# The Nickinator Huffman



## 37fleetwood (Jan 2, 2013)

several months ago I bought a really cool Huffman made Western Flyer from Nick and Darcy here on the Cabe.
The first hint that there was something wrong was when they were disassembling it for shipping and noticed a few cracks in the frame. they quickly notified me of the problems and I decided I wanted it anyway. when it got here it looked great, but showed really bad signs of abuse. whoever the kid who originally had this bike was, I would never buy any car he had ever owned.

well, I put the bike together and looked it over and decided to take it on one of the smaller rides out here as a kind of test ride to see what would happen. we started out and I started having problems right away. it felt weird going down the road, kinda like riding a Swing Bike. I asked some of the guys on the ride to follow behind and see if they noticed anything funny happening. after a few times of watching and looking the bike over I noticed one of the rear dropouts was broken loose. every time I hit the brake the rear end came unglued. the wheel would pitch sideways and the chain would stretch and the seat would bob and weave. I gingerly rode the bike for the rest of the ride afraid that I was going to end up in a pile of bent up original paint Huffman frame tubes, likely with one poked through me somewhere. to it's credit we made it back to the cars with no further problems. I got the bike home and completely dis-assembled it and started sizing it up properly.

the seat tube where the clamp held the seat post in had a crack running down the seat tube about 4 inches long. there were cracks around  the joints where the seat stays weld to the seat tube. the joint where the seat tube was welded to the bottom bracket has been re-welded as have been the joints where the down tube welds to the bottom bracket. the chain stays have been re-welded to the bottom bracket, and the lower fender support was ripped off and re-welded back on.

I decided, while I had it apart, I should probably rebuild all the bearings. I have never seen a bike with bearings so worn out! all of them! the grease looked like it came from the La Brea Tar Pits! I didn't find any dinosaur fossils but wouldn't have been surprised. I did a rough re-weld on the dropout so it would match the other re-welds and put the bike back together. I replaced the black walls with a set of white walls I had that had been discolored and looked like they would really fit the personality of the bike, put a set of black Flexgrips and the TDF Tempe license plate that Abe and Melissa got me from their trip to Az. on it and it was ready to go.

I took it yesterday to the Rose parade and then we went to the Santa Monica Pier and rode it all day without a hitch. we probably put 20 miles on it I'm guessing. 

I may do some more refining, but generally I really like it like it is.

thanks Nick and Darcy, it's a great bike and in the end I'm really glad I got it.


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## Nickinator (Jan 2, 2013)

Wow Scott, what a labor of love! If this bike had an odometer what do you suppose it would say? We've had a few bikes that we know were handed down to all the boys in the family, this sounds like one of those well loved ones that's been on many adventures 

Really looks nice!

Darcie/Nick


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## jpromo (Jan 2, 2013)

Very nice. I love the patina; that paint alone is worthy of the rescue it needed.


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## Larmo63 (Jan 2, 2013)

If it was a Schwinn, that would have never happened.

: )


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## Freqman1 (Jan 2, 2013)

Larmo63 said:


> If it was a Schwinn, that would have never happened.
> 
> : )




Ouch! That hurts....


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## Nickinator (Jan 2, 2013)

Larmo63 said:


> If it was a Schwinn, that would have never happened.
> 
> : )



Psh...  everyone has a Schwinn, that's why they're no fun.
Schwinn's are over rated


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## cyclingday (Jan 2, 2013)

At first glance, this bike appears to be in really nice original condition, with a very cool paint scheme. But, upon closer inspection, you would swear that the frame is made of glass.  
I guess that's why Schwinn could offer a lifetime guarantee and Huffy couldn't.


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 2, 2013)

You guys are just wrong! I like to think a Schwinn wouldn't have taken the punishment this bike has survived. in another sense if it were a Schwinn, it would have been parted out years ago and the damaged frame thrown away. I've been in this hobby long enough to have seen plenty of frame failures, and they happen in all brands. subject a bike to enough stress and it will break. I've also been into Huffmans long enough that I can tell you, of the dozens I've had this is the only one I've had this patched together.
remember the crack I noted in the seat tube earlier? it's still there, I only fixed the drop out. I weigh 220 and the crack is around 4" long. I'm not buying that Huffys are weak. also Smarty Marty, just where was it that all the Aerocycles break? oh yeah, we're not supposed to talk about why they're so rare are we...


