# Hawthorne



## Alan911 (Mar 18, 2015)

My wife got me a Hawthorne bike for my birthday.  I'm not sure of the year but the tank has an electric horn inside it that still works.  I would appreciate any information about it.  The fenders have been painted. Were they originally chrome? Should I have them chromed?  Is the headlight original?  Thank you.


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## vincev (Mar 18, 2015)

I would remove the paint on the fenders and see how good they are.You have a good wife.


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## the tinker (Mar 18, 2015)

Very nice bike Alan, very good of your wife to let you keep it in the living room. no the light is not the original.
I have the same bike with the same headlight yours has,these usually came plated. on some the chain guard was plated and painted to match the tank.


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## THEGOLDENGREEK (Mar 18, 2015)

Nice bike....but it kinda looks like a western flyer Super with that style tank!


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## Shawn Michael (Mar 18, 2015)

Thats a great gift from your wife. Have fun with it. Do you have many other bikes because I don't know if my wife would encourage my collection/addiction with another bike.


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## jd56 (Mar 19, 2015)

Sure looks like a Roadmaster Super. I'm no expert and have been proven wrong many times in the past. Should be a chrome trimmed tank. As well as the chainguard. Missing the very hard to find "TV" headlight which is also chrome trimmed. Would have had chromed fenders. A tailight assembly.  There should be to small holes of the top bar near the headtube for the turn signal switch. 
Here is a catalog picture of the bike.
Serial is on the bottom bracket. Might have a two digit number before the Cw stamping on the right side of the serial stamped letter and number. That two digit number would indicate the year if it was early 50s.
My wife would never buy me a bike....you're a lucky guy. It's a nice looking bike. Even with the red repaint. Catalog indicates black / red was available.









Turn signal switch




TV light 




It's all about the Tanklights!!

How did I run out of room so fast?


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## the tinker (Mar 19, 2015)

*hawthornes*

Very nice J.D. You are lucky to have that turn signal switch.


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## HARPO (Mar 19, 2015)

Shawn Michael said:


> Thats a great gift from your wife. Have fun with it. Do you have many other bikes because I don't know if my wife would encourage my collection/addiction with another bike.




My wife complained about my volume of bikes (down to 30 from 52), yet if she passed a Garage Sale and saw one she'd call me and let me know. She'd even stop and ask questions about it if I wanted her to. Women. Go figure!!

BTW...she still does this for me, lol!!


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## Shawn Michael (Mar 19, 2015)

Mine keeps a look out for me too she just dislikes me always looking for them and the space they take up.


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

Thank you gentlemen for all the info. Great looking bikes too. This is my first old one. We have a plant shelf in the living room on top of the wall where it going to be displayed.

I tried riding it but there are some bottom bracket noises. What size bearings would go in there?

Added more pictures too.


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## pedal_junky (Mar 19, 2015)

Alan911 said:


> Thank you gentlemen for all the info. Great looking bikes too. This is my first old one. We have a plant shelf in the living room on top of the wall where it going to be displayed.
> 
> I tried riding it but there are some bottom bracket noises. What size bearings would go in there?
> 
> Added more pictures too.View attachment 203181




Cool bike, cooler wife. Bearings probably need cleaned and greased. 
Is there a stamp to the right of the serial number on the bottom of the bracket? Cw?


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

No. Not that I can see.


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

Oops.  There is a W with a C around it after the serial number.


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## pedal_junky (Mar 19, 2015)

Alan911 said:


> Oops.  There is a W with a C around it after the serial number.




Okay, if it's a stand alone Cw stamp, it's a '47-49. If a number precedes the stamp, separate from the main serial, then that would be the year. Example A01234 52Cw. By looking at your bike, I'm saying '47-49.


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

Thank you. The CW is not preceded by anything.


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## the tinker (Mar 19, 2015)

*Rules of the hobby ....*

Alan, since you are new to this hobby I feel obligated to give you some pointers here to save you from making some mistakes when bringing bikes home in the future.....

#1.  The golden rule:    LIE.  Its ok to lie about your bikes to the wife. This is a requirement.

 #2.If the issue comes up NEVER, I repeat  NEVER tell her what you actually payed for it.
Always be vague.  Quote super low $$$ if you get cornered.  Remember no matter how much you tell her it will always be too much in her eyes.


 #3. After a swap meet NEVER be in a hurry to unload your stuff if she is around.
If she is home when you pull in, bring in something small, say something like,"Hi hon,show was great, gotta couple small things here. Saw the guys, whatcha making for dinner?"

