# My Chidhood Bike



## oldslick (Aug 23, 2018)

Pulled out the shed on the farm that I grew up on in NE Nebraska. I rode it in the early-mid-seventies and my brother, who is 63, thinks that he also rode it. I really liked the slick rear tire!

The stickers are mostly deteriorated.

It would be nice to restore it but it is in pretty rough shape. I found a similar girls model on Ebay.

From the web...Hiawatha brand bicycles were sold by Gambles Hardware stores from the 1930s until the 1970′s. Most Hiawatha bicycles were manufactured by the Cleveland Welding Company or the Shelby Cycle Company, however some were made by Murray Ohio and Huffman Manufacturing.


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Aug 23, 2018)

should have kept it in a better shed. a handy person could put that back together, maybe not "restored" to original but close enough and rideable. 

sandblast the rusty bits. see if the chrome will come back better than what it is now with 000 steel wool and WD 40. give it a paint job. new seats and grips are out there.

I bet I had 5 or 6 bikes before I turned 16. none of them survived.


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## rfeagleye (Aug 23, 2018)

That is neat you still have that hanging around. Your bike was made by AMF for Gambles, the chainguard and sprocket give it away.


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## 1966fastbacks (Aug 23, 2018)

I'm thinking, see if the tires hold air, a little oil and grease and a towel over the seat.


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## oldslick (Aug 29, 2018)

I am hoping to ride it this Saturday in Fort Collins Tour de Fat! 

Set the bike on the handlebars/seat and the 6" bolt fell out of the center of the hanlebar.  I then loosened the nut on the handlebars in order to raise them and found out the 6" bolt does not thread into anything. Maybe a longer bolt is in order?


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## ratina (Aug 30, 2018)

There is a wedge at the bottom of the stem that the bolt threads into. You have to thread it into the wedge and tap the bolt down with a hammer to free it from the stem. Then the stem should loosen up.


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## oldslick (Sep 25, 2018)

Also trying to raise the seat tube but copiuous amounts of penetrating fluid, hammer blows and a torch could not loosen it.


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## Scout Evans (Sep 26, 2018)

For parts, same bike as the common AMF Renegade, here's a 70 model:


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