# Bowden



## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

Here’s my find for this week. From a collection out of South Carolina.  Bowden Spacelander!

Mike


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## Freqman1 (May 27, 2018)

SCORE! Congrats Mike. V/r Shawn


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

Thanks Shawn..


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## REC (May 27, 2018)

Phattiremike said:


> Here’s my find for this week. From a collection out of South Carolina.  Bowden Spacelander!
> 
> Mike
> <snip>



Wow, what a room full! If you're ever short of space, feel free to send those on over and I'll put them in a safe place! That Bowden was a heckuva find

REC


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## catfish (May 27, 2018)

Nice!


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## Puruconm (May 27, 2018)

Beautiful  Bike Mike Congratulations


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## WES PINCHOT (May 27, 2018)

Phattiremike said:


> Here’s my find for this week. From a collection out of South Carolina.  Bowden Spacelander!
> 
> Mike
> 
> ...




TIS A BEAUTY!
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROVENANCE TO SHARE THAT GOES WITH THE FIND?


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

Thanks Rec.  I had to move a bike out of my office to bring the Bowden in.  Plenty of room in my garage, and a storage unit for overflow.
Mike


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

Puruconm said:


> Beautiful  Bike Mike Congratulations



Thank you!


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

WES PINCHOT said:


> TIS A BEAUTY!
> DO YOU HAVE ANY PROVENANCE TO SHARE THAT GOES WITH THE FIND?




Long story Wes, this bike was left in an Indiana bike shop the owner never came back for it.  The bike was sold to a collector who painted over the OG green paint and sprayed it stop sign red. Fast forward, a collector buddy picked it up and had it sprayed out in the correct blue. We believe it to be original but it lacks the tag normally found behind the seat post, sprayed over 2 times I can’t see evidence of the 2 holes, I’ve also been told not all bikes were tagged. I contacted Craig Morrow who’s owned 14 Bowen’s he has many on display at his museum we are sharing pictures trying to figure out if it’s one of the repops or an original, Craig believes it to be an OG.  Last night I contacted Michael Kaplan who reproduced a limited quantity of the Bowden’s after the limited 1960’s short run he was as helpful as Craig but there’s still an uncertainty.  The horn button is a repop, the light switch seems OG. Horn button may have been added during one of the paint jobs.  These bikes are fragile and broke easily, light bezels, horn and light switch buttons were easily busted and replaced.  Still doing my due diligence but OG or not I love the bike and got a great deal on it!  

Mike


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## bicyclebuff (May 27, 2018)

Great find,ive had both, the originals are not the same material as repops,repops are thinner fiberglass


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

bicyclebuff said:


> Great find,ive had both, the originals are not the same material as repops,repops are thinner fiberglass




Anything else, I can’t compare thickness. Did yours have the tag behind the seat post? I read they were about 66 lbs. 
Do you still have either?


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## Shawn Michael (May 27, 2018)

That is quite an iconic bike. What did it set you back,  or what would you compare it to in price?
Have fun, Shawn


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## bicyclebuff (May 27, 2018)

sold them both,the original is made thicker and heavier then repop ,i still have a bowden 300 left


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## kreika (May 27, 2018)

Nice score and nice collection!!! How does the Bowden ride?


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## WES PINCHOT (May 27, 2018)

kreika said:


> Nice score and nice collection!!! How does the Bowden ride?



MY NEXT QUESTION ALSO!  
HOW DOES IT RIDE!
A BEAUTIFUL BIKE!
ENJOY WHETHER FIRST OR SECOND PRODUCTION!


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

kreika said:


> Nice score and nice collection!!! How does the Bowden ride?



I haven’t tried it yet!  Maybe tomorrow, I’d hate like hell to crack something!!  Lol


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

kreika said:


> Nice score and nice collection!!! How does the Bowden ride?



I haven’t ridden the bike yet, honestly afraid I’d break/ crack something. I’ll have to try tomorrow and report back to those who asked.


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

WES PINCHOT said:


> MY NEXT QUESTION ALSO!
> HOW DOES IT RIDE!
> A BEAUTIFUL BIKE!
> ENJOY WHETHER FIRST OR SECOND PRODUCTION!



I’ll take it out tomorrow and let you know Wes.  Guaranteed I will enjoy it either way.


