# Rollfast motobike found.



## prewarkid (Feb 23, 2014)

Hello fellow cabers.  I found this bike at a local monthly motorcycle swap and want to know more info on it.  I do see that there are some parts on it that might be incorrect.  Please help. 
Serial # X27012

















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## Crazy8 (Feb 23, 2014)

Wow, that's nice.  Not an expert, but I'm guessing DP Harris built.  With all those goodies on it, $1500 minimum and I wish I had the money.


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## bike (Feb 23, 2014)

*maybe*

pedals goose and chainguard replace
nice find!


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## jpromo (Feb 23, 2014)

Man, that's a beautiful bike. I'd guess '32-34ish. It likely didn't originally come with a guard, so that's an easy fix. Stem seems right to me, it's Rollfast equipment but I don't know when it first appeared. Pedals may be a few years later, as well as the seat, but I'm not confident about either. Minor criticisms, if any, on this one for sure. Enjoy!


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## prewarkid (Feb 23, 2014)

*Thanks Paul.*



bike said:


> pedals goose and chainguard replace
> nice find!




Any idea of the year and or model?  What stem is correct? The rims and tires look to be to early?!?


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## bike (Feb 23, 2014)

*TO me*

I think that stem is very late 30s think the bike is !33-35
tires look like wheelmen special- but the bike probably came in balloon and high pressure with clad rims.
pedals to me are replacement but anything is possible I guess.


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## jpromo (Feb 23, 2014)

Looks to be an HP Snyder built bike. I have no idea what era Comet 6 pedals would be from. At first glance, I assumed they were your everyday Meteor 3s. At any rate, I'd say pull the guard for now and call it good until it can be confirmed if any other parts are amiss. I agree that the stem is more often associated with later prewar ballooners, but I don't know how early it was introduced. Even then, minor.


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## rustyspoke66 (Feb 23, 2014)

Great bike! I would say 33-34 for a year and the only things I see that are not correct for sure are the chainguard and solid tires. I would leave the rest of the bike alone parts wise. Here is a example of your bike circa 1930 with the earlier style tank.


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## Wayne Adam (Feb 23, 2014)

*1934 Rollfast*

That's a nice bike. I'm not an expert, but all appears to be correct except for the added chainguard.
 Below are some pictures of the 1934 Rollfast built bike I recently bought.
 Mine is a Rollfast bike badged as a Royal Flyer. 
If your rims are the same steel clad wood rims, then they too are correct, and they
would have had singletube tires on them
 I bought this bike three months ago for the very fair price of $200.00
   Good luck with your new bike.............................Wayne


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## prewarkid (Feb 24, 2014)

*Nice!*



Wayne Adam said:


> That's a nice bike. I'm not an expert, but all appears to be correct except for the added chainguard.
> Below are some pictures of the 1934 Rollfast built bike I recently bought.
> Mine is a Rollfast bike badged as a Royal Flyer.
> If your rims are the same steel clad wood rims, then they too are correct, and they
> ...




WoW! Awesome buy at $200.  Are you going to clean it up and get it rideable?  I plan to do that but I don't want to drop crazy money on a rim set.   The tires on it are reproduction solid rubber tires that ride like crap.   The good part is that the rims are true. I need to figure out what's cheaper.  To go with a whole new modern  tire and rim set or try n find a tire that will fit the clad rims.   Dilemmas dilemmas.


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## bricycle (Feb 24, 2014)

I would say the chain guard..most did not have. Pedals may have started out as Walds.... most were.


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## rustyspoke66 (Feb 24, 2014)

prewarkid said:


> WoW! Awesome buy at $200.  Are you going to clean it up and get it rideable?  I plan to do that but I don't want to drop crazy money on a rim set.   The tires on it are reproduction solid rubber tires that ride like crap.   The good part is that the rims are true. I need to figure out what's cheaper.  To go with a whole new modern  tire and rim set or try n find a tire that will fit the clad rims.   Dilemmas dilemmas.




Look through this post. He modified his wood clad rims to take a 700c clincher.
thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?43160-Mid-20-s-Hawthorne-Rust-Project!


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## DonChristie (Feb 24, 2014)

Crap Joey, another sweet ride you acquired! Congrats! As far as tires, keep original rims and use Robert Deans. IMO.


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## chitown (Feb 24, 2014)

*Lots of options*



prewarkid said:


> The good part is that the rims are true. I need to figure out what's cheaper.  To go with a whole new modern  tire and rim set or try n find a tire that will fit the clad rims.




You could get some tubular cyclocross tires and some glue and you're ready to ride!

They ain't super cheap but cheaper than buying a new wheel set. I used a burnishing tool to remove the logos on a set I recently got. 

At $63 each these are the cheapest of the tubulars (700x34) they have but there are many cool options out there for a little more.






http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/vittoria-cross-evo-xm-tubular-tire

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/search/tubular-cross-tires


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## prewarkid (Feb 24, 2014)

rustyspoke66 said:


> Look through this post. He modified his wood clad rims to take a 700c clincher.
> thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?43160-Mid-20-s-Hawthorne-Rust-Project!




Now this I like.  It doesn't look to hard to do, I just need to figure out what type of jig to use. 700c Clinchers look like the route I might take. Are NOS spokes hard to find for a 28"?


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## prewarkid (Feb 24, 2014)

schwinndoggy said:


> Crap Joey, another sweet ride you acquired! Congrats! As far as tires, keep original rims and use Robert Deans. IMO.




Thanks Don,
I always wanted a Motobike but I never found a nice original.  Alot of the ones that I had seen for sale were stripped of their parts and or rediculously over priced.


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## rustyspoke66 (Feb 24, 2014)

Original spokes can be hard to find but you can use wheelsmith double butted for a replacement.

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## fordmike65 (Feb 24, 2014)

prewarkid said:


> Thanks Don,
> I always wanted a Motobike but I never found a nice original.  Alot of the ones that I had seen for sale were stripped of their parts and or rediculously over priced.




That was a nice score. Glad a Cabe'r got her. I saw it on the way in, but didn't have that kind of scratch. We were there to sell plus it was a wee bit small for me anyway. Hope to see it on a Coaster's Ride soon.


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