the Airman Comet. This is one of those bikes that, for a long time, existed only on a catalog page. Then a few years ago a fairly complete red house paint bike showed up confirming that these were actually produced (Marty's [10~18kustoms] bike). The problem was it was missing the tank and light set-up.

The thing that perplexed me is that these bikes were only equipped with two "D" cells to power the horn. I had never seen a tank with a switch, which appears to be shown in the ad, plus it would have to have either a lantern or four battery holder typical on most tank bikes equipped with horn and lights.

About a year later I was sent a very small picture of a complete (-tank) Comet that had the Delta aluminum battery tube attached to the frame. This answered the problem of powering the lights. Last year at MLC I met the owner of this bike and he showed me pics of the complete bike (with tank). This is an original paint, complete bike. Unfortunately the owner has not yet shared these pics with me. Fortunately Marty brought his bike and I was able to study it closely. Based on my observations here are my thoughts on the Comet:

- The original bike is maroon/black. Marty's bike appears to have been maroon as well. It is possible these were only built as maroon/black bikes. The ad shows a blue/red color scheme

-Both bikes have stainless fenders like found on the 26X. What is odd though is Marty's bike has channeled braces (original rivets) while the other bike has flat braces. The ad shows painted fenders.

-Both bikes have Troxel M1 seats with the chrome chassis.

-Both bikes had drop stands as shown in ad.

-The Comet was equipped with Delta Silver Rays with the Delta aluminum battery tube with conduit to the lights. The ad does not show this but rather seems to depict a small switch on the side of the tank.

-The original bike has a Wald #3 stem. Marty's bike does not have the original stem, guard. or chain ring. The ad depicts the 'non-slip' stem.

It should be noted that about three or four original Five Bars have been converted to Comet configurations. I have one of these (primered bike pic) and considering they were built strictly off of a picture they are very close to the original bikes. V/r Shawn





1939 Spiegel Ad




Marty's Bike




My Clone


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## New Mexico Brant (Aug 2, 2017)

Thank you for the updated information Shawn!  I appreciate your time and willingness to share this information with the CABE community.


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## catfish (Aug 2, 2017)

Great info!


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## New Mexico Brant (Aug 2, 2017)

Any speculation on why so few of these exist?  Did they just not sell well?


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## Freqman1 (Aug 2, 2017)

New Mexico Brant said:


> Any speculation on why so few of these exist?  Did they just not sell well?




A pencil springer on the front end is not a good idea. On the back it is a really bad idea! Nearly every one of these pencil springers I have seen the standoff for the spring is bent. The back spring on my Comet clone bottoms out with my buck75 on it so I need to find a stronger spring. Another thing is if you really look at how the back of this bike is designed it is fairly complicated. The fender is actually attached to the rear 'fork' and the axle adjustment is a little tricky. I believe very few of these were ever sold and, obviously, even fewer survived. V/r Shawn


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## bikewhorder (Aug 2, 2017)

I've spent a good bit of time looking at the pencil springer and I don't even understand how that thing was supposed to work.  At what point was the vertical motion of the struts supposed to be converted to the horizontal motion of the spring?


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## Freqman1 (Aug 2, 2017)

bikewhorder said:


> I've spent a good bit of time looking at the pencil springer and I don't even understand how that thing was supposed to work.  At what point was the vertical motion of the struts supposed to be converted to the horizontal motion of the spring?



The person that designed this was absent from physics class that day! Like I said not a great design which is probably why it lasted only a year. V/r Shawn


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## fordmike65 (Aug 2, 2017)

bikewhorder said:


> I've spent a good bit of time looking at the pencil springer and I don't even understand how that thing was supposed to work.  At what point was the vertical motion of the struts supposed to be converted to the horizontal motion of the spring?






Freqman1 said:


> The person that designed this was absent from physics class that day! Like I said not a great design which is probably why it lasted only a year. V/r Shawn




They work. Maybe not as well as other designs, but they do indeed dampen the ride.


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## rustjunkie (Aug 2, 2017)

Seems to me they work differently than the way we would expect:  moving horizontally not vertically.  I've seen folks push down vertically on the handlebars and when the spring doesn't move they say "see, it doesn't work".
I don't think they were designed for taking up vertical impacts like potholes or going off curbs, but when in motion they work as they seem to be designed: moving in an arc and taking up shocks as obstacles and bumps are encountered.
Perhaps part of the reason they were changed is because they didn't function in the way the buyers expected.

