# Great Western WW1 Military Bike



## New Mexico Brant (Jun 24, 2019)

Does anyone here have a Great Western WW1 Military model they can share photos of?  What does the badge look like?  Curious minds want to know!

Here is the only image I have been able to find anywhere, I pulled it from one of Patric's @hoofhearted posts.


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## Bozman (Jun 26, 2019)

I would love to see what the Great Western headbadge looks like on this bike. 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk


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## hoofhearted (Jun 26, 2019)

@CrownKing 



Bozman said:


> I would love to see what the Great Western headbadge looks like on this bike.




=====================================


*Richard … we could use your knowledge and insight, please  ……...*

*Thank you, budz !!*

*….. patric*


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## Mercian (Jul 16, 2019)

Hi All,

I've been looking for the answer - nothing yet, but I'll present what I do have in the hope it may stimulate other thoughts.

To me, the restored bike in post 1 looks to either have a "Great Western Crown" badge, much like this one: https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/great-western-crown-head-badge.145907/ , or an America badge like this one: https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/america-by-great-western-mfg-info-needed.47406/ 

And not like some other "Great Western" models, such as the "Adlake" in the third post here, or the alternative "Crown" in post 6. https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/great-western-head-badge-wanted.89365/ 

Of course, we have unable to say if the badge is the original to the bike, unless someone here saw it before restoration?

To add to the mystery, this is a photo I came across on this forum: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/for...76467-aef-bicycles-what-make-is-this-bycycle/ 




_Credit:  John Adams-Graf collection_

I wish he's posted the full picture, perhaps I need to contact John Adams-Graf. Anyway, although the bike (to me) looks Columbia, the badge does not, and does not resemble the Dayton or GW Crown badges either: https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1918-davis-dayton-military-model-badge.95161/  So is this a Great Western?

Your thoughts are most welcome.

Again, a shout out to @CrownKing for help.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## New Mexico Brant (Jul 16, 2019)

Thank you Adrian for your contribution above.  The John Adams-Graf photograph does add to the mystery.  It seems we may need to have some badge collectors to comment about the many variations of Great Western badges @hoofhearted @sm2501 @catfish .  Here is a Cyrus badge owned by Scott McCaskey currently available on Ebay and an America badge I own.  Although not the same, the Cyrus badge side detail has similarities to the Adams-Graf image.


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## New Mexico Brant (Jul 16, 2019)

Mercian said:


> I wish he's posted the full picture, perhaps I need to contact John Adams-Graf. Anyway, although the bike (to me) looks Columbia, the badge does not, and does not resemble the Dayton or GW Crown badges either: https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1918-davis-dayton-military-model-badge.95161/ So is this a Great Western?




Adrian, it would be great to see the actual photo from which the close-up image is from.  The author of the original post (on the US Militaria Forum) mentions "The close up of the logo was borrowed from a bike in another photo. However, I believe the same logo also appears on this bike."


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## johan willaert (Jul 17, 2019)

I believe the bike in the opening post belongs (belonged) to Gerald Mlynek of Parma, OH...

He is fairly well known in the Mil Bike world and maybe someone has contact info for him and can get in touch for more details..


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## fat tire trader (Jul 17, 2019)

I know Gerald and have sold him several military bicycle parts over the last 30 years.


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## Mercian (Jul 18, 2019)

New Mexico Brant said:


> Adrian, it would be great to see the actual photo from which the close-up image is from.  The author of the original post (on the US Militaria Forum) mentions "The close up of the logo was borrowed from a bike in another photo. However, I believe the same logo also appears on this bike."




Hi, All,

I hadn't spotted that the badge image was from a different bike. I'm old enough to know I should "read the question", sorry about that. So it could be a bit of a wild goose chase.

However, I did look through John Adams-Graf's Pinterest collection yesterday, without finding the original. It turns out he is editor of  Military Vehicles Magazine and Military Trader, based in Hudson Minnesota, and so contactable, but whether he'd have time to look out the photo is another question. Also, I guess I could try contacting "world war 1 nerd' on the US Militaria Forum, to see if he still has a copy.

I did say I thought it looked like a Columbia, based on the chain ring. Could anyone say if it is a Columbia/Dayton/Great Western from the frame?

Anyway, the search is useful, it's pulled up a couple of other things I'll share shortly.

Best Regards,

Adrian


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## Wing Your Heel (Jul 19, 2019)

Here's Great Western in my book. You can buy it on amazon


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## New Mexico Brant (Jul 26, 2019)

Wing Your Heel said:


> Here's Great Western in my book. You can buy it on amazon




Thank you for your input Colin.  The postman delivered my Amazon ordered copy of Bad Teeth No Bar yesterday.  The book is great, you cover so many facets of bicycle history from that period of time.  I was reading into the wee hours, I just could not put it down!


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