# Hex-tube



## dave the wave (Apr 18, 2022)

Log into Facebook
					

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					www.facebook.com


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## Freqman1 (Apr 18, 2022)

I can’t see the FB post but looks like wrong light, seat, bars, grips, wheels, and possibly the stand. V/r Shawn


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## island schwinn (Apr 18, 2022)

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## Freqman1 (Apr 18, 2022)

island schwinn said:


> Log into Facebook
> 
> 
> Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
> ...



What I meant was I don’t have a FB account so I can’t log in to see the post. V/r Shawn


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## J-wagon (Apr 18, 2022)

I don't login to FB. I just click the link and takes me to item.


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## WetDogGraphix (Apr 19, 2022)

I think it's been shown more than once that you don't have to have a FB account to look at these adds.🤦‍♂️


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## Freqman1 (Apr 19, 2022)

ok so here is a screenshot of what I see when I click the above link


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## dasberger (Apr 19, 2022)

That's weird.  If I click link it takes me to ad but if I google Facebook Marketplace I get the same please login page as you.  I've made it thus far without FB but after last weeks "antique Sears bike" I'm having second thoughts


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## WetDogGraphix (Apr 19, 2022)

Well, since Shawn has me blocked and ignored, I will post this...
This is what I see when I'm not logged in. NICE TRY Freqman1....





🤦‍♂️


​


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## Freqman1 (Apr 19, 2022)

WetDogGraphix said:


> Well, since Shawn has me blocked and ignored, I will post this...
> This is what I see when I'm not logged in. NICE TRY Freqman1....
> 
> View attachment 1610027
> ...



I don’t have you blocked and ignored. I have my PM turned off.


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## island schwinn (Apr 19, 2022)

Isn't anyone gonna comment on the asking price? Is this really what a hextube is worth these days?


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## Freqman1 (Apr 20, 2022)

island schwinn said:


> Isn't anyone gonna comment on the asking price? Is this really what a hextube is worth these days?



Nope! Especially not with all the wrong stuff. V/r Shawn


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## tripple3 (Apr 20, 2022)

Pics please










It has a basket, so it must have been "Used".🥰


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## NBHAA (Apr 23, 2022)

Freqman1 said:


> I can’t see the FB post but looks like wrong light, seat, bars, grips, wheels, and possibly the stand. V/r Shawn



This post is to inform. Not to debate. I've given the entire hobby and all of the writers... all of the "experts"... of all the articles... and all the books... and all of the internet... _over 45 years to figure this out. But_ nobody has figured it out after all these years. *Why? *

The first article on Silver King "hextube" (a term I coined in the 1970s) appeared in the early 1980s in_ Classic Bicycle & Whizzer News_. I started collecting Silver King and Monark literature in the early 1950s. I got my first aluminum SIlver King in the 1950s. I interviewed most of the surviving key figures from Monark-Silver King, Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s _and saved all of my notes. And my memories._ I personally knew the biggest Silver King dealers in the country (I mean original factory-authorized Silver King dealers– as in new bicycle shops,1930s-1950s). I had the sole remaining prototype Silver King hextube frame– which was stolen out of my barn 20 years ago and remains missing today. This frame came to me from MSK in the 1970s and I still have the letter that accompanied the frame. I was also able to save the prototype pieces that MSK still had left when they closed down operations in Chicago. Those parts include a special purple anodized head casting that the factory did. To this day I still have my_ original, un-molested, un-restored _1948 Silver King hextube that was pictured_ in color _in the 1980s in _Cyclist _magazine. That hextube, including the original seat was dead original except for what I noted in the article: The only thing not original on my hextube as pictured in_ Cyclist_ magazine were the whitewall tires (they should have been special _redwalls for 1948_) and the grips were the wrong color (only maroon ones I had at the time were crumbling). This bicycle was also exhibited at the _Oakland Museum_ (in Oakland, California) many years ago. Despite all of the so-called "1947" and "1948" hextubes posted on the intenet, 99% have been incorrectly "restored." The Silver King hextube is one of the most often mis-identified vintage  Classic bicycles.

The Silver King hextube in these photos is a _1949 model._* Not* a 1948. _The handlebars are correct. _T_he seat is correct. The wheels are correct. _The fork is correct. The fenders are correct. The rear reflector is correct. The special aluminum brake arm band is correct. Yes, it appears that someone has changed the stand. The grips and streamers are not correct, nor are the blackwall tires. And yes, the headlight on there is from the 1960s and aftermarket basket was added. 