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## Freqman1 (Jan 2, 2013)

You guys done went and made him mad now! If you fellas happen to be sitting in the Pike and don't see Scott but hear a sawzall outside you know you've went too far! V/r Shawn


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 2, 2013)

let's just refer to this as exhibit A...


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## Rear Facing Drop Out (Jan 2, 2013)

*What???? Rotted fender light or broken frame?*



37fleetwood said:


> let's just refer to this as exhibit A...




Ive seen lots of broken schwinn frames but most have been abuse of the built in kickstand. Take all the frame builders of the 50's and I would take schwinn hands down. Pre wars are a toss up.


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## slick (Jan 2, 2013)

I've never seen ANY Shelby's with cracks in their frames and i will tell you, they weigh a hell of a lot! My Speedline with the aluminum parts weighs about 60lbs. No kiddin. 

And i might as well tell the story before Scott does. Myself,Karla on her 38 Supreme, and Frank, Marty,John, and Scott did a midnight cruise after my San Francisco ride ended this past July. The weather was nice all afternoon but got awfully windy and damn cold near the 12am mark when our night was over. My Speedline went down twice because of the wind factor in the restaurant patio, no other bikes went down, mine only suffered a few scratches on the curved part of the bars and a scrape on the end of the pedals. Mind you their was a Huffman (Scott of course) Karlas CWC supreme, and 3 Schwinns if i'm not mistaken and mine was the only one to go down? All that sheetmetal on my Shelby ends up being like a sail. Try throwing 60lbs at the ground in about a 40mph wind gust and see what happens. If it's a Shelby it will end up OK! LOL!!

Oh, need i remind you that Huffman (Huffy) is still in business building the latest theme bike beach cruiser with built in bottle opener and cup holder on the frame and selling them at your local Walmart for $89.00 so what does that tell you?  Keep the kids overseas building huffys for cents on the dollar. :eek:


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 2, 2013)

slick said:


> I've never seen ANY Shelby's with cracks in their frames and i will tell you, they weigh a hell of a lot! My Speedline with the aluminum parts weighs about 60lbs. No kiddin.
> 
> And i might as well tell the story before Scott does. Myself,Karla on her 38 Supreme, and Frank, Marty,John, and Scott did a midnight cruise after my San Francisco ride ended this past July. The weather was nice all afternoon but got awfully windy and damn cold near the 12am mark when our night was over. My Speedline went down twice because of the wind factor in the restaurant patio, no other bikes went down, mine only suffered a few scratches on the curved part of the bars and a scrape on the end of the pedals. Mind you their was a Huffman (Scott of course) Karlas CWC supreme, and 3 Schwinns if i'm not mistaken and mine was the only one to go down? All that sheetmetal on my Shelby ends up being like a sail. Try throwing 60lbs at the ground in about a 40mph wind gust and see what happens. If it's a Shelby it will end up OK! LOL!!
> 
> Oh, need i remind you that Huffman (Huffy) is still in business building the latest theme bike beach cruiser with built in bottle opener and cup holder on the frame and selling them at your local Walmart for $89.00 so what does that tell you?  Keep the kids overseas building huffys for cents on the dollar. :eek:




I'll agree with you about the Shelbys. they had to build them tough because they couldn't get them to stand up by themselves.
this may also be why they're so ugly, so when they get beat up a bit you can't tell, they're just as ugly as they started out...


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## slick (Jan 2, 2013)

Ugly but still worth more then ANY Huffman. HAHA!! The last fully deluxed Speedline sold for 
$11k if i'm not mistaken?


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 2, 2013)

slick said:


> Ugly but still worth more then ANY Huffman. HAHA!! The last fully deluxed Speedline sold for
> $11k if i'm not mistaken?




this in the same world where Phantoms are collectible...


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## slick (Jan 2, 2013)

37fleetwood said:


> this in the same world where Phantoms are collectible...




Ya except they are about $9,500 apart form each other. Oh and Schwinn repoopped those too. So they are no better then Huffys.  

Uh oh, here come the Schwinners now to defend the ever so rare cantilever frame. LOL!


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## schwinnja (Jan 3, 2013)

37fleetwood said:


> let's just refer to this as exhibit A...




