# Calling all Schwinn experts, please help me date this P.O.S.



## Jay81 (Oct 22, 2016)

I have this P.O.S. (Pretty Old Schwinn, what the heck did you think P.O.S. stood for?) and from the research I've done, I think it may be a 1936, but I'd like any pre-war Schwinn "experts" to chime in. Here's a little history on it. I bought it from my brother. He was told a farmer converted it to its current "moped" state years ago. It was powered by an old (1930's?) gas washing machine engine (didn't know there was such a thing, but found some cool videos on youtube)
In a way, I'd really like to convert it back to a bicycle, but with the "modifications" it would be very difficult to say the least. The steel plate that the engine sits on is welded to the frame, as is the seat post. The rear of the frame also appears to have been widened to accommodate the rear wheel. The rear brake is kinda cool, you apply downward pressure on the pedal, and the spring loaded contraption on the back has a piece of rubber fastened to it which contacts the rear tire.
Some things worth noting are:
the straight back lock on the fork (and the lock still works!)
flat fender braces and drop center front wheel
Excelsior badge
The serial number is S22630 and appears to be the larger, irregularly stamped numbers (hand stamped???)
The "S" of the serial number appears to be upside down
So, given the modifications that have been done, I think what I'm going to do is clean it up some (looks like there's some decent original paint left under the coating of rust) and see if it'll run again and embrace it for what it is, a vintage, rat rod, home-made moped.
Any help I can get dating it is much appreciated!


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## keith kodish (Oct 22, 2016)

Wanted to buy this at one time,and yes,it's a 1936 cycleplane. 

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## Jaypem (Oct 22, 2016)

Unreal!
I would totally try and get that thing running again!


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## Vintage Paintworx (Oct 24, 2016)

That is one big P.O.S!


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## StoneWoods (Oct 24, 2016)

is the gas tank for sale? I would put it on my motorbike project. (not the chinese one)


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## keith kodish (Oct 24, 2016)

Definitely 1936,early,late 36,went to the smaller,regular serial numbers.

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## dave the wave (Oct 24, 2016)

make it into this.Powerbike


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## onecatahula (Oct 25, 2016)

I have a nice, clean prewar Schwinn girl frame you could have real cheap as a doner for the seatstays, chainstays, even the seatpost/BB.  Looks like a worthy project !  Let me know . .

Just took a second look; you're gonna want to swap out that seat post, for sure ! 
(the geometry for the rear end on the boys/girls bikes is identical, BTW)


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## nycet3 (Oct 25, 2016)

That is so great. Ingenuity at work. The pedal activated scrub brake mechanism is killer.
I love that you'll try and get it running. 

Have you been able to determine make and year of the engine? 

Enjoy.


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## bricycle (Oct 25, 2016)

yea, do it yourself powerbike....


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## bricycle (Oct 25, 2016)

if the motor was mounted on that plate, wouldn't it be turning the wrong way to propel the wheel sheave? never mind...I see the mount holes now!


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## Jay81 (Oct 25, 2016)

StoneWoods said:


> is the gas tank for sale? I would put it on my motorbike project. (not the chinese one)



No, sorry, I'm keeping it all together and eventually hope to get it running again.


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## Jay81 (Oct 25, 2016)

nycet3 said:


> That is so great. Ingenuity at work. The pedal activated scrub brake mechanism is killer.
> I love that you'll try and get it running.
> 
> Have you been able to determine make and year of the engine?
> ...



I've been told its a Maytag engine from the 30's, but I don't know who the manufacturer is or how to determine the year. Didn't even realize it was a brake mechanism when I bought it! figured that out after I got it home and was looking it over. Don't think it'll have a lot of stopping power, but then again I don't think it'll be all that fast anyway.


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## Jay81 (Oct 25, 2016)

onecatahula said:


> I have a nice, clean prewar Schwinn girl frame you could have real cheap as a doner for the seatstays, chainstays, even the seatpost/BB.  Looks like a worthy project !  Let me know . .
> 
> Just took a second look; you're gonna want to swap out that seat post, for sure !
> (the geometry for the rear end on the boys/girls bikes is identical, BTW)



Thanks, but cutting up two frames to make one is beyond my current skill level. I'm going to eventually get around to seeing if this old beast will run again. As much as I'd like to turn it back to a bike, I'm seeing potential with working with what's there. Plus, I think I can clean up the original paint, to some degree anyway. If I repaired everything on the frame I'd have to repaint it, and I always prefer original paint.


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Apr 29, 2018)

whatever happened to this one??


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## Jay81 (Apr 30, 2018)

49autocycledeluxe said:


> whatever happened to this one??




I ended up trading it and a middleweight Schwinn for my Colson. Decided it was a bigger project than I wanted to tackle, and it was an easy local trade so I took the offer.


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## Jay81 (Sep 19, 2018)

Here's an update on this bike. I saw it last night and WOW what a difference! 
The guy I traded it to is a local bike collector and friend, and he happened to bring it to Bicycle Night (see my post in the swap meets, events, and rides forum for info)
He was able to straighten the seat stays, and ended up using the partial ladies frame I gave him (it was just the rear half) and replaced the chain stays. 
This bike was missing the welded on seat clamp and had the post welded into the frame. He repaired that as well using that partial ladies frame.
Some other parts had to be replaced, some had to be added. This is the end result.
I was pretty impressed.


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## vincev (Sep 19, 2018)

Its good to see it is back on the road but I would have loved to see it back as a motor bike.


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## Jay81 (Sep 19, 2018)

vincev said:


> Its good to see it is back on the road but I would have loved to see it back as a motor bike.




I agree, I was kind of hoping he'd go the motor bike route. But I'm also glad he was able to do something with it, rather than just taking up space in my garage. I had big plans when I got it, and was torn between converting it back to a bicycle or getting it running as a motor bike, but realized I'd probably never do anything with it. He's retired so he has the time to mess with stuff like this. I almost didn't recognize it. I was looking at it thinking "that's a cool prewar Schwinn" and then I got to looking a little closer and realized what it was.


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## 49autocycledeluxe (Sep 19, 2018)

nice save.


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