# 1951 Schwinn Hornet...Just Brought it Home...



## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

I wasn't even looking for a bike like this, and it jumps out at me on Facebook yesterday morning. 🤪 100% original, right down to the Goodyear tires.

The gentleman selling it said it belonged to his Aunt, original owner, and that the bike had been sitting in garage for years. He was asking WAY to much money ($795) for it, and even listed the bike wrong. I helped him out with a Catalog page and told him that 1953 was probably the correct year, but also told him his price was a bit (???) high. He thanked me, and this morning the bike was now $395.

I decided to show him some of the girls Schwinn bikes I had, and the condition I keep them in. He liked that, and we had a nice communication on them. I said that if somewhere down the road the bike doesn't sell, please let me know what you'd let it go for.  He told $300, I thanked him, but said I could only do $200 and good luck with the sale anyway.
He got back to me 5 minutes later and said he'd take the $200, knowing it was going to go to a good home. Also the fact that we had good communication about the bikes and that I collect them sealed the deal. Never hurts to ask!!!  🙂

Shots are as I just got it out of the SUV...


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

...and more...

BTW, anyone know about how old the light/horn is on the handlebars?


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## WES PINCHOT (Sep 6, 2021)

NICE!
A GOOD CLEANING AND DOUBLE YOUR MONEY!


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## GTs58 (Sep 6, 2021)

Wow, you sure got your moneys worth with that one! And it's a 1951 model.


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> Wow, you sure got your moneys worth with that one! And it's a 1951 model.



Thank you!!!! I just changed the Post Heading. _No clue_ as to what my eyes were looking at on Angelfire that I saw the serial number being there for 1953. 🤪

Cool! The bike is one year older than I am. 😛


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## phantom (Sep 6, 2021)

WES PINCHOT said:


> NICE!
> A GOOD CLEANING AND DOUBLE YOUR MONEY!



Or even ( Gulp ) part it out and triple your money !


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## GTs58 (Sep 6, 2021)

HARPO said:


> Thank you!!!! I just changed the Post Heading. _No clue_ as to what my eyes were looking at on Angelfire that I saw the serial number being there for 1953. 🤪
> 
> Cool! The bike is one year older than I am. 😛




There were some H serials at the beginning of 1953 with 5 digits, not 6, and those are on the left rear drop out not under the crank. 😉


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

@phantom  Nope...no Parting Out. The bike is as it left Chicago and it will stay that way. I'd NEVER do that to a complete, original bike. Oh, and I just pumped up the tires and they're holding air. 😁


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> There were some H serials at the beginning of 1953 with 5 digits, not 6, and those are on the left rear drop out not under the crank. 😉




Also, the 1951 Catalog shows a skiptooth crank, which apparently was changed out as production was going on.


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## Handle Bar Hoarder (Sep 6, 2021)

can't wait to see her all cleaned up


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## GTs58 (Sep 6, 2021)

HARPO said:


> Also, the 1951 Catalog shows a skiptooth crank, which apparently was changed out as production was going on.



I've never seen an online 1951 Catalog. I usually don't give any merit to the chain pitch shown on the girls bikes during the 50's. Schwinn was slowly getting out of using the 1" pitch drive trains at a slow pace until they were no longer used sometime in 1954 and completely gone for the 55 model year. Stamping out a 1" pitch clover ring along the same time they were stamping out the 1/2" pitch clover probably seemed like a wasted effort at some point during these years.


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## phantom (Sep 6, 2021)

HARPO said:


> @phantom  Nope...no Parting Out. The bike is as it left Chicago and it will stay that way. I'd NEVER do that to a complete, original bike. Oh, and I just pumped up the tires and they're holding air. 😁



No problem keeping them original either, I can certainly respect that.. I just look at it like once I sell a bike the new owner can do whatever they want with it. I have lost a few bikes on here because the seller wanted to be assured the bike would stay intact. Not a condition of sale I can make.


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

@GTs58 https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1951.html#hornet


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## GTs58 (Sep 6, 2021)

HARPO said:


> @GTs58 https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1951.html#hornet




Unfortunately that is not the 1951 catalog! 🤬 This is another thing that I mentioned to @pinopat (Patrick) that is screwed up on his site. That is a catalog for 1953!!!


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## HARPO (Sep 6, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> Unfortunately that is not the 1951 catalog! 🤬 This is another thing that I mentioned to @pinopat (Patrick) that is screwed up on his site. That is a catalog for 1953!!!




I know that the site is _full_ of Typo's, that's for sure...but didn't realize that it was _this messed up_ when it came to the years!! Aye Carumba!! 😩 From now on I stick to an ACTUAL catalog page for reference.


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## GTs58 (Sep 6, 2021)

And it has images for 1954!   The Wasp! 

Looks like he's seen this and is working on the issue? Some things have just changed.  Also the 1952 catalog has typed in model names like Leader and Meteor and those names first appeared on the 1953 models.


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## HARPO (Sep 7, 2021)

I decided to do a quick, dry, wipe down with paper towels before bringing it into my house and to the top floor where I work on the bikes. Color and condition is pretty amazing, considering the amount of dust and dirt that was on it all of these years.

