# 1890? "liberty" model 40 help needed,soon to be motorized



## thehugheseum (Apr 28, 2013)

heres a liberty bike i bought at a swap not long ago,im missing some of the headtube/fork assembly and its a little oddball........it takes a much smaller stem and i found a suitable stem and bars but i need to find this top collar and im really not sure what else

   I have this very rare motor fitted and have a thread on the motor here http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...-the-century-4-cycle-clip-on-motor-G-E-ROUNDS












heres a hub i think might be right? remember im putting the motor in it so i think it would have had to have a coaster?


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## thehugheseum (Apr 28, 2013)




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## thehugheseum (Apr 28, 2013)

any info/help greatly appreciated,im fairly far on the outskirts of my knowledge base with this one


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## bricycle (Apr 28, 2013)

Kool, kool, kool!


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## Larmo63 (Apr 28, 2013)

Build the motor "into" the seat tube standing straight up.....?

Like the very first motorized bikes......


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## Larmo63 (Apr 28, 2013)

*Kinda like this....?*


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## rustyspoke66 (Apr 28, 2013)

There must have been a bike manufacturer on every corner back then. Kinda like Starbucks now.


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## thehugheseum (Apr 28, 2013)

so these motors like an e r thomas look like they sat as i pictured it (i think).....there was a second boss on the rear end right where my seat tube is but has been sawed off or something......this is likely a prototype or one off or a motor that just wasnt successful.......good news,i researched and found g e rounds relative,i also am promised a stack of  documentation of the man g e rounds that the last owner obtained and i will post all of that......my goal is to recreate the bike/motor assembly as it should or possibly would have been in its era

  i did look at the upright position but the bottom or rear boss is in such an extreme that it would make for some very interesting geometry.....at this point i think i have the motor in the correctish position......but theres a journey ahead

    the biggest thing that could happen is a picture of it surfacing


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## thehugheseum (Apr 28, 2013)

oh and the marsh cycle is actually later and a "real" motorcycle with a much bigger motor,they are pretty unique too


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## thehugheseum (May 6, 2013)

im posting my recent G E rounds info to see if that sparks anyone at all...........this was information i just obtained from the motors last owner..........so there is some speculation on this engines possible date being of the or THE first american built motor for a bicycle/motorcycle in existence or even the only example dating this early

    this would be very important to many in the core group of early motorcycle............and i am one of them.........to expose my intentions right away.......i do not in any way have any plans to sell this motor even if it is the oldest......im too big a sucker for that 

enjoy....and if anything jumps out please please contact me or chime in............the motor being stamped plymouth mass is the biggest clue we have..........we can assume he built this while living in plymouth and that seems to be very early 1890s,the information im finding is post early 90s outside of plymouth which would lend credence to the "earliest" claim


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## thehugheseum (May 6, 2013)

in the 80s we are seeing his father? g f rounds and then in the 90s g e himself


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## bud poe (May 10, 2013)

*Very cool, what no naysayers yet?!?  All the documentation to go along with it is incredible...can't wait to come out and see this little piece of transportation history...*


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## thehugheseum (May 15, 2013)

thanks,you should come out someday,i need to borrow the ski bike too.......bud,bring out your completed racer too,i know you got it finished up by now


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## thehugheseum (Jun 12, 2013)

updated pics


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## filmonger (Jun 14, 2013)

*RE: Liberty*

Cool.....and very very interesting project.


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## bricycle (Jun 14, 2013)

Super neat project!!!
...why is there a bowling pin on your kitchen counter? ...jest wundren.


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## thehugheseum (Jun 14, 2013)

thanks for the kind words..........bowling pin is from a birthday one year momma rolled a turkey on her bday and i guess the alley gave her a pin for her make........we used to hit the lanes once every other week to pass the time before the boy was born

   filmonger,thanks and great pics,i was just looking at the one bike in a book the other day,i think its an 02 bike..............this g e motor was set exactly as it sits in the frame like a....... e r thomas

   next i need tanks,battery box,intake,rawhide woven belt,sheave and other parts........see it still has a long way to go,but i knew seeing it mocked up with wheels would inspire me...........plus many cannot visualize internally so now i can call it a motorcycle project and not get such a strange look from fellas


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## thehugheseum (Jun 14, 2013)

my day got bamboozled by neighbors broken equipment and my boy trying to end the world.............but i started on a fuel tank but got sidetracked by a battery box quickie.......really wish i could get a certain date on the motor to be as correct as possible...........heres pics........yes i know,hardware issues all over...........im approaching this build based on the motors crudeness,im using only the tools of the era and only gas welding (i mostly gas weld anyhow) 











still needs farting around but its a decent mockup........i was going to do a round fuel tank but i may have just changed my mind


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## bike (Jun 14, 2013)

*I understood this to be the first American Motorcycle*

if under a different name. Did not cool well as the story goes and was good enough to ride outto a stage in front of investors- who were scammed.


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## thehugheseum (Jun 14, 2013)

i thought pennington brought that contraption from england?  im not positive but i dont think it ever was recorded as running.........


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## bike (Jun 14, 2013)

*thanks to google and wiki*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._J._Pennington

great pix on google
my advert is from NY state


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## thehugheseum (Jun 14, 2013)

thank you bike!!  

what has always remained unclear though at least from what my froggy brain can recall is its actual running.............there was so much phony  legitimate hype that i remember something like not being convinced


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## thehugheseum (Jun 15, 2013)

i ended up going with the round tank idea on the fuel tank for now..........this could very well change as i get closer to a completed rig.......one of the fun things about this build is that he era was all over the place,if you can dream it up it very likely was already done in the turn of the century/bicycle/motoredbike.........anyhow newer pics,


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## thehugheseum (Jun 15, 2013)

heres a sheave i will mess around with hopefully tomorrow


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## tanksalot (Jun 16, 2013)

I have the Badge.. (Badge has some damage but displays well. )
The Head tube & the bearing cups for that bike..


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## thehugheseum (Jun 16, 2013)

i sent a pm,i would love the stuff


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## thehugheseum (Jun 16, 2013)

slight screwing around with the battery box and the first trial tank brackets, this stuff might all be changing as the build goes forward.........got the sheave zipped up (yes of course gas welded) but waiting on rivets..........not even positive i will be running this size sheave, theres lots to fart around with and i really dont want to modify the frame.....time will tell


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