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## Phattiremike (May 27, 2018)

kreika said:


> Nice score and nice collection!!! How does the Bowden ride?



Thanks.  Let you all know tomorrow, I haven’t ridden it yet.


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## DonChristie (May 27, 2018)

Congrats on getting her, she is beautiful! Either you or the seller need to come up and ride with us!


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## BICYCLE HEAVEN (May 27, 2018)

Thats a fantastic bike,,out of 4000 bikes we have at the museum the Bowden is the most looked at bike and the PeeWee bike.Your bike has the crank sprocket that was used on the orig bike made like no other and i can't see anyone changing that out with a repo bike and with all the other thins we went over with out seeing it i would bet its an orig Bowden ,,,congratulations ,,ITS FANTASTIC,,you have a bike with kool history and the builder was quite remarkable his history is worth reading about


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## Phattiremike (May 28, 2018)

BICYCLE HEAVEN said:


> Thats a fantastic bike,,out of 4000 bikes we have at the museum the Bowden is the most looked at bike and the PeeWee bike.Your bike has the crank sprocket that was used on the orig bike made like no other and i can't see anyone changing that out with a repo bike and with all the other thins we went over with out seeing it i would bet its an orig Bowden ,,,congratulations ,,ITS FANTASTIC,,you have a bike with kool history and the builder was quite remarkable his history is worth reading about



Craig, as mentioned in an above post you were very helpful and most knowlegable.  Thank you for taking the time over the past few days looking over my photos and sharing some of yours for comparison. I also reach out to Michael Kaplan for some insight he was also very helpful.

 Looking forward to seeing you this summer at Bicycle Heaven!

Thanks again - Mike


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## Phattiremike (May 28, 2018)

BICYCLE HEAVEN said:


> Thats a fantastic bike,,out of 4000 bikes we have at the museum the Bowden is the most looked at bike and the PeeWee bike.Your bike has the crank sprocket that was used on the orig bike made like no other and i can't see anyone changing that out with a repo bike and with all the other thins we went over with out seeing it i would bet its an orig Bowden ,,,congratulations ,,ITS FANTASTIC,,you have a bike with kool history and the builder was quite remarkable his history is worth reading about


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## Dan the bike man (May 28, 2018)

Awesome bike! I want one someday. Thanks for sharing.


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## Sven (May 28, 2018)

Funny, I was checking out Bike Heaven's website yesterday ( looking at going to the up coming swap meet ), looking at their collection of Bowdens . Anyway...
CONGRADULATIONS..  from what I have read, you are now a member of a small elite group to own one. Keep us posted on the maiden voyage.


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## Phattiremike (May 28, 2018)

Thanks Dan and @Sven!!


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## Monovelo (Jun 4, 2018)

How did you reach Michael Kaplan? I would like to contact him as well, if you you could PM the address it would be nice, thanks!


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## Phattiremike (Jun 4, 2018)

Monovelo said:


> How did you reach Michael Kaplan? I would like to contact him as well, if you you could PM the address it would be nice, thanks!



Found Michael on facebook.  Good luck.

Mike


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## Phattiremike (Apr 20, 2019)

I'm adding to my original post regarding the Bowden I picked up as I continue to research this bicycles history trying to clarify as an original/reproduction or a prototype.  I recently found out this bike was owned by Morrie Turner, (need contact info if anyone has it) it was sold to my friend as an original by Morrie, the bike had been repainted 2 times in it's life and the tag was not present when I purchased it which why I started the research.

I reached out to Walter Branche who was a friend of Ben Bowden and ended up with many of Bowden's Spacelander's  as well as the original blueprints all of which have since been sold. I've have lengthy conversations w/ both Craig Morrow (Bicycle Heaven) and Michael Kaplan through messenger/faceboook who was responsible for the reproductions.  The general consensus is it's original or a prototype!  I have a friend who has a Bowden that was repainted not long ago, and who took pictures behind the sprocket where there's a round wooden disk it's plywood and molded into the fiberglass body, the plywood was numbered in pencil.  I confirmed w/ Craig Morrow many of the bikes he saw apart did in fact have numbers at that location in pencil but that number never corresponded w/ the serial number tag behind the seat?  All other parts of my Bowden are original.

