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"Steer Horn" and similar handlebars on Schwinns

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bloo

I live for the CABE
How many types of "steer horn" or "swept back" bars did Schwinn have? In the 1959 catalog, the Speedster (and a few others) are listed as having "7800" handlebar.

1959_09.jpg


In another thread, @GTs58 posted this catalog page. It is from April 1962 and tells us that a 7800 is "S.B. 26x8 steer horn type". I guess that's 26" width with 8" sweep? No word about the rise.

62parts13b-jpg.jpg


The Heavy-Duti has handlebars about like this too. @irideiam posted this (and some related pages) in a Heavy-Duti thread. The 1965 Heavy-Duti, and also the 1964 Heavy Duty American that preceded it were specified with 7884 handlebars. It's hard to tell much about handlebars from pictures, but they look pretty similar to me.

1965dlr_heavy_duti_specs-jpg.jpg


And what of the ones on the Phantom? The catalog shows 7800 for the 59 phantom. Somehow I was expecting Phantom bars to be really huge. Did the pre-59 Phantoms have a different handlebar? What is the difference between 7800 and 7884?

And finally, did Schwinn make these bars for themselves or farm them out? Torrington? Wald?
 
Good questions. Will probably need pictures to advance the discussion, to distinguish different handlebars and what is/is not swept back or steer horn handlebars. Other distinct types are gooseneck (early Jaguar) and box type (tandem and Cycletruck...though the latter two are different widths).
 
It is so hard to tell from pictures, but easy when you are standing next to the bike. I recall a for sale thread recently where a member had several handlebars for sale including some crossbar Torringtons for sale, and another member said he would take the ones in the bottom pic. The seller, somewhat confused by this said "those are the same handlebars as in the top pic". One pic looked as if the bars came straight back, motorbike style. The other pic looked as if they were spread.

Other distinct types are gooseneck (early Jaguar)

I am not familiar with the term gooseneck (except for stems). The early Jaguar ad seems to show "Northroad" bars, in other words fairly narrow ones that curve forward and then back like the ones commonly used on English 3 speeds and Schwinn's premium middleweights (Corvette, etc.). But then, in this pic @hzqw2l posted back in 2012 of an original 1954 Jaguar, it looks like what I would call "Boy Scout", or Schwinn 7806 in the 1962 page above. Schwinn themselves muddied the water by calling some other style of bar "Boy Scout" later on.

Are either of these the ones you mean?

1954-jaguar.jpg


100_5280copy-1-jpg.jpg


and box type (tandem and Cycletruck...though the latter two are different widths).

I had no idea until now there were 2 widths. Those were called "Paperboy bars" when I was a kid. Schwinn listed them as 7830 Cycle Truck in the 1962 page above. They don't get in the way of a big basket or anything else in the front.

s-l300.jpg


And compared to "Boy Scout" 7806, so you can see what the main difference is. The outer bends come up gradually, rather than straight up almost 90 degrees on those cycle truck bars. I can't say for sure that the picture below is 7806, but if not it has a very similar bend.

On both of these types, the bends do not come forward of the stem at all. On both of them the grips come straight back at the rider.

-SCHWINN-HORNET-26-BICYCLE-HANDLEBARS-BALLOON-TIRE.jpg


And that brings us back to steer horns. None of the bars above are what I would call steer horn, or what Schwinn called steer horn in 1962. I would like to know more about these other types as well, but as steer horns, they are out of the running.

The ones I refer to do not come forward of the stem, but are splayed out to the side at an angle where the grips go. Wald has 3 different widths of them in their catalog to fit a standard stem (872,896,898), and I can't help but wonder if any of Wald's offerings are the same bends as any of the old Schwinn offerings, or if they made any of the bars for Schwinn. I have seen Wald stems on some Chicago built Schwinns, so it's not like they never used Wald stuff.

Wald Catalog: https://www.waldllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/CATALOG.pdf

Some random steer horns:

hbsteer1.jpg


I think there are at least 2 kinds used (and possibly produced) by Chicago Schwinn. The 7800, the 7884 (but were they produced concurrently or was one a replacement for the other?), and maybe a third type earlier on.
 
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I have the steer horn type like the ones above on my 1965 HD and on a 1980 ladies cruiser. I don't have both here so I can't compare how close they are. Good point that one style may have been the replacement. Most of the other middleweights have the style that come forward of the stem then more so straight back to rider. The vary in rise from 2-5 inches. I believe you may be correct that Wald produces and produced bars that matched the Schwinn bars and maybe even made them for Schwinn.
 