For anyone wanting to be an expert on Silver King hextube bicycles, it is important to keep in mind that each year was different– if only slightly. And you cannot go by fuzzy artwork in advertisements to get each year right. Folks who think they have the serial numbers right on these Silver Kings... don't. And you can't go by what this hobby seems to believe is "all original" to determine what "all original" indeed actually means. Especially with one of these bicycles. "All original" means "unchanged from when new"... This one? Despite slight alterations on the grips, headlight and tires ... and despite the overboard price, this is indeed a rare bird. Some will look at this as the usual opportunity to spout off and argue things into the ground. But _smart f_olks will recognize the opportunity to learn something obviously unknown to this hobby, such as it is. Remember where you heard it.


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## Freqman1 (Apr 23, 2022)

Uhhh ok


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## dave the wave (Apr 23, 2022)

this hex-tube looks to be more rare than the common one.just missing the pedestal light.Thank you for the info Leon at NBHAA. I am curious to know if the brake arm says monark on it.


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## New Mexico Brant (Apr 24, 2022)

@ratrodz


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## slick (Apr 24, 2022)

NBHAA said:


> This post is to inform. Not to debate. I've given the entire hobby and all of the writers... all of the "experts"... of all the articles... and all the books... and all of the internet... _over 45 years to figure this out. But_ nobody has figured it out after all these years. *Why? *
> 
> The first article on Silver King "hextube" (a term I coined in the 1970s) appeared in the early 1980s in_ Classic Bicycle & Whizzer News_. I started collecting Silver King and Monark literature in the early 1950s. I got my first aluminum SIlver King in the 1950s. I interviewed most of the surviving key figures from Monark-Silver King, Inc. in the 1970s and 1980s _and saved all of my notes. And my memories._ I personally knew the biggest Silver King dealers in the country (I mean original factory-authorized Silver King dealers– as in new bicycle shops,1930s-1950s). I had the sole remaining prototype Silver King hextube frame– which was stolen out of my barn 20 years ago and remains missing today. This frame came to me from MSK in the 1970s and I still have the letter that accompanied the frame. I was also able to save the prototype pieces that MSK still had left when they closed down operations in Chicago. Those parts include a special purple anodized head casting that the factory did. To this day I still have my_ original, un-molested, un-restored _1948 Silver King hextube that was pictured_ in color _in the 1980s in _Cyclist _magazine. That hextube, including the original seat was dead original except for what I noted in the article: The only thing not original on my hextube as pictured in_ Cyclist_ magazine were the whitewall tires (they should have been special _redwalls for 1948_) and the grips were the wrong color (only maroon ones I had at the time were crumbling). This bicycle was also exhibited at the _Oakland Museum_ (in Oakland, California) many years ago. Despite all of the so-called "1947" and "1948" hextubes posted on the intenet, 99% have been incorrectly "restored." The Silver King hextube is one of the most often mis-identified vintage  Classic bicycles.
> 
> ...





Leon, you should start your own bicycle website. I would love to follow your knowledge and photos of actual facts. You're absolutely correct on the fact of all the "experts" on here. One of the many reasons most of us that have been on here for years fail to post on the Cabe anymore. The "experts" also scare a lot of potential new collectors away by their negativity. 

I believe we met once at a Stockton bicycle show and swap in conjunction with the car show and swap meet. I had a womens Iver Johnson for sale that day you were looking at and educating me on. You taught me a lot in the few minutes you were at my booth. It was about 10 years ago or more. 

Anyways, thanks for contributing and I hope you post more often.


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## NBHAA (Apr 24, 2022)

dave the wave said:


> this hex-tube looks to be more rare than the common one.just missing the pedestal light.Thank you for the info Leon at NBHAA. I am curious to know if the brake arm says monark on it.
> 
> View attachment 1612873



These turn up all over. The Monark coaster brake you show here was never originally intended for a bicycle, even though some indeed ended up on bicycles. This Monark coaster brake was invented solely for the Monark _Super-Twin_ motorbike and came in several variations over a few years. I know all about it and also met the man who engineered it many years ago. I once had a collection that included every type of these hubs and a few prototypes and spare parts... until I was robbed about 20 years ago.

Hextube coaster brakes had a slight bend on the brake arm on early models. Then a wilder double-bend on 1948 and 1949. But then, nobody seems to know this fact.


