# Teens-Era Tall Frame Schwinn Motorbike



## hoofhearted (Aug 31, 2012)

DID A TEENS-ERA, TALL FRAME SCHWINN MOTORBIKE EVER HAVE A FACTORY TANK ???   Thank you in advance .... patric cafaro


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## bud poe (Sep 1, 2012)

Don't know about the Teen's era Schwinn but I just "got" your username....been seeing it on here for a while and always just thought it was a play on "half-hearted" until I actually muttered it aloud to myself the other morning in my kitchen and giggled out loud...Thanks for the laughs...good luck with your inquiry...


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## hoofhearted (Sep 2, 2012)

HEY to BUD POE ... dude .. ya gots ta be careful wit' what ya mutter these days ... you coulda been kneelin' in the Confessional at 
Saint Ignaz of the Single Spring ... the Priest asks you to tell him your name ... reluctantly you mutter, "Hoofhearted" .............. 

NOW ... Hoo asks that THAT question to a Priest ??! 

                                                                                       NICE CHATTIN' with you, bud poe ..............................  patric cafaro


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## bud poe (Sep 2, 2012)

Well, you know what they say, "he who smelt it....."
Cheers patric!
Bud


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## hoofhearted (Sep 4, 2012)

*Teen's Era Tall Frame Schwinn Motorbike*

AM i SEEING SOME PARALLEL THINKING in the observation that, A Real, Authentic Italian Sports Car Has No Rear-View 
Mirror, "because whatsa behin' you .. dona matter" .. AND the majority of Schwinn Collectors .. admire, respect, crave 
and acquire ONLY the Schwinn Bicycles born during the Balloon Era.   Please speak up if you are that special breed of 
Schwinn Collector that love Schwinn Bicycles from all eras.  Does one of you special people have a flyer or catalogue 
that can confirm or deny that the teen' era Schwinn Motorbike could be made available with a battery/toolbox tank  ??   

i gots to know ..... patric cafaro


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## ejlwheels (Sep 4, 2012)

Does this answer your question?
These pics are from a 1917 catalog:










I don't know if you mean tall frame as in tall space between the 2 top bars.  
There are Mead Ranger tall frames with tall tanks, but they may have been made by Westfield.


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## hoofhearted (Sep 4, 2012)

ejlwheels ... thank you for responding ... the Schwinn motorbike that i own is identical to the size and geometry of a  
Mead tall-frame motorbike.  The actual measure of the seat stays are 22-inches in length.  If one were to measure the 
distance from the center of the crank to where the top tube were to junction with the seat-mast termination point 
(using some imagination .. and extending the top tube straight back .. ignoring the drop in the top tube .. the way 
manufacturers measured motorbike frames back in their day) the seat-mast measures 24-inches.  The head-tube is 
7-inches (+/-) tall and is drilled to accomodate the rectangular Excelsior or rectangular Henderson badge .. and these 
particular badges align perfectly ...  (screwhole to screwhole) when the top cup is removed to allow a very-tight, 
downward, slip fit.

THE UNDER-TANK BAR is parallel to the top-bar ... attaches to the seatmast with a trumpet-mouth fitting ... while the 
fore-end of the under-tank bar attaches directly to the junction of the head-tube and down-tube ... utilizing a large 
trumpet-mouth fitting.  The under-tank bar measures one-inch O.D. and has the same graphics that repeat thru-out 
the frame.

THE MOTORBIKE has early, very-flat fenders (no drop-side) ... matching the paint to the frame .. and the entire ride is  
void of "darts" in the graphics .. relying instead on box-paneling and pin thru-out.  The chain-ring is of the 6-torpedo 
variety, with internal scallops (much like the '17 Excelsior in your attached catalogue) but is the one-inch pitch variety.

THE PAINT is easily a 4 outta 10 ... with enough of it having taken a vacation many years ago ... and i cannot tell if 
tank-clamps left an identity OR if the paint fell away.  The ride is unmolested and without rust pitting.  This relic is a 
candidate for preservation ... not restoration ... as it has way too much personality.

THANK YOU for your input ... ejlwheels ..... this writer would love to peep the frame-sizes available in that '17 Schwinn 
Excelsior catalogue.

 ............  patric cafaro


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## ejlwheels (Sep 5, 2012)

Here are some more scans.
I got these from another web site and I no longer remember where
(I thought it was nostalgic.net, but I can't find them on there anymore).
Please share the serial number on your frame if you don't mind...


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## hoofhearted (Sep 5, 2012)

ejlwheels ... thank you for this information.  Thursday .. 9-6-12 is a great day to peep the serial number.  Will get 
numbers to you via this thread. 

Thanks, again ..... patric cafaro


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## hoofhearted (Sep 6, 2012)

ejlwheels .. the following is the serial number on my tall-frame Schwinn motorbike

                                                           E
                                                   202331
                                                           E   

What you are seeing is correct ... an upper-case "E" appears above and below the serial number ........ 
the numbers are stamped using a one-quarter-inch numerical stamp die punch ... the letters are stamp-
ed using a one-eighth-inch letter stamp die punch.


