# 1941 Hawthorne



## Rustafari (Aug 3, 2013)

Thought you all might like to see a few pics of my newest old bike.   It has some kind of thingie to make the rear light come on when you hit the brakes.  I tried to show this in the last two pics.  Supposedly all of the parts are there but it is not working right now.  I was wondering if anyone happens to know how that is supposed to work?  It looks to me like that little spring in the last pic has a contact on the end of it that is supposed to stay between the two tabs on of the bracket shown in the pic before it?  If anyone has pics of a working one I'd love to see them.  

Thanks!


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## bikesnbuses (Aug 3, 2013)

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!


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## bikewhorder (Aug 3, 2013)

It is a coaster brake light switch, I have one on a bike I bought, I haven't tried to get it all wired up yet but it looks pretty self explanatory.


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## Rustafari (Aug 3, 2013)

Yeah, I was thinking that once I clean up the parts and look at them, I will probably be able to figure it out.  It looks like the spring has been bent open, but should be tight and run in a small groove on the hub?


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## rustjunkie (Aug 3, 2013)

The circular clip with brass button rides in the groove on the lockring. 
The pics below show the position when pedaled forward or coasting, then the position when pedaled back to brake.


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## bikewhorder (Aug 3, 2013)

Rustafari said:


> Yeah, I was thinking that once I clean up the parts and look at them, I will probably be able to figure it out.  It looks like the spring has been bent open, but should be tight and run in a small groove on the hub?




That I don't know, I just pedaled the bike that I have one on and when your pedaling the little brass contact falls forward which opens the circuit and when you apply the brakes it gets pulled back and makes contact with the metal strip that completes the circuit.  I haven't pulled the wheel off the bike to see how its installed but I've been meaning to set it up on a different bike so if you can't get yours to work I'll mess around with it and see If I can help.


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## Rustafari (Aug 3, 2013)

Awesome pics alw!  Thanks, I see how it works now.  So I guess the little spring is just riding in that groove and not rotating, while the hub itself does.  Seems like you could wear that spring out pretty quick but I guess if it has oil on it, the friction is probably pretty low.


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## Oldnut (Aug 3, 2013)

*41 Hawthorne*

Great bike! I picked up one of those carriers last year now I know thanks


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## Machine Age Victim (Aug 3, 2013)

Wow, really cool bike. I love everything about it and a great piece of vintage tech too. Would love to see it fully restored!


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## Rustafari (Aug 4, 2013)

Thanks guys.  The chrome is a little rough but the paint is so darn nice I think just a little clean up is all she needs.   Hard to tell in the pics but the rims are not rusted, they are painted maroon to match the frame.


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## Rustafari (Aug 9, 2013)

Still need to go through the whole thing but I got the front fender mounted correctly, cleaned the wheels a bit and put some new tires on it so it is ridable now. Woohoooo!


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## Adamtinkerer (Aug 10, 2013)

Awesome! It's a deluxe version of mine-


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## Rustafari (Aug 10, 2013)

Nice Adam! I notice your bike has a curved down tube whereas mine is straight.  I'm not sure exactly what the difference is there.  Were they building both style frames at the same time or is that two different years?

Get that baby together!


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## Rustafari (Aug 10, 2013)

Just did a little cleaning on the springer parts.  I used paint thinner and a brass brush to scrub the loose and dusty looking stuff off.  The springer strut and spring cleaned up nicely!  I actually cleaned the truss rods as well, but they are painted so they don't look too much different.  But they are clean! 

Before:





After:


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## popawheelie (Aug 10, 2013)

*Getting the color to look it's best*

Hi, I see you got a real beauty there and I wanted to share something I discovered here on the CABE. You may know already, but if you use WD40 on all the painted areas it will look real rich. I used 600 wet and dry sandpaper very carefully on my 41 Roadmaster, and I am super happy with the results. Yes, dust does collect on it easier, but I just wipe it down every few weeks so it always look "wet" and wipe off the excess. Polishes seem to just collect in the cracked/Mature finish and leave a chalky look.

Mike Siddons


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## Rustafari (Aug 11, 2013)

Thanks for the tip Mike!  That's a sweet looking Roadmaster!  I see you are in Manhattan Beach.  I am in Redondo.  We should hook up for a ride some time!  Maybe we can even get a few more SoBay'ers to join in.


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## THEGOLDENGREEK (Aug 11, 2013)

Very nice OG Hawthorne... I have the same cream tires on my Western flyer made by duro. Bike looks great!!


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## ridingtoy (Aug 11, 2013)

bikewhorder said:


> It is a coaster brake light switch, I have one on a bike I bought, I haven't tried to get it all wired up yet but it looks pretty self explanatory.




Thanks for that enlightenment! Now I know why there's a wire going down to the rear hub of my Hawthorne. Thought it was some kind of ground wire before.

Dave


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## Adamtinkerer (Aug 16, 2013)

Rustafari said:


> Nice Adam! I notice your bike has a curved down tube whereas mine is straight.  I'm not sure exactly what the difference is there.  Were they building both style frames at the same time or is that two different years?
> 
> Get that baby together!




You know, I'm not sure if production overlapped. But the straight tube design is older.


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