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## NBHAA (Apr 24, 2022)

slick said:


> Leon, you should start your own bicycle website. I would love to follow your knowledge and photos of actual facts. You're absolutely correct on the fact of all the "experts" on here. One of the many reasons most of us that have been on here for years fail to post on the Cabe anymore. The "experts" also scare a lot of potential new collectors away by their negativity.
> 
> I believe we met once at a Stockton bicycle show and swap in conjunction with the car show and swap meet. I had a womens Iver Johnson for sale that day you were looking at and educating me on. You taught me a lot in the few minutes you were at my booth. It was about 10 years ago or more.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for contributing and I hope you post more often.



Good idea. So that's exactly what I did.... back in the 1970s when I started the _world's first Classic Bicycle newsletter _(all this stuff and the bicycle histories didn't fall out of the sky and suddenly pop up on the internet). And in the 1990s when I did a web site that still exists. Which is why NBHAA exists. With over 80,000 original bicycle catalogues, photos and books going all the way back to the 1860s, but specializing in the Classic Era of 1920 to 1965. And over 600 original bicycle-oriented movies (real film, not videos or DVDs) going back to the 1930s (I used to run samples at Balloonatic shows many years ago and also at huge bicycle industry trade shows like _BDS-Expo_ and _NBDA National Conventions._ Also did the first vintage bicycle film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Berkeley many years before anyone else was doing such stuff.)

Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I just don't post. I hate trolls, arguing and politics. And I don't get credit for what I did to get this hobby on its feet decades ago. So? Except for this case where the history is so wildly out of control... I just don't normally do postings. 

There was a time when there were only about ten of us seriously interested in Classic balloon tire bicycles and motorbikes– for the entire USA! And there was a time when there was a First National Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet. First. National. I still have letters (paper things with an envelope and a stamp) from the 1960s-1970s where shops were tossing out NOS balloon bicycle parts... or offering to sell me new Schwinn expander brakes for $7.50 complete with cable and handle!!!!! Back when so-called "serious bicycle collectors" wouldn't even talk to you if it wasn't about antique highwheel contraptions. And even the few balloon collectors didn't care anything about any other make or brand other than the almighty Schwinn. I had a small fleet of Elgin Bluebirds decades ago but nobody cared (what are those weird things?). Today? There are Bluebird "experts." I had NOS Huffy Radiobikes (couldn't give them away) and wrote and published their first history. Nobody cared. Today? There are "experts." When I saved the papers and archives (including blueprints and factory photos) from various bicycle companies that were either gone or on their way out of business (including Whizzer, Cleveland Welding, Monark-Silver King, Shelby, Rollfast and others) nobody cared. They laughed when I dug paper stuff and photos out of dumpsters! Today... evvvvvverybody's an expert and there are numerous fans for bicycles that were once being routinely tossed in the trash! And people today wanna know _where _I got the stuff I saved– as if there is a magic vault in the sky. Been collecting since the 1950s. Nobody remembers this. And even to bring up this fact of how the hobby got started or what is authentic brings out the trolls. So I post nothing. It is what it is. Thanks again for the kind words and thoughts.


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## slick (Apr 24, 2022)

NBHAA said:


> Good idea. So that's exactly what I did.... back in the 1970s when I started the _world's first Classic Bicycle newsletter _(all this stuff and the bicycle histories didn't fall out of the sky and suddenly pop up on the internet). And in the 1990s when I did a web site that still exists. Which is why NBHAA exists. With over 80,000 original bicycle catalogues, photos and books going all the way back to the 1860s, but specializing in the Classic Era of 1920 to 1965. And over 600 original bicycle-oriented movies (real film, not videos or DVDs) going back to the 1930s (I used to run samples at Balloonatic shows many years ago and also at huge bicycle industry trade shows like _BDS-Expo_ and _NBDA National Conventions._ Also did the first vintage bicycle film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Berkeley many years before anyone else was doing such stuff.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I just don't post. I hate trolls, arguing and politics. And I don't get credit for what I did to get this hobby on its feet decades ago. So? Except for this case where the history is so wildly out of control... I just don't normally do postings.
> 
> There was a time when there were only about ten of us seriously interested in Classic balloon tire bicycles and motorbikes– for the entire USA! And there was a time when there was a First National Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet. First. National. I still have letters (paper things with an envelope and a stamp) from the 1960s-1970s where shops were tossing out NOS balloon bicycle parts... or offering to sell me new Schwinn expander brakes for $7.50 complete with cable and handle!!!!! Back when so-called "serious bicycle collectors" wouldn't even talk to you if it wasn't about antique highwheel contraptions. And even the few balloon collectors didn't care anything about any other make or brand other than the almighty Schwinn. I had a small fleet of Elgin Bluebirds decades ago but nobody cared (what are those weird things?). Today? There are Bluebird "experts." I had NOS Huffy Radiobikes (couldn't give them away) and wrote and published their first history. Nobody cared. Today? There are "experts." When I saved the papers and archives (including blueprints and factory photos) from various bicycle companies that were either gone or on their way out of business (including Whizzer, Cleveland Welding, Monark-Silver King, Shelby, Rollfast and others) nobody cared. They laughed when I dug paper stuff and photos out of dumpsters! Today... evvvvvverybody's an expert and there are numerous fans for bicycles that were once being routinely tossed in the trash! And people today wanna know _where _I got the stuff I saved– as if there is a magic vault in the sky. Been collecting since the 1950s. Nobody remembers this. And even to bring up this fact of how the hobby got started or what is authentic brings out the trolls. So I post nothing. It is what it is. Thanks again for the kind words and thoughts.





