# Hawthorne boys bike needs ID



## wercmcbecker (Sep 21, 2009)

Hi all,
Newby to the site.  A friend of ours bought a 24 inch Hawthorne at a Swap Meet in Brooks, Oregon last year and gave the bike to me.  I plan restore the bike and have Bill Green in Washington State help me build a motor for it.  My husband has a 2006 Whizzer and wants a riding buddy.

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I would like to know more about what the bike is specifically.  The serial number is A76942 52 (backwards J with a little W in it). I know it's a Hawthorne 24 inch boys bike from Montgomery Wards and we think that it is from 1935 or so.  

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Thanks for your time.  Melissa


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## Herman (Sep 21, 2009)

Hi,the "backwards J" is actually a "C" with a w inside it,for Cleveland Welding who made the bike,Phil Marshal will be able to tell you everything about this bike including the exact year


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## wercmcbecker (Sep 21, 2009)

Thanks Herman.  I was wondering if that was a "C".  I look forward to Phil's analysis.
I have been searching the WWW high and low and the closest I have come up with is a bike on eBay.  It is a ladies Hawthorne but the seller does not know much else about it.

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## Herman (Sep 21, 2009)

The sprocket is called a "flying heart" sprocket,the Hawthorne decal would be on the chainguard,I would guess your bike to be post WW2 production(possibly 1952 ?),again Phil would know for sure.Some models came with tanks,etc.,some did not,wait for Phil's reply and all your questions will be answered(even the ones you didn't ask!!!),all in all a nice bike & one you will enjoy,oh and welcome to the Roadmasters club(Cleveland Welding's in house brand,who also made Hawthornes,Western Flyers,etc.),and welcome to the CABE


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## Herman (Sep 22, 2009)

Hello,I sent you a PM


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## RMS37 (Sep 23, 2009)

Hi, I?m just back after the Iron Ranch Bike Swap at Battle Ground Washington and then a two day school campout with my wife and kindergarden aged daughter. Very different events but both were a lot of fun. 

Most of what I can tell you about your project bike has already been posted. The bike was produced by the Cleveland Welding Company (CWC) probably after the company was purchased by AMF in 1951. The 52Cw suffix to the serial number is for 1952 but may be a model or series number rather than an exact calendar year number. Either way the bike is probably from 1952 and not far removed if it isn?t. The rear dropouts are the style used on CWC and AMF/CWC bikes beginning in 1950 and running through 1954 or 1955 at the latest.

The frame is the standard pattern used by the company for their 24? boys bikes at that time. There is a tank that fits that frame but is rather uncommon on the market and you probably are not looking for one if you are building a Whizzer. The bigger issue will be fitting a Whizzer motor in that frame, The lower triangle is smaller than the one on a 26? frame so you may need to reconfigure the frame to fit a motor.

Good luck with the project and let us know if you have any questions that are not yet answered.


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## wercmcbecker (Sep 23, 2009)

*Thanks Phil*

I was at the Iron Ranch meet on Saturday too.  Perhaps you saw us.  My husband had his 2006 Green Whizzer, I had my bike frame in the back of our 1989 S-10 Smurf Blue pickup, and we had our toddler son with us.  

Does anyone have any pictures of a bike like mine?  I would like to know what the paint schemes were so that I can restore it properly.  Is there a model for this bike?  Like Roadmaster, Comet, etc.  Thanks


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## wercmcbecker (Sep 23, 2009)

*More Questions*

Is there a model for my bike, such as Roadmaster, Comet, Etc.?

If I were to look for a tank, what words should I use in my search and where should I search?  Ebay of course but where else?
I restore old pedal cars and I have found sites beyond eBay that sells them in auctions.

So I have a 1952 Hawthorne (model?) boys 24 inch bike, right?

About the frame being small for a Whizzer motor, I think we can take care of that with Bill Green's help and the use of our auto restoration shop.

I will definitely keep you all up to date on the restoration progress.  I hope to have it complete by next spring 2010.  I am also planning on modifying a child's bike trailer to tow behind it so that our nearly 3 year old son can go too.

Thanks,
Melissa


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## Adamtinkerer (Sep 23, 2009)

Hawthornes used the Red & Blue M/W crest badge from 1950 thru at least 1957. The best place to see original paint scemes is from original ads, some are posted here under literature, and there are a bunch posted at ratrodbikes.com (where many of us are members also). That, and the photo galleries here and elsewhere of original and restored bikes.


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## RMS37 (Sep 24, 2009)

I’m sure I must have seen you at the Iron Ranch but I don’t specifically remember noticing your truck or the green Whizzer. I guess I spend most of my time with my eyes on the ground at swap meets!  

Montgomery Ward Hawthornes were sourced from several manufacturers, yours is one built by CWC/AMF. Very similar bikes were also made for MW by H. P. Snyder. Similar bicycles are pictured in the Elgin and Hawthorne book published several years ago which is a compilation of period catalogs. The catalog pages and illustrations for the 24” models are somewhat vague perhaps to allow substitutions of one bike for the other depending on location and availability.  In the catalogs the 24” bikes are referred to as Junior models and the 20” bikes are Juvenile models.

The Junior models were offered at various times with and without tanks. When equipped with a tank the official Montgomery Ward catalog name for the bike is “Wards Hawthorne Junior Tank Model Bike”. Substitute “Unequipped” for “Tank” and you have the name for the tankless version. To fully describe the bike I would refer to it as a “1952 AMF Cleveland Welding built Montgomery Ward’s Hawthorne Junior Unequipped (Or Tank) Model Bicycle”, Not as catchy as Roadmaster or Comet but I guess the Ad men were busy plying their trade elsewhere that day. 

It looks like your bike was originally black which is one of the colors they used, check an unmolested area to see if black is the original color for the bike. The secondary color patterns would be simple on a junior bike and it looks like you may have remnants or the stripes and darts on the fenders.

There were likely more junior bikes sold without tanks than with them. If you are planning on building a Whizzer out of the bike you will need a real gas tank and may have to modify the frame to fit a motor so you may not be able to fit a factory tank to the bike.  The junior tanks aren’t rare so much as they just don’t appear for sale frequently. If you decide you want to find a tank you should watch eBay, this site and the Ratrodbikes site. I believe there are both plain sided and comet impressed tanks that will fit your frame. If your bike originally had a tank it would most likely be the plain sided version with a version of the white wing decoration on the side.

I’m not sure I have anything relevant but I’ll dig around to see if I can find any photos of similar bikes in my files.


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## wercmcbecker (Sep 24, 2009)

*Whizzers at the Iron Ranch 2009 pics*

Here are some pics from the Iron Ranch Swap meet.  Phil, perhaps you will remember this... 
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My husband, Chris, is on the left and his Green Whizzer "Gremlin" is the third one from the left.   All seven bikes went for a ride about 2 pm and this pic was takes upon there return.  You can see our Smurf Blue Chevy S-10 in the background of the second pic.

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Our son Carston at the Iron Ranch (he will be three Christmas Eve 2009)
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