Yeah but only the fender is rotted!
Bike got run over and still rocks!


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## poolboy1 (Jan 3, 2013)

Please...Shelby Speedline Airflows bicycles are the furthest thing from being ugly.... I don't think Schwinn bicycles are ugly really in any way just somewhat easy to collect... Sorry it is the truth.  High end Schwinn come up for sale way more then other brands.


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## MaxGlide (Jan 3, 2013)

*Gotta agree*

Phantoms are lovely but everybody has one..... I prefer more "unique" bikes, regardless of durability, rideability (?) or style. Besides whether one thinks a bike is beautiful or not is subjective.


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## OldRider (Jan 3, 2013)

Beauty in old bicycles is very subjective, what is eye candy for me might be as ugly as sin to you. Alot of you like the looks of the Colson snap tank (slab side tank), I beg to differ, not much appeal in it for me.  To me my rusty Firestone is beautiful but I take all kinds of ribbing about my rusty relic......beauty is in the eye of the beholder


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## scrubbinrims (Jan 3, 2013)

I'd like to see what an 11K Speedline looks like.. and I ask as a big fan of that model and Shelby in general
That said, I concede most high end Huffmans are more valuable than those made by Shelby if you do the math.
Chris


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## slick (Jan 3, 2013)

A fully deluxed Speedline with all the options like Aluminum fluted fenders, guard, rack, stainless inserts on the tank, fork mounted speedometer, knuckle guards, wald drop bomb stem, and egg light. That's big money. The last set of fenders alone went for $1k on the bay, guard was close to $1k and rack was close to $1k also. And how often do you see these parts up for sale? I personally have never seen aluminum fluted fenders offered for sale by themselves anywhere. The only pairs i have seen are on bikes in personal collections never to be seen in the daylight for who knows how long. 

I already have the fluted fenders for mine but in steel so mine is more then halfway there already considering i already have the aluminum guard and rack also.....


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## poolboy1 (Jan 4, 2013)

Slick are you talking about Walt's Airflow he sold? That had steal fluted fenders... I think he bought it for $9500.00 or $10000.00 off of Larkin and was sold for about $10500.00. I think really once you get over $5000.00 on a bike it is a high end bike and again one brand verses another in value is all in the one who pays for it.


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## 1918 Ranger (Jan 4, 2013)

Nice reading!


1918 Ranger


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## Larmo63 (Jan 4, 2013)

I was just teasing, Scott.

I didn't mean to be a sh*t stirrer.


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 5, 2013)

Larmo63 said:


> I was just teasing, Scott.
> 
> I didn't mean to be a sh*t stirrer.




as you know, I'm seldom serious... besides, I've seen your Huffman!


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## 37fleetwood (Jan 5, 2013)

Some close ups...


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## dougfisk (Jan 5, 2013)

My guess is one joint broke, which is not unheard of on any frame.  This would be the single primary failure.  Then, as people continued to *ride it while broken*, the resultant excess and unnatural flexing strained all the other joints which then cracked or broke one by one until someone actually bothered to investigate.


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## HIGGINSFOREVER (Jan 5, 2013)

Let me get my 4 cents worth in here.As far as schwinn goes you see one you seem then all.


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## Springer Tom (Jan 9, 2013)

[SUB][/SUB]







HIGGINSFOREVER said:


> Let me get my 4 cents worth in here.As far as schwinn goes you see one you seem then all.




Dig it.......


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## fordmike65 (Jan 9, 2013)

HIGGINSFOREVER said:


> Let me get my 4 cents worth in here.As far as schwinn goes you see one you seem then all.




Them's fight'n words around these parts!


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## Springer Tom (Jan 9, 2013)

Hey Gene, when was the last time you saw a red Phantom?Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz(no icons for sleeping or yawningeek:


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## 41OLDSTEED (Jan 10, 2013)

*I Have the Same Prewar Western Flyer Huffman Built*

Hey Scott ! I Really Like your Story and Bike...I Have the same WF Bike almost...But the Original 2 Tone Green Paint was Covered over in a Few coats of Red...Are these Rare or Anything...?...Forks have a Date stamp of 40 on them too...Mine May Have had the welded in Kickstand at 1 time but It's Long Gone now...Keep On Riding...


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## Larmo63 (Jan 10, 2013)

I saw a black Phantom once........


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