As for the fenders, I'd say that Marty's bike isn't the greatest example for what might be original as many of the parts have been changed, and those fenders differ from the fenders on the other example.
At least one painted fender Comet existed: a photograph of one was converted for print in the catalog/advertisement.


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## catfish (Aug 2, 2017)

New Mexico Brant said:


> Any speculation on why so few of these exist?  Did they just not sell well?




They didn't last long. They quickly became this fork.


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## bikewhorder (Aug 2, 2017)

rustjunkie said:


> Seems to me they work differently than the way we would expect:  moving horizontally not vertically.  I've seen folks push down vertically on the handlebars and when the spring doesn't move they say "see, it doesn't work".
> I don't think they were designed for taking up vertical impacts like potholes or going off curbs, but when on the road they  work as they seem to be designed.
> Perhaps part of the reason they were changed is because they didn't function in the way the buyers expected.



Ahh, so they were designed more for running into curbs than pot holes.  That makes sense.


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## rustjunkie (Aug 2, 2017)

bikewhorder said:


> Ahh, so they were designed more for running into curbs than pot holes.  That makes sense.




Ridden one?


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## bikewhorder (Aug 2, 2017)

rustjunkie said:


> Ridden one?



I'd like to. I've never even seen one in person.


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## bikewhorder (Aug 2, 2017)

I never really thought about this before but would guess these bike companies were looking to address the issue of bent forks more than smoothing the ride.  Even the Schwinn springer has more of a fore/aft motion.


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## Freqman1 (Aug 2, 2017)

As Scott says the fork works but just in a different way. I have either four or five bikes with these forks and the ride is smooth. personally I think they do a lot better job than just about any beehive springer I ever rode such as the Snyder built Hawthornes or even the Westfield springers (Five Star Superb). This discussion reminds me of those concerning the Huffman Twin Flex. A lot of people bad mouth the rides of these that have either never ridden one or didn't have the suspension adjusted properly. I have three of these and all ride like butter. -- break--- Scott maybe you are aware of another one of these but the fenders on Marty's bike are the exact same (except for braces) as the pics of the other bike I saw. I would love to see pics of any Airman Comets out there. One last thought; both of the known (to me) bikes are badged as Airmans. Has anyone ever heard or seen of one badged as something else e.g. Monark, McNamara, etc...? V/r Shawn


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## Robertriley (Aug 2, 2017)

@Sped Man


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## rustjunkie (Aug 2, 2017)

Freqman1 said:


> ...Scott maybe you are aware of another one of these but the fenders on Marty's bike are the exact same (except for braces) as the pics of the other bike I saw...




Ah, I was going by what you mentioned about the braces being different, not aware of any others.


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## Freqman1 (Aug 2, 2017)

rustjunkie said:


> Ah, I was going by what you mentioned about the braces being different, not aware of any others.




Dang I got excited for a minute! I need to look at some '39 26Xs to see what braces are normally found on these. I looked Marty's bike over pretty carefully and believe the fenders on the bike to be legit to the bike. V/r Shawn


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## rustjunkie (Aug 2, 2017)

Freqman1 said:


> Dang I got excited for a minute! I need to look at some '39 26Xs to see what braces are normally found on these. I looked Marty's bike over pretty carefully and believe the fenders on the bike to be legit to the bike. V/r Shawn




From the pics the front braces look like they'd fit where they should


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## spoker (Aug 2, 2017)

is this the same chain guard? 


 as shown on your bike?


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## fordmike65 (Aug 2, 2017)

spoker said:


> is this the same chain guard? View attachment 654205 as shown on your bike?



It's a McCauley guard, used on several bikes as original equipment as well as an aftermarket offering.


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## kreika (Aug 3, 2017)

Really cool info Shawn! Thanks for spreading the knowledge!!!