Well thank you very much for saving everything you have all these years and keeping the hobby alive. I would love to see all that stuff. It has to be incredible having all of the actual facts and the memories behind them all. Thanks again.


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## Indian Man (Apr 24, 2022)

slick said:


> Well thank you very much for saving everything you have all these years and keeping the hobby alive. I would love to see all that stuff. It has to be incredible having all of the actual facts and the memories behind them all. Thanks again.






NBHAA said:


> Good idea. So that's exactly what I did.... back in the 1970s when I started the _world's first Classic Bicycle newsletter _(all this stuff and the bicycle histories didn't fall out of the sky and suddenly pop up on the internet). And in the 1990s when I did a web site that still exists. Which is why NBHAA exists. With over 80,000 original bicycle catalogues, photos and books going all the way back to the 1860s, but specializing in the Classic Era of 1920 to 1965. And over 600 original bicycle-oriented movies (real film, not videos or DVDs) going back to the 1930s (I used to run samples at Balloonatic shows many years ago and also at huge bicycle industry trade shows like _BDS-Expo_ and _NBDA National Conventions._ Also did the first vintage bicycle film festivals in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Berkeley many years before anyone else was doing such stuff.)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the kind words. I just don't post. I hate trolls, arguing and politics. And I don't get credit for what I did to get this hobby on its feet decades ago. So? Except for this case where the history is so wildly out of control... I just don't normally do postings.
> 
> There was a time when there were only about ten of us seriously interested in Classic balloon tire bicycles and motorbikes– for the entire USA! And there was a time when there was a First National Classic Bicycle Show and Swap Meet. First. National. I still have letters (paper things with an envelope and a stamp) from the 1960s-1970s where shops were tossing out NOS balloon bicycle parts... or offering to sell me new Schwinn expander brakes for $7.50 complete with cable and handle!!!!! Back when so-called "serious bicycle collectors" wouldn't even talk to you if it wasn't about antique highwheel contraptions. And even the few balloon collectors didn't care anything about any other make or brand other than the almighty Schwinn. I had a small fleet of Elgin Bluebirds decades ago but nobody cared (what are those weird things?). Today? There are Bluebird "experts." I had NOS Huffy Radiobikes (couldn't give them away) and wrote and published their first history. Nobody cared. Today? There are "experts." When I saved the papers and archives (including blueprints and factory photos) from various bicycle companies that were either gone or on their way out of business (including Whizzer, Cleveland Welding, Monark-Silver King, Shelby, Rollfast and others) nobody cared. They laughed when I dug paper stuff and photos out of dumpsters! Today... evvvvvverybody's an expert and there are numerous fans for bicycles that were once being routinely tossed in the trash! And people today wanna know _where _I got the stuff I saved– as if there is a magic vault in the sky. Been collecting since the 1950s. Nobody remembers this. And even to bring up this fact of how the hobby got started or what is authentic brings out the trolls. So I post nothing. It is what it is. Thanks again for the kind words and thoughts.



Hey Leon , long time no speak . Back some 30 years or longer I, had a Huffy Radio Bike you called me about . Remember you called me in N.C. and we talked for the longest time . Wish I still had that bike , but things are still aroll'n. Good to hear some more of your knowledge!