#4 Keep all conversation about bikes short and simple, ask her how her day was. Even if dinner tastes like crap , rave about it. Bring the bikes you bought in later under cover of darkness. 


#5  Do charity work on the neighbor kids bikes every so often. For some reason the wives really like this. It will help you justify your new hobby. 


#6 Once in a while casually bring up the fact that the guy across the street goes to a bar to drink every night and  he should have a hobby like bikes or something. This will make her thankful you stay home working on your bikes.

Burn these rules into your brain Alan, dont let us down,Tinker


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## pedal_junky (Mar 19, 2015)

Hey Tinker, I don't think any of these rules apply to him. SHE bought the bike for HIM.


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## the tinker (Mar 19, 2015)

pedal_junky said:


> Hey Tinker, I don't think any of these rules apply to him. SHE bought the bike for HIM.




Trust me , by bike # 50 this guy will be in deep poop like us.


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## silvertonguedevil (Mar 19, 2015)

CWC built very similar deluxe bikes for Hawthorne, Hiawatha, and Western Flyer at this same time. They all shared the same frame, shockmaster fork, rims, handlebars, seats, etc. They all three had the exact same tank but each had their own decals/graphics on them. If the paint and decals were removed, you'd never know the difference between them. The chainguards were all the same except for, they each had their own stamping on the guard (Hawthorne, Hiawatha, Western Flyer, etc). Fenders and chainring were unique to each. 

Just some FYI for ya...


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

Tattooed on my forearm.   Thanks


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## Alan911 (Mar 19, 2015)

The chainring is bent. Any suggestions on how to fix it?


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## pedal_junky (Mar 19, 2015)

Alan911 said:


> The chainring is bent. Any suggestions on how to fix it?




It's a pretty common ring, replace it for $10-20. Or you can take the chain off and get a big adjustable wrench out and go to town. Little adjustments at a time.


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## silvertonguedevil (Mar 19, 2015)

Like he said^^. A bench-top vise and an adjustable wrench will get it fixed right up!


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## Alan911 (Mar 20, 2015)

If I do replace it, where's the best web site to find it?


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## silvertonguedevil (Mar 20, 2015)

You're on it.


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## Alan911 (Mar 20, 2015)

Ok cool.


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## Alan911 (Mar 20, 2015)

When they go from a skip-tooth chainring to the normal one?


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## silvertonguedevil (Mar 20, 2015)

The WF Super was built until 1952 and Western Auto then looked to Murray to built their next bike for them, the Western Flyer X53 Super in 1953. CWC was purchased by AMF in 1953 or 1954 (someone can chime in on which year it was). I don't know about the Hawthorne's or the Hiawatha's but the Roadmaster Luxury Liner (another CWC bike) no longer were skip tooth after they were an AMF-built bike. So, it might be a bit of a guess but I think it would be pretty safe to say that about '52-'53 was the last of the skip-tooths for bikes like yours and possibly even the end of the line all together.


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## Alan911 (Mar 20, 2015)

Ok thanks, I wondered if it should have a skip tooth chainring or not.


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## Alan911 (Mar 21, 2015)

Sorry for a the questions.  I think the sproket is wrong. If it has a skip tooth sproket on the crank, it has to have one on the rear too with a skip tooth chain?


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## Alan911 (Mar 21, 2015)

I've narrowed it down to 46-49 based on the CW.


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## Alan911 (Mar 21, 2015)

They are calling it a "Special Tank Hawthorne with the optional spring fork and they even go into detail about the electric horn installed in the tank.

I'd like to get the headlight back to original too.  Is there a specific product I should use to try to get the paint off the fenders?


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## pedal_junky (Mar 22, 2015)

Alan911 said:


> They are calling it a "Special Tank Hawthorne with the optional spring fork and they even go into detail about the electric horn installed in the tank.
> 
> I'd like to get the headlight back to original too.  Is there a specific product I should use to try to get the paint off the fenders?




Depending on what kind of paint, I've had good results with heavy duty oven cleaner. (Spray paint will come screaming off, especially over chrome.) Try a small spot, let it soak for 10 minutes, and have plenty of water ready to rinse. And wear gloves,  it's nasty stuff. Good luck, keep us posted.


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## Alan911 (Mar 22, 2015)

Will do


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## Kickstand3 (Apr 9, 2015)

Very nice bike and great wife also !


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