# 1920's Davis Sewing machine co.(Huffman/Shelby) in Cerulean Blue possible Yale or Speedway Special



## The Professor (Dec 5, 2016)

Hello,
I've posted this bike before and I'm reposting it as a Davis sewing built Yale(?), Dayton(?) or Speedway special(?)
I do believe this is the cerulean blue offered in the early 20's the bb is stamped 666x or x999. This bike has a one piece fork. 
I originally thought this bike was a 27 ish Westfield, I posted it that way and I got guys telling me "yep that's a normal Westfield definitely not a one of a kind", but if Westfield built a bike like this, I'm pretty sure it would be the only Davis sewing machine/ Westfield ever built. 
So please actually look over the photos and check closely because it's not like the 23 Huffman/Shelby and it's different from the 1915 frame style. 
I'm hoping to be able to determine the accurate year, manufacturer(s) model or how it was badged and hopefully someone who can sell me the correct badge. any and all help is appreciated.
Thank you in advance
Jake


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## rollfaster (Dec 5, 2016)

Brother Patric, what do you think?


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## The Professor (Dec 6, 2016)

Holy crap! Someone has to jump in here. I just read the "Show us your Davis built" thread and I think my brain just shorted out.
The frame is a Davis, not Dayton, based on the placement of the lugs? it's a 1916 because it has a 6 on the bb? it has to be a Yale based on the cerulean blue? it has the heavy duty fork offered only on the Harley Davidson badged 1918, but it's not a 1918 Harley frame. it can't be over 23 because it would have a Dayton fully lugged frame with Shelby fork. Davis didn't actually build their bikes, they contracted out to mead during the war? it must be 1917-22 because it has the seat lug? (Brain fried! eyes burn!)

it's identical to a 1918 Napoleon, only its got the 1918 hd fork, and it is a pre Dayton all Davis built cerulean blue with white accents... So it's a...  1918 Yale?????????? (Only it has vertical badge holes like the Napoleon....)
That someone, probably stamped serial number 666x or reverse in for fun????????
And someone has simply swapped out the sprocket and seatpost for Westfield stuff????? 
It's someone else's turn or I'm gonna have an aneurysm.


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## tripple3 (Dec 6, 2016)

Cool. Is the Standard badge in 1 pic still around? It looks rite to me...
I'm here to learn....
@hoofhearted


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## Goldenindian (Dec 6, 2016)

The fork is 100% Davis. The teens 1915-1917 Davis frame architecture has a real "raked" out fork alinement. Maybe pis is bad but the architecture of the frame seems wrong to be 1916. Check out my 1916 Hearsay Special.  The 1918 frame style without the rake has a tighter "tank" space. Different still. Like you... I am kinda stumped. Nice early fork, would work well on a chief. Thanks for sharing. Jury is still out.....Paint is not original


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## bricycle (Dec 6, 2016)

The Professor said:


> Holy crap! Someone has to jump in here. I just read the "Show us your Davis built" thread and I think my brain just shorted out.
> The frame is a Davis, not Dayton, based on the placement of the lugs? it's a 1916 because it has a 6 on the bb? it has to be a Yale based on the cerulean blue? it has the heavy duty fork offered only on the Harley Davidson badged 1918, but it's not a 1918 Harley frame. it can't be over 23 because it would have a Dayton fully lugged frame with Shelby fork. Davis didn't actually build their bikes, they contracted out to mead during the war? it must be 1917-22 because it has the seat lug? (Brain fried! eyes burn!)
> 
> it's identical to a 1918 Napoleon, only its got the 1918 hd fork, and it is a pre Dayton all Davis built cerulean blue with white accents... So it's a...  1918 Yale?????????? (Only it has vertical badge holes like the Napoleon....)
> ...




I believe the Napoleons tank opening was way narrower... at least mine was. Mine had this fork also.
http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1915-napoleon-project.64331/


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## hoofhearted (Dec 6, 2016)

*All ... my computer is now totally shot ..
have a great replacement , when my 
brother in law can do the transfer of
info work.

Currently using my wife's laptop ...
she left it at home today ... if she were
to know i was using her LT ... well, let's
just say -- many of my fingers would get
broken.  Hope to be back on here by 
first week in January.  

Look, i can't even access my home laptop
''homepage'' or, peep my mail .......