I believe the style handlebars on my 1958 Jaguar Mark II are the Northroad, sometimes called gooseneck, picture below.

For the Cycletruck, these are 22in wide handlebars, I believe made by Torrington. The ones used on the Schwinn balloon Wasps as the Newsboy Specials were wider, 24in wide measuring at the distance between the grip ends. These are like the rear handlebars on the Schwinn Town and Country labeled 7871R. I don’t know definitely if they are the same as I have not examined a tandem bike with original handlebars to measure and compare, but they look the same.

90FFE06D-F0B3-463C-974B-971A2F453C04.png


5F2AA24C-E103-4BB7-B393-FED2C3F7DA90.jpeg


67C027D8-3C5C-4273-8CDE-1683DC958869.jpeg


7078A596-C358-4023-A858-A91924F0ADF0.jpeg
 
I believe the style handlebars on my 1958 Jaguar Mark II are the Northroad, sometimes called gooseneck, picture below.

From the pictures, I would also call the ones on your Jaguar northroad (gooseneck is new to me, but now I know what it means). I would bet those are 7819s, and the ones on my 61 Speedster as well. Schwinn seemed to prefer those for their higher level middleweights, and then started putting them on the cheaper ones like mine too around 1961.

fr4ertd-jpg.jpg


Most of the other middleweights have the style that come forward of the stem then more so straight back to rider. The vary in rise from 2-5 inches.

Sounds like the northroad. Do you really mean there are a bunch of different ones with different rise?

For the Cycletruck, these are 22in wide handlebars, I believe made by Torrington. The ones used on the Schwinn balloon Wasps as the Newsboy Specials were wider, 24in wide measuring at the distance between the grip ends. These are like the rear handlebars on the Schwinn Town and Country labeled 7871R. I don’t know definitely if they are the same as I have not examined a tandem bike with original handlebars to measure and compare, but they look the same.

Cycletruck bars are narrower than the paperboy ones? Wow, I never would have guessed that. So 22 inches for Cycletruck (7830) and 24 inches for Tandem rear (7871r), all box type, and probably Wasp Newsboy Specials too. Noted.

Now I wonder what the tandem front (7840f) looks like. I thought they were northroad, but they have their own part number so maybe not.

I have the steer horn type like the ones above on my 1965 HD and on a 1980 ladies cruiser. I don't have both here so I can't compare how close they are.

Probably original 7884 then on the HD? Next time you find yourself near the HD would you mind measuring it? Maybe the ladies cruiser too.
 
me you find yourself near the HD would you mind measuring it? Maybe the ladies cruiser too
They both measure 27 inches wide, however they are configured slightly different. each side of the bars made up of 3 parts from the stem the '80s measure 4" over then a 7" rise to a 5" handle. The '65s measure from the stem 4" over a 5" rise and a 7" handle making then slightly lower.
 
Thank you!

Is the 27" center to center, inside to inside, or end to end?

What about the rise? is that outside to outside including the tubing twice?
 
27 across from end to end the rise seems to be 5 on both. The measurements I gave you earlier were general numbers. The bends are in different places on each bar but they stay generally the same shape and the both measure the 27 at the ends. I will get pics when I get a chance. I do not like the little 22 inch boy scout bars. On my '59 Corvette I put a later '70s version with the higher rise then the original I think what I have on there is a 5" and it came with a 2" rise.

IMG_0435.jpg
 
Torrington did supply bars and from my examples over the years I'd have to say that Schwinn did use bars made by other manufactures at least into the early 60's. I've had two 60's Corvettes where the Northroad bars had a W stamped on the end. A very light stamping and easy to miss. Same bends as the unmarked Schwinn bars. Gooseneck was never use in describing bars but Swan has sometimes been used on bars that bend outward or forward of the stem and then curl back. The SB26x8 #7800 bars were used and spec'd on many of the early post war models and it's very possible that the actual measurements and bends had very slight changes over the 4 or 5 decades. I've noted that after the early Northroad bars used in the first half of the 50's changed there were two versions with a rise change of just under an inch. It's not easy identifying some bars just by looking at a set in a picture. Just for the heck of it I purchased two sets of Northroad bars currently on the market to see what the differences might be. One was sold under the Sunlite name and the other was Wald. Here's the comparison with a Schwinn set and the Sunlite. The forward bend is not as far out, the pull back is much longer, rise is a little more along with the overall width.




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