# Prewar Vs Postwar Straight Bar Tank Identification



## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 25, 2016)

Thought I would do a small primer on these for the people who may not know the difference. I'll also be adding a picture of at least one repop that has recently sold on ebay under the pretence it was original prewar even after the person was told by numerous people it was not....go figure...  photo credit Emmdeebee

First is the prewar style. Notice double bottom flanges and the two tangs at the front on either side of tank. Tapped screw holes and large button hole. Some of these tanks also came without the embossing of the wings. Notice also pin goes around button. This is also found on early postwar Ba107 autocycles  using the big button postwar tank. 











Next pictures are of the postwar style. Early ones have the big button hole and later ones the small button hole. Pin does not go around button. No double flange on the bottom, no forward tangs and the tapped screw holes have been replaced with speed clips. Also the mounting brackets are wider then on prewar.
Note: A few early 1946s have been found with the prewar style. 






This last photo is a comparison of the two from the bottom. 








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## island schwinn (Feb 25, 2016)

good info.I recently picked up an early postwar tank to put on my 50 straightbar.has the speednuts with large horn hole.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 25, 2016)

There have been a few versions of repops of these. The ones on ebay from a certain company are in my opinion absolutely horrible. They are of the postwar design anyways.
The earlier repops (maple island?) have prewar features but the craftsmanship isn't as spot on as the factory made ones. The fins, bends and embossing are off and some came with a small button hole and some a large. When these were originally sold they were sold as such, repop. Nowadays unfortunately I've seen people trying to pass them as genuine. I'll only be listing the early repop ones in hopes someone new doesn't get taken. A clean og prewar 40 41 tank commands some coin as compared to its postwar counterpart. The main thing with the repop prewar looking tank is the speed clips and the fact that they never came chrome. Also notice the wide postwar style mounts.

















The last one is not of the same tank. If any of this information is incorrect please let me know and I'll change it. As far as I know this is it. 


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## Freqman1 (Feb 26, 2016)

Informative and educational. These are the kind of threads I like. I have been working for some time on a monograph for the Schwinn Fore Brake--not as easy as you would think! V/r Shawn


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## rustjunkie (Feb 27, 2016)

w/o having both in hand or handling a bunch I'd find it hard to tell which was large and which small.
Could we get a measurement of the large and small horn button holes?


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (May 9, 2016)

Gonna bump this....always remember to ask about the tank on the prewar ba107s...especially if they are restored. Many times people will use the postwar or repop tanks... I've seen many prewar 40 41 bikes with postwar tanks on them. 

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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (May 9, 2016)

rustjunkie said:


> w/o having both in hand or handling a bunch I'd find it hard to tell which was large and which small.
> Could we get a measurement of the large and small horn button holes?



If anyone has an EA bakelite tank horn unit, please measure it and post it to this thread. Thanks

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## fordmike65 (May 9, 2016)

rustjunkie said:


> w/o having both in hand or handling a bunch I'd find it hard to tell which was large and which small.




TWSS


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (May 9, 2016)

fordmike65 said:


> TWSS[emoji14]



Mike can help with small......

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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (May 17, 2016)

repop

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## barneyguey (Feb 15, 2017)

Thank you. Barry


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## Clark58mx (Feb 15, 2017)

Good information. Thanks for posting. A friend of mine contacted Memory Lane today, and they don't even stock reproduction straightbar tanks anymore. They are even hard to find now. I have this EA horn button.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi (Feb 19, 2017)

Clark58mx said:


> View attachment 422943 View attachment 422945 Good information. Thanks for posting. A friend of mine contacted Memory Lane today, and they don't even stock reproduction straightbar tanks anymore. They are even hard to find now. I have this EA horn button.



The repop ones don't fit very well and the wing detail is kinda eh......

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