The Bicycle ... don't see much, if any, paint
on that front fender ... but there is plenty on 
the rear.

I believe the paint is original .... as are those
short-wall fenders ... the one's Shelby used
after the Davis buy-out in 1923 (+/-).

To my eye, this  machine is a Davis "YALE''-
Type ... circa 1923 ... Shelby-Built.

It is truly beautiful to my eye.

What is remarkable here, is the growing number
of CABErs who are bothering to learn and remem-
ber all those little ''Davis things''.  Each of you is
doing a great job !! Years ago, can remember telling 
my junior-high art classes,  ''I hope to get you to a
point where you become MY teacher ... and i become
Your Student.''  Am very happy for your scholarly growth.

Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph ... Lynn told me she would
be home at quarter after 11, this A.M. ........

If she finds me rockin' her LT ... she'll give me the Jimmy
Hoffa  Beauty Treatment, fur shur !!

Merry Christmas To ALL !!


...........  patric

*


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## dfa242 (Dec 6, 2016)

Your secret's safe with us, Patric - here's hoping Santa's good to ya.


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## rollfaster (Dec 6, 2016)

Thank you Brother Patric, and we wouldn't want to get you into trouble hàha!


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## bricycle (Dec 6, 2016)

...hmmmm what can I blackmail Partic for bike-wise?...... :eek:


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## Goldenindian (Dec 6, 2016)

Did some digging. More questions than answers. The frame and fork seem early. Did Shelby really get stuff from Davis from 1916-1917? I have this Dayton ad from 1917. The frame seems to have this geometry, but the picture shows the early Dayton "only" fork.(with the curved truss rods). Davis got the Yale name from Consolidated in 1916ish? I think?  So...I can see why Yale is the ID since Dayton and Yale shared frame and not forks. Badge holes throws me for Yale.....


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## bricycle (Dec 6, 2016)

with that ser #, it's the Devil's bike!


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## Oldnut (Dec 6, 2016)

Paint her red and call her Christine........


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## Junkhunter (Dec 6, 2016)

I have a Yale badged Davis. The blue seems to be a different shade. a little darker. 

 

 

 i think mine is a bit older though.


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## tommydale1950 (Dec 6, 2016)

So is this ring from a 1923 Yale ? I had it as an unknown..Tom


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## Goldenindian (Dec 7, 2016)

Junkhunter: that's the real deal cerulean blue! Nice.

Found more pics of a Yale motobike. Sadly shorter frame, 3.5 inch headtube. Still....every Yale I have seen is bottle cap badge  from Davis.


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## hoofhearted (Dec 7, 2016)

tommydale1950 said:


> So is this ring from a 1923 Yale ? I had it as an unknown..Tom




*Tom ... your ring is a Westfield-Built.

Would bet the same-design ring on that
STANDARD is also Westfield.  

Oh, if that chainring could talk ........

......patric
*


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## tommydale1950 (Dec 7, 2016)

Patric, I had wondered about it being Westfield ,but never did find out if Westfield was the only ones that made the Double D .Thank you ..Tom


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

bricycle said:


> with that ser #, it's the Devil's bike!




Oh. lol. I tell people that this bike was allegedly found at the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul to Learn the blues. it fits really well for me, cause the fork looks like it's meant to imitate rather than function and it reminds me of Stephen king's "From a Buick 8" (which was kind of another devil car book where the car was blue, with imitation components) The color is original and so unique it's definitely bluesy, and it reminds me of a 79 caprice i had as a teenager, it was two tone with 666 in the VIN and I was kind of a bad man in that car. So I find the bike to be very fitting to me. Traditional to any devil bike, it caused us problems right away, by losing the seat cover on the highway in traffic and coming undone from the bike rack and scratching the paint off our bumper.


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## Goldenindian (Dec 7, 2016)

Found this Shelby Yale pic.....badge holes!! My head is spinning. Love it


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

So to answer the Standard badge q, The Standard badge does look ok from a distance, however it was glued on because the holes are way off, and it's been hole punched vertical and horizontal. I can't glue a badge on a bike. that's not me. on a bike like this I'd like to have a correct badge.
The only substitute would be something along the lines of a Faust Hardware,  Dockery Mississippi badge. To go with the crossroads theme.