I took my Bowden apart and was going to use a paint remover to look for the penciled in number behind the sprocket but Craig Morrow and my body shop friend both think that because it was not etched into the plywood and so faint it would be a waste of my time and I could cause possible damage. 

On the reproductions I'm told there were 3 variations of metal used to stiffen up the fiberglass structure and even an actual frame installed at some point, per Michael.  First reproductions of the bike metal was used from the headtube to the bottom bracket and flat chain stays but that was hidden inside the fender wells.

While at the body shop and now scratching out trying to remove paint we had an idea to scope the inside of the bike, I removed the headlights and using a SnapOn scope camera I scoped the bike with this probe, I never found an internal frame anywhere  but interestingly I did find a stamped number up around the headtube it looks like XX250XX!!!  As I continued w/ the scope, (I felt like a doctor doing a colonoscopy) and working my way from the headtube going towards the bottom bracket/crank I was stopped by a piece of wood, it appears to be a 1"x 2" ,  good news no metal where I was told the repos had metal for support!!   I never did see a metal frame the only metal visible with the scope is at the seat tube and head tube, at the head tube a metal plate welded to the tube is visible as it crosses horizontally and molds into the fiberglass, on the backside of that metal plate is a stamped number XX250XX.  I then scoped just behind the seat tube looking for a patch in the fiberglass where the serial number tag would have been installed, nothing found, no patch or holes found, it's as if this bike never had a serial numbered/identifier tag installed at that location.

Walter does not recall the wooden disk at the crank/sprocket area or any penciled numbers at that location.  Michael Kaplan is baffled by both the stamped #  discovered and the 1 x 2" piece of wood, he stated he never used 1 x 2" or any wood to strengthen the bike on the reproduction series or numbered anything internally.  Additional confirmation came from Jerry Turner who was also involved w/ the reproduction builds and who has a great knowledge of the Bowden's in general, he confirmed metal was used and nothing was ever marked internally on the reproductions, he's never heard of wood used on any part of a Bowden!  He told me there are Bowden's that were never marked with a serial # plate and the actual number of 522 produced may not be correct, I heard this before.

After a recent post by @markF of a white Bowden with a cracked frame the owner, @markF provided documentation from Jack Clifford from The Loose Spokes Inc a  bicycle shop in Michigan a 3 page letter was produced with a letter of authenticity for that bicycle which was determined to be a prototype. The letter said that there were upwards of an additional 50 prototypes made before the production started on the 522 .  Clifford mentions that the prototypes were marked on several pieces of the fabrication.  I put a call into the shop yesterday and left a message for Mr. Clifford to see if I could pick his brain regarding if wood was used on any version of the prototype and where the prototypes were marked specifically internally.  By the way Cilfford was responsible for the great restoration of the cracked frame Bowden. The wood I discovered in my Bowden is exactly at the location of the cracked frame white prototype belonging to @markF.

I will try to contact Morrie Turner and Jack Clifford, and continue to update this post as information becomes available to me. I'm going back in w/ the scope to try to get past the wood looking for more identifiers.

Attached are a few pictures I snapped from the screen of the probe and the picture of @markF's cracked Bowden also showing where this wood is located inside the fiberglass of my Bowden.



Mike


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## BICYCLE HEAVEN (Jul 7, 2021)

bicyclebuff said:


> sold them both,the original is made thicker and heavier then repop ,i still have a bowden 300 left



What can you tell me about your Bowden 300.  412 716 4956


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## Corp45 (Jul 23, 2021)

Monovelo said:


> How did you reach Michael Kaplan? I would like to contact him as well, if you you could PM the address it would be nice, thanks!



Can you contact me ? corkooten@ Gmail.com


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## oskisan (Jul 23, 2021)

Really nice bike Mike.... Looks like the Evinrude was moved out to make room for this new bike. Looking good man!


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## bikebozo (Jul 23, 2021)

If you look inside the light chambers and there is fiberglass hairs showing , it is an original , original bikes had a texture , Mike Kaplan bikes , have a smooth outside , . Space landers are long riders , be careful dis mounting


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## Corp45 (Aug 9, 2021)

Monovelo said:


> How did you reach Michael Kaplan? I would like to contact him as well, if you you could PM the address it would be nice, thanks!



Can you contact me Ernst ? Thanks Cor corkooten@gmail.com


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