I opened the aftermarket head light/horn to find batteries in there, but was thankful nothing leaked from the small amount of rust on them. Also took the cover off the Rocket Ray and found that it wasn't in to bad a shape, and I'm hoping the same will be said for the tank when I get to it.


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## Phattiremike (Sep 7, 2021)

With your detailing skills that bike will clean up nicely, nice find at a good price.

-mike


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## CURTIS L LINDGREN (Sep 7, 2021)

Nice Save @HARPO !!   Another Beauty in capable hands !   🤓


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## 1817cent (Sep 7, 2021)

Nice bike, you did real well for the money spent!  If you want to part with the batteries, i would pay $25 shipped.


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## pinopat (Sep 7, 2021)

GTs58 said:


> Unfortunately that is not the 1951 catalog! 🤬 This is another thing that I mentioned to @pinopat (Patrick) that is screwed up on his site. That is a catalog for 1953!!!



The catalog is corrected onto a new page as the 1953 dealer catalog - https://bikehistory.org/catalogs/1953-dealer-catalog.html - but it looks like google is still sending people to the old page. I will kill the old page today.


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## HARPO (Sep 7, 2021)

1817cent said:


> Nice bike, you did real well for the money spent!  If you want to part with the batteries, i would pay $25 shipped.




Lol...you realize that _they're dead_, right? 😁

I know, just another piece of History to keep alive because everyone threw them out and no one has them. Sure, you can have them. I'm _not_ taking any money from you. Just PM me your address and I'll send them out to you in the next couple of days.


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## Lonestar (Sep 7, 2021)

HARPO said:


> Lol...you realize that _they're dead_, right? 😁
> 
> I know, just another piece of History to keep alive because everyone threw them out and no one has them. Sure, you can have them. I'm _not_ taking any money from you. Just PM me your address and I'll send them out to you in the next couple of days.



That's damn cool...I love Cabers


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## Rivnut (Sep 8, 2021)

Any chance you’d want to sell the teacup light? 🤔 In keeping it original, the fender light would be sufficient?


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## HARPO (Sep 8, 2021)

@Rivnut  Not sure if I'm going to keep or sell that. First head light/horn combo I've ever had. Regardless, it's being removed from the bike. 
I'm finishing up on the two Raleigh's I recently bought, so I can't wait to get started on this one! 😎


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## Rivnut (Sep 8, 2021)

@HARPO I think that’s a low/high beam light. I can’t see a horn in it unless it’s not visible in the pictures


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## HARPO (Sep 9, 2021)

Rivnut said:


> @HARPO I think that’s a low/high beam light. I can’t see a horn in it unless it’s not visible in the pictures




I haven't tested it out yet. I'm going under the assumption that the "gills" on the back of the light are for sound, as is the button to make a horn work. Also, I figured that the lever on top would be to just turn on the light.


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## Rivnut (Sep 9, 2021)

That is some kind of cool.  I wouldn't sell it either.


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## HARPO (Sep 14, 2021)

I'm_ finally_ getting to the Hornet! 😛

Check out the inside of the tank. Not bad, but look closely. They lost a screw years ago to hold the horn in place...couldn't find one...so they used a twig, LOL! 😆

There's a sticker on the rear carrier that shows its been here in Nassau County, at least for a number of years before it was packed away in the garage. I'll remove it, but I'll have a pic to show what it was.

The saddle cleaned up pretty nicely with some Fantastic and a toothbrush, scrubbing until it looked like a different seat because it was so dirty.

And as I'm cleaning the paint with Fantastic, I decided to take some Polishing Compound to see what the front fender would look like. _Nice! _Totally different green than I would have thought.


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## BFGforme (Sep 14, 2021)

Leave the sticker, it's part of it's story!!


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## HARPO (Sep 14, 2021)

BFGforme said:


> Leave the sticker, it's part of it's story!!




I figured I'd get at least one person saying that. OK...for now I will... 😎 Plenty to do on the bike anyway.


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## HARPO (Oct 6, 2021)

Finally getting to work on the bike! I had to finish up other projects first.  😎


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## HARPO (Oct 26, 2021)

Getting back to working on the paint! Still need to work on the fender braces, pedals, etc., but I'm happy with the development so far. 😀


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## vincev (Oct 30, 2021)

Thank you for not parting out this old lady.She should clean up nicele.


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## HARPO (Oct 31, 2021)

OK...pretty much done. I'll use a Dremel on the fender braces and pedals to finish it up, but I wanted to get some shots outside today.  😎 The sun kept going in and out, which explains the difference in color of the paint in some of the photos.

I only removed the tank and top of the headlight while working on it. Everything else was left on the bike. The wheels appear to never have been removed as there weren't any marks from the nuts and washers on the paint, and I didn't want to be the first.

Enjoy the barrage of photos!! 😀


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## HARPO (Oct 31, 2021)

...and a few more...😛


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## GTs58 (Oct 31, 2021)

🤩  Beautiful survivor!


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## HARPO (Nov 12, 2021)

This one might be looking for a new home...but it would need to be picked up here on Long Island...


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## HARPO (Mar 7, 2022)

Anyone interested?...


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