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

Thank you Tommy and Hoofheart. I had originally thought this bike was a Westfield based on the chainring, now I suspect it's a replacement, as well as some other components. I'm positive the paint is original, if you look at the early Yale motorcycles, they are this same bright cerulean blue.
 It does appear that this bike has had a refurbish at some point where the seat, chainring and possibly handlebars have been swapped for Westfield components, chrome or nickel painted silver, then the accents were 're whitend and slightly extended and a standard badge was glued on. 
I'm positive it's a Davis frame and fork, I'm shocked at how similar the white accents are to Shelby... so I'm onboard with the possibility this is a Davis or a Shelby. I just wonder which or what year...?


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

Golden Indian, it's looking like your onto it!
I know my Shelby has vertical holes. so does this bike...
My frame size is 19 from mid bb to top of seattube. 
Headtube is 5 1/2 without cups, almost 6 1/4 with cups. 
My backbone is 23 inches mid. to mid. so 22 edge to edge.


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

bricycle said:


> I believe the Napoleons tank opening was way narrower... at least mine was. Mine had this fork also.
> http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/1915-napoleon-project.64331/



Don't quote me, but I believe your frame us different because of the year. a 1915 is a lot different from a 1918 i think. the 1918 i saw was very different.


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## The Professor (Dec 7, 2016)

So I continued to search the web and found that the Harley Davidson bicycle advertising, boasts a bike just like mine. we determined mine has the hd fork only offered the Harley Davidson. 
We know a later (22,23) frame would have the front frame lugging based on Huffman s patents mine does not. 
Huffman is actually the designer, while Davis is the manufacturer until the Shelby tooling purchases. 
In the second pic is an excerpt from rusty spokes saying that the hd line was produced from 1917-22 and they were discontinued due to low sales.
In the third pic we have someone saying they thought that Shelby actually bought overstock of bicycles, with the Davis tooling and then sold those bikes off to recoop some cash.
My bike is clearly all Davis built, minus the refurb add ons. mine is clearly painted like a Shelby with vertical badge holes like earlier Davis  built frames... 
Is it possible that my bike is an earlier (1918-22) intended to be produced as a Harley Davidson, but painted and badged as a Yale in 23 when Shelby bought everything?


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## The Professor (Dec 8, 2016)

Hoofhearted, I wanted to thank you (so here goes...THANK YOU!!!) as I have been scouring the threads and finding out most of my information from your threads. whenever you are up and running again I would love to see and hear any other information you have on this bike or any of the details I'm missing. (Would I have had the barrels on my tensioners, white pedal blocks, etc?) And I am still very open to further examination of this bike. I am curious if it is considered a Shelby bike and if anyone has any old advertising for this I'd love to see it.


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## Scraplord (Nov 26, 2018)

I think my bike might be a Davis as well. I would appreciate any info:


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## Archie Sturmer (Nov 26, 2018)

Scraplord said:


> I think my bike might be a Davis as well. I would appreciate any info:




I thought that the concensous was Schwinn with (out) winged badge and Westfield double-D drive chain ring (not Emblematic).


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## hoofhearted (Nov 27, 2018)

hoofhearted said:


> *...... What is remarkable here, is the growing number
> of CABErs who are bothering to learn and remember
> all those little ''Davis things''.  Each of you is doing a
> great job !! Years ago, can remember telling my junior-
> ...




@The Professor ... Your machine has the Shelby-Built
format for Serial Numbers.  Also has the Shelby Style half-inch dropside fenders.


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## hoofhearted (Nov 27, 2018)

Goldenindian said:


> The fork is 100% Davis. The teens 1915-1917 Davis frame architecture has a real "raked" out fork alinement. Maybe pis is bad but the architecture of the frame seems wrong to be 1916. Check out my 1916 Hearsay Special.  The 1918 frame style without the rake has a tighter "tank" space. Different still. Like you... I am kinda stumped. Nice early fork, would work well on a chief. Thanks for sharing. Jury is still out.....Paint is not original




@Goldenindian  ... Glenn ... The Professor's ride has a DAYTON / YALE frame ...

It does NOT have the more-frequently seen DAVIS frame.







1914 DAYTON MOTORBIKE ...


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## hoofhearted (Nov 27, 2018)

Scraplord said:


> I think my bike might be a Davis as well. I would appreciate any info:




@Scraplord


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