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## fordmike65 (Aug 3, 2017)

kreika said:


> Really cool info Shawn! Thanks for spreading the knowledge!!! I saw the Snyder badged 5bar up for sale at the moment but noticed that your bottom bracket is on top of the tubes where the Snyder's is built more standard styling. Looks like I need to do some homework because not all 5bars are created equal.  Love this pic.
> View attachment 654612



Let's not muddy up Shawn's thread on this very specific bike, the dual suspension Monark 5 Bar. I have 2 threads I started on both the Monark built "Hawthorne Twin Bar" and the Snyder/CWC built "Hawthorne Twin Bars", which is the bike you are referring to
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/monark-built-tankless-5bar-thread-hawthorne-twin.54711/
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/non-monark-built-hawthorne-twin-bars-snyder-cwc-built.90207/


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## kreika (Aug 3, 2017)

fordmike65 said:


> Let's not muddy up Shawn's thread on this very specific bike, the dual suspension Monark 5 Bar. I have 2 threads I started on both the Monark built "Hawthorne Twin Bar" and the Snyder/CWC built "Hawthorne Twin Bars", which is the bike you are referring to
> https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/monark-built-tankless-5bar-thread-hawthorne-twin.54711/
> https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/non-monark-built-hawthorne-twin-bars-snyder-cwc-built.90207/




Cool thanks! Homework complete!


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## kreika (Aug 3, 2017)

Tried to delete my post but pic won't go away. Sorry Shawn didn't know the differences on these bikes. Thanks Mike for the links!


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## Freqman1 (Aug 3, 2017)

Here is the link to my article on the Monark Five Bars https://thecabe.com/forum/pages/monark_5-bar/  V/r Shawn


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## kreika (Aug 3, 2017)

Freqman1 said:


> Here is the link to my article on the Monark Five Bars https://thecabe.com/forum/pages/monark_5-bar/  V/r Shawn




Fantastic article on an extremely rare bird!


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## 10~18kustoms (Mar 6, 2018)

Interesting side note on the fender brace issue. Yes, mine does have crimped braces, although the front brace on the rear is flat? I also found a '39 at Chestnut Hollow with the same crimped braces and stainless fenders. Apparently they couldn't decide which style to use, or they just used what ever came off the shelf first.


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## mynameislegion (Mar 7, 2018)

Marty/Shawn,
  I am wondering about the combination of flat and crimped braces on the same fender. I believe the flat brace on the rear fender would be shorter than normal to make the geometry work. (3 braces)
From a manufacturing standpoint it would be easier and cheaper to make an odd length brace from the flat stock that all flat braces are made from. Cut to length and rivet on the ends. A crimped brace is made from pressing in a die and would be expensive to make a die for a handful of odd length braces. Just a thought.


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## Freqman1 (Mar 7, 2018)

mynameislegion said:


> Marty/Shawn,
> I am wondering about the combination of flat and crimped braces on the same fender. I believe the flat brace on the rear fender would be shorter than normal to make the geometry work. (3 braces)
> From a manufacturing standpoint it would be easier and cheaper to make an odd length brace from the flat stock that all flat braces are made from. Cut to length and rivet on the ends. A crimped brace is made from pressing in a die and would be expensive to make a die for a handful of odd length braces. Just a thought.



Jeff I agree that the rear front brace on all Comets was likely a flat brace because this piece was specific to these bikes. Regarding flat vice channeled braces during the '39 year I have seen both on other Five Bars but really haven't looked at 26Xs. It seems Monark was in  a period of transition sometime during the year regarding the fender braces as well as a couple other things e.g. bars, stems, and lights. V/r Shawn


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## 10~18kustoms (Mar 7, 2018)

The '39 above from Jerry's collection is a 26X.


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## Nickinator (Sep 19, 2019)

So I have taken a long break from bikes but, I've decided it's time to jump back into the game and the comet was the bike I decided to jump back in with. Marty's bike has changed hands and is now in my possession.  As I go through this bike I have found multiple flaws in the design of the comet. It was prown to water damage badly. The back fender mounts on the bottom of the frame were never filled which allowed water to pile in through the hole and eat away the frames on the bottom causing a fatal Titanic break in two type of frame crack. Also as of recently another comet was found I have also found another early Comet ad hopfully this info helps others. Also getting the original paint back razor blade flick by flick

Nick.


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## bikemonkey (Sep 20, 2019)

I have found that a nylon carpet hand brush (really stiff bristles) is sometimes a good time saving tool for real tight stuff.


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