# (Need help!)1933-34 Iver Johnson racer model 90a



## The Professor (Dec 4, 2016)

Hi everyone.
I recently picked this bike up this bike and I'm looking for as much information on it as possible as well as anyone who may have parts for sale for it, racing or original.( I have a Brooks b72 and a b19...I'll be running and I do have 2 sets of 28 inch lobdells jic I can't run what's on it). The seat and post are wrong, the stem is wrong, the fork appears to be factory painted and striped like the frame, the cranks are blacked out both fork and cranks look to have some nickel underneath. The hubs look right, but they are laced to 26x 1.375 rims. Center of bb to top of seat post is 20 1/2.  The headtube is chrome, not nickel.  it was purchased out of Ray Florman's shop(A1 cycle shop recently bought out by Billy goat cycles) in st.Louis Missouri and was possibly raced by his Father Ray Florman Sr. As far as I can tell, this is a racer model 90, but not a chater lea,90B. I look forward to hearing everyone's input.
Thank you in advance.


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## Handyman (Dec 5, 2016)

Hi Professor,
Another Iver surfaces, great find !!  It appears to me you have a 20" model 90 Iver Johnson "Road Racer",   I agree the seat, seatpost, and handlebar stem look like they have been changed out, but those are fairly easy parts to find.  The wheelset may be original as Iver Johnson did offer a Morrow coaster brake with that model. The BB/Chainring look OK and it has the correct fork.  At some point in time it appears the bike was repainted.  The original color may have been black or red with single hairline pin striping.  In any case, a great find.  Pictured below is a similar model 90 Road Racer.  Pete in Fitchburg


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## locomotion (Dec 5, 2016)

good find, nice bicycle


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## Handyman (Dec 5, 2016)

Closer look at one of the chainrings used on the Model 90 Iver Johnson Road Racer.  There were other styles also.  Pete in Fitchburg


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## Ed Minas (Dec 5, 2016)

Awesome find.   I have a friend that has serial number cross reference.  Would be happy to run it by him unless you are sure it 1933-34


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## Iverider (Dec 5, 2016)

If it was painted, it was long ago given that sticker on the seat tube. I think it could be original paint. Maroon was offered for some years in the Model 90 

IJ_1928_1929_23 by VW Sightings, on Flickr


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## The Professor (Dec 5, 2016)

I'm onboard with checking into the exact year via the serial #. 
You know I think there is some oddities to the paint, but it looks right to me. the color is very similar to my 36 iver Johnson streamlined.


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## pelletman (Dec 5, 2016)

Post the serial number!


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## The Professor (Dec 5, 2016)

pelletman said:


> Post the serial number!




Look at the pix! Lol.


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## The Professor (Dec 5, 2016)

The serial number on this bike is:
543221


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## Handyman (Dec 6, 2016)

Serial # on this bike (#543221) puts it somewhere in the 1934-1935ish area.  1928/29/30 catalogs say that Maroon paint was offered. 1936 catalog says Black and Red paint only.  Wish we had some info for the years 1931/32/33/34/35. I'm thinking its an early repaint because of the paint on the seat adjusting nut and remnants of paint on the fork that should be chrome.  However, the owner, "Professor" has discovered maroon paint inside the headtube??   Pete in Fitchburg


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## bricycle (Dec 6, 2016)

oh great, I sold a pre-16 iver? S/N 283460


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## pelletman (Dec 6, 2016)

Yeah, according to the serial numbers I have collected mid to late 30's.  I'll ask Bill


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## pelletman (Dec 7, 2016)

Bill says about 1936


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

I finally spoke with the original owners son. he said that this bike was back in the storage room since the late 50's or 60's and the only person who could truly tell us about it was his dad. 
He said his dad did NOT race this bike because he actually built his own. He did say that he thought the painted parts were odd, and that It's unlikely it's a repaint, it's probably that Guaranty had these bikes delivered without the decals or with the option to place the decals on themselves and just put theirs only on. 
With that in mind, I'm reminded of my 37 Westfield which is a factory repaint. so maybe this bike was just painted differently as an option that Guaranty co. ordered specifically for their line.
He also said that they never took trade in, however his dad had many, many racing friends and he had always thought that an acquaintance gave his father the bike when he was done with it. The son said through the years, many widows brought their husbands former racing tackle to his father where it sat in storage until recently. 
He really didn't have much more information to offer other than he shot me great prices on relacing wheels.


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

I did pop the top cup to see that it is a wartime black cup, not painted like the crank arms. the fork also looks a lot like the later model fork. So maybe it was swapped, during an overhaul when the wheels were 're laced. 
The owner did say that if there's racing evidence on the bike, it could have been raced, just not raced by his late father Ray Florman Sr.  
So I'm still open to suspicions or information on where this bike should, would, or could be. 
I'm looking for a seatpost, iver stem, badge and pedals. I'll probably run the bars and wheels I have with a brooks b15 saddle.


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## Duchess (Dec 7, 2016)

My 1912 90a has black paint with matching box pinstripe—same as the frame—over nickel on its fork. Frame paint is original and I seriously doubt the fork was done later, so I suspect it was a factory/dealer option/request. It's also got a crown like the forks I've seen on contemporary Pierce, so who knows what happened. Factories weren't organized anything like today so long ago and even by the 1930s, processes were primitive by today's standards and I'm sure anomalies weren't so anomalous when so much was done by varying hands and methods in production, logistics, forecasting, etc.


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