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## NBHAA (Apr 24, 2022)

Thanks. Good to know you're still rollin'. At my height of collecting, I probably had as many as 15 Radiobikes. I had some that were NOS. But could not _give_ them away in the 1970s (not that I wanted to) when _everyone_ wanted a "Schwinn fan-thumb" (as they used to call it). I did let Huffy Corporation in Ohio buy one of my NOS Radiobikes back in the 1980s and they kept it on display in Dayton and Celina for many years. I wrote the first history of Radiobikes and this was published in _Classic Bicycle & Whizzer News _#18... many years ago. Today? There are "Radiobike experts" who never heard of me and I never heard of them! I still have my original "option" Radiobike in blue. However, my _1958 Radiobike one-off prototype_ with the special Cole-Orchard 3-Speed (bet nobody's ever heard of this Radiobike) was stolen when I was robbed 20 years ago. It has never turned up since and whoever stole it probably has zero idea of what it is (was).


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## happyclark (Apr 25, 2022)

Love your knowledge and passion buddy always have appreciated that about you. Hope to see you in Columbia TN soon thinking about doing a swap and show there in the Motor Alley district … 🙏🐺👊🏻


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## Majdotkool (Apr 25, 2022)

slick said:


> Leon, you should start your own bicycle website. I would love to follow your knowledge and photos of actual facts. You're absolutely correct on the fact of all the "experts" on here. One of the many reasons most of us that have been on here for years fail to post on the Cabe anymore. The "experts" also scare a lot of potential new collectors away by their negativity.
> 
> I believe we met once at a Stockton bicycle show and swap in conjunction with the car show and swap meet. I had a womens Iver Johnson for sale that day you were looking at and educating me on. You taught me a lot in the few minutes you were at my booth. It was about 10 years ago or more.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for contributing and I hope you post more often.



I agree! After we acquired one of our first bikes, an Elgin Redbird, I came here first, didn’t find much on info on it, but did get told how much was wrong! Luckily,I kept researching and came across  Leon’s website, NBHAA.com . One email and he told me exactly what it was. I may have given up if it wasn’t for his info.
There is so much to learn from Leon and he should post more, share that knowledge!

That said, I am addicted to this website though, love the pics, discussions and sales!


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## Indian Man (Apr 25, 2022)

Majdotkool said:


> I agree! After we acquired one of our first bikes, an Elgin Redbird, I came here first, didn’t find much on info on it, but did get told how much was wrong! Luckily,I kept researching and came across  Leon’s website, NBHA.com . One email and he told me exactly what it was. I may have given up if it wasn’t for his info.
> There is so much to learn from Leon and he should post more, share that knowledge!
> 
> That said, I am addicted to this website though, love the pics, discussions and sales!



That was NBHAA.COM


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## Majdotkool (Apr 25, 2022)

Indian Man said:


> That was NBHAA.COM



Fixed it. Thanks for the ironic reply! 😂


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## kreika (Apr 25, 2022)

Hate to see information lost to all time because of “experts”! I say speak freely and ignore whom annoys, or just chuckle and move on. I hope your literature and knowledge have been or will be saved for future generations!


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## tripple3 (Apr 26, 2022)

kreika said:


> Hate to see information lost to all time because of “experts”! I say speak freely and ignore whom annoys, or just chuckle and move on. I hope your literature and knowledge have been or will be saved for future generations!



Interesting to me, the expert of a long time, should be open to seeing the bikes that have appeared, are not always "Literature" correct.
I don't want to ever stop learning New things about these Old bikes.
Please Post Positive, Plus PICS!🥰🤩😎🤓🧐😂




Dad told me, "Go outside, Ride your bike."
Thanks Dad!🥰


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## coasterbrakejunkie1969 (Apr 26, 2022)

kreika said:


> Hate to see information lost to all time because of “experts”! I say speak freely and ignore whom annoys, or just chuckle and move on. I hope your literature and knowledge have been or will be saved for future generations!



@NBHAA  He is correct. If you witnessed a crime would you not report it? If you do not pass on the  information it will die with you and be lost for those who are just like you.


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## bikebozo (Apr 26, 2022)

I have a personnal letter from Leon Dixon , in my archive of rarities . I hope we get to meet at Hershey this year,  thanks Walter Branche


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## GTs58 (Oct 30, 2022)

.


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## llynnwood (Oct 30, 2022)

Ty I'm new


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## BFGforme (Oct 30, 2022)

llynnwood said:


> Ty I'm new



Welcome to the cabe!!


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