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


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## sam (Sep 7, 2012)

Those catalogs originally came from Mark's collection.They are still on the web at an other site.
Patric you might contact Mark at:
http://www.cyclesmithy.com/
He has more junk than American Pickers!Who knows he might have an early dealers catalog/store book


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## bricycle (Sep 7, 2012)

bud poe said:


> Well, you know what they say, "he who smelt it....."
> Cheers patric!
> Bud




...also, "He who break wind in church must sit in own pew"................(phew)or(PU)


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## hoofhearted (Sep 7, 2012)

THANK YOU,  sam and THANK YOU,  bricycle ......  patric


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## hoofhearted (Sep 9, 2012)

MEA CULPA .. MEA CULPA .. MEA MAXIMA CULPA  .....  and even i thought i was finished typing on the Tall-Frame 
Schwinn Motorbike ..... but Noooooo !!!   JUST HAD TO re-peep the '17 Schwinn Excelsior catalogue, presented to 
us by ejlwheels ... with many thanks, again, ejlwheels !!!

THOSE OF YOU THAT know me understand that i have a Real Fondness for the Exotic Bicycle Badge ... and that 
my cravings also extend to Forks and Chainrings of unusual design.  Somewhere in this e-m, it must be noted that 
this writer also has an admiration for bicycles of unusual design .. historic significance .. or affiliation with an 
American Motorcycle Manufacturer.

THIS PARTICULAR THREAD is not the place to explore those areas ... but .. let us peep the variety of fork designs 
mentioned in the 1917 Schwinn Excelsior Catalogue .... (you .. curious reader .. are invited to peep the catalogue 
privately).

THE '17 SCHWINN CATALOGUE gives P-L-E-N-T-Y of information on ONE OF THEIR FORKS .. The Three-Plate Crown 
... with truss struts (no mention of truss rods is made, but .. c'mon, now !!!).   This is the fork present on my Schwinn 
Tall Frame Motorbike.  The catalogue does not say if this fork is available WITHOUT truss struts ... but it has been 
observed in the field.

ANOTHER FORK presented in the '17 catalogue is referred to as "Our Trussed Fork" .. a one-piece forged fork crown 
with truss supports built in, as part of the forging process.

A THIRD TYPE is presented as "Bayonet Type" ... "with rib extending the full length of the fork side.  The rib adds 
strength and greatly adds to the appearance of the fork."

A FOURTH (and final) TYPE is presented as "Standard Type" ... of oval fork (leg) with a plain, drop-forged crown of 
symetrical design.

..... patric cafaro


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## chitown (Sep 9, 2012)

Patric,

This is a tall frame Mead that has a Schwinn style fork. Is this fork the same as yours?

View attachment 64441




hoofhearted said:


> ...A THIRD TYPE is presented as "Bayonet Type" ... "with rib extending the full length of the fork side.  The rib adds
> strength and greatly adds to the appearance of the fork."




Like this one applied for in 1912:

View attachment 64438 View attachment 64439

Assigned to William M C Foster of Chicago and in the presence of George Lewis... Mr Lewis seems have his hands in many pots, He was employed by Mead at the time so why would he be present for the Patent??? Curiously this Mr. Foster is not affiliated with a company, so he may have sold the design rights to multiple manufacturers?


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## hoofhearted (Sep 10, 2012)

chitown .... you have really been doing a great job on your homework !!!  Wish i could say the same for 
myself ... but i told a big fat LIE !!!  My Tall Frame Schwinn Motorbike DOES NOT HAVE A THREE-PLATE 
FORK ... The bicycle has the forged-






crown variety with Struts, as shown in your foto of a Tall Frame Mead 
Ranger.  Have included other fotos ... non of which came outta my camera.

Thank You , chitown !!! ..........  patric


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## chitown (Sep 10, 2012)

Patric,

Thanks for those uploads.

So your fork has independent truss rods/struts instead of brazed, single unit forks of earlier design?

Older single unit design pictured in these 1918 Mead catalog:

Ranger
View attachment 64559 

Pathfinder with fussed truss rods going to single bolt on head-set
View attachment 64560

vs a separate, independent truss rod as shown in this 1923 Mead catalog (with triple plate crown... Mead/Lewis patented)

View attachment 64561 View attachment 64562 View attachment 64563


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## hoofhearted (Sep 10, 2012)

chitown ... thanks for those comparitive illustrations.  The fork on my tall has a solid, drop-forged 
crown ... like what i displayed in my previous e-m.  Just went out to peep truss-rod lowers ... 

EACH IS SPLIT at the bottom end ... to allow permanent placement on the front-leading edge of the 
fork blades.  

TO BE SPECIFIC, a small amount of truss-rod is overlapping the lower-leading edge of the fork blade, 
with some of the split-truss rod area being in close, parallel-proximity (on an overlapping/contact basis) 
with the flattened, drop-out area of the fork blade.

EACH JOIN IS neatly silver-soldered (High-Temp 1175 F Degrees +/-) ... OR brazed with brass filler-
rod.  Each join is cleanly-made ... being void of any excess fusing alloy.

YOUR 1918 RANGER ILLUSTRATION ... defines the visual character of my tall fork.  Truss-rods brazed 
at bottom and terminating into two seperate holes in the Yoke of the head-set ... a corresponding pair 
of bolts completes the structure.

FORK and TRUSS-RODS are painted.

Many Thanks, chitown .............  patric


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