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Bike from the Dead's Freshly-Exhumed Finds (Everything I've dug up since 6/15/21)

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Bike from the Dead

I live for the CABE
The C.A.B.E. doesn't seem to have a "Fresh Finds" section like Rat Rod Bikes does, so I'm just going to start a thread here for whatever new projects I acquire.

Okay, I'm not sure how many of you saw my fresh finds from last month's swap meet, but I ended up selling/trading roughly half of what I had acquired from that last haul. Here's what I've parted with from that last haul:

My Manton & Smith-built Nonpareil Bicycle Works girl's bike.
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Literally the morning after I sold it, the guy who purchased had already fixed it up, got it rolling for his wife, and sent me this picture. That's how I know it went to a good home.
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Both Columbia straight bar frames.
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And the bent-up Columbia Springer fork.
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It's not that I didn't like what I had and wanted to keep it, but there were other bikes I just really wanted more. However, the only way I can justify getting what I want is to sell or trade what I don't want. That, and making some expendable cash at a family garage sale helps. 😉

Here's what I got once I had the funds and space: an AMF-built AMFLITE (AM-flite, or AMF-lite? One sounds cooler, but the other sounds correct.) Falcon, a Schwinn parts bike, and 4 chainrings/crank arms. I saw the AMFLITE Falcon pop up on Craigslist at least a few weeks ago, put up for sale by my contact/friend in Oklahoma City. Dude was cool enough to pull the ad and hold it for me for a week as I sold enough to buy it when I inquired about it. I bought it for $100, didn't even bother haggling for it. I even learned that despite the dry-rotted tires, this bike is a roller as-is! It really just needs new tubes, tires, and a coaster brake service, and it's fully ready to ride!

I ended up trading the Columbia springer fork for the Schwinn, which is kind of funny since I had just planned to buy the fenders off it. The only draw was that the chain guard stayed with my contact. If I sell the rest of my my stuff, I might just buy it off of him later. I doubt I'll keep everything from this bike, but it should come in handy for building my custom Schwinn DX bike, Schwinn Dixie.

Since I didn't spend the rest of my budget on the Schwinn fenders, I also bought 4 chainrings/sprockets/crankarms that caught my eye while I was there. All in all, I think I did alright this time around.
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Hang tight, I've got several more detailed pictures coming in just a moment.
 
First batch of detailed pics: chainrings, sprockets, whatever you call them.
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I only have one other sprocket like this, and it's on my RRBBO15 bike. But this one looks almost new! It's just got a little dust and dirt on it. Definitely using this one on one of my custom bikes.
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This looks to be the latest of the parts I got. I hadn't seen this exact sprocket before, but I really can't remember the last time I saw this faceted crank arm. It has some word on it, but I can't make out what it says. Still, it looks cool.
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I've got at least one or two of this type of sprocket, but I don't think any of them are this big! This might go on Schwinn Dixie soon, as it won't look too small for the original chain guard like every other chainring I've mocked up so far.
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Slightly smaller, but it looks like the "ring" is thicker than the other one's I've got.
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Next up, the Schwinn parts-donor. I've never seen one with this sort of paint scheme before. Is it custom, or just an uncommon option?
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I don't know why, but almost every S-2 wheel I've acquired has the original white and black paint covered up with grey primer/paint. Was that just poor man's chrome, or what?
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Just looked up the serial Number. Built on August 1st, 1951. Not sure what's up with the dots above the serial number though. They look suspiciously factory...
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And now for the main event! This bike right here is the main reason I sold off more bikes and parts. Ever since I saw it pop up on Craigslist, I just couldn't take my mind off it. I just hadn't seen any bike like it, save for some smaller 20 inch muscle bikes. Even crazier, I can't find hardly any pictures of bikes like this. There were maybe 30 pictures total of similar bikes I could find, so hopefully that number will increase drastically after I'm done! ;) I'm amazed how intact this bike is. Sure, there's the odd spot of rust poking through the paint here and there, and the red's just a little faded on the chain guard, but overall, this bike is nice. The graphics are sharp and clear, the seat's still supple, the chrome is near mint, and the red POPS in the sunlight!

It looks great as is, but as usual, I see room for improvement. My plan for this bike down the road is to turn it into a 26 inch muscle bike. I won't go overboard with crazy modifications like my last muscle bike build, though. I plan to keep this build mild and clean. I just want to swap out the handlebars for some high risers, add a banana seat (preferably a smooth sparkle white seat) and chrome sissy bar, remove the fenders, squeeze a balloon tire in the back, keep a middleweight tire up front, maybe use my Bendix 2 speed kickback hub, and that's really about it. I want to leave the paint as is, and make the rest of my modifications completely reversible. This bike's too nice to hack up, but it can still look nicer, I think, with a few small changes. For now though, I think I'll just focus on getting it fixed up to ride in its current configuration. I need to finish my other projects first.
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Found the serial number, but I can't really read it without removing the rear wheel. I'll get a better photo of it when I replace the tubes/tires.
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I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the rear tire is original to the bike. It certainly looks the part.
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That's all the photos I have for now. I won't enter the AMFLITE Falcon in this year's Rat Rod Bikes Build Off, as I've got too many other projects I'm already working on right now, but I may enter it into either the next Winter/Muscle Bike Build Off or next year's main Build Off. We'll see.
 
First batch of detailed pics: chainrings, sprockets, whatever you call them.View attachment 1430577

I only have one other sprocket like this, and it's on my RRBBO15 bike. But this one looks almost new! It's just got a little dust and dirt on it. Definitely using this one on one of my custom bikes.View attachment 1430578

This looks to be the latest of the parts I got. I hadn't seen this exact sprocket before, but I really can't remember the last time I saw this faceted crank arm. It has some word on it, but I can't make out what it says. Still, it looks cool.View attachment 1430579View attachment 1430580

I've got at least one or two of this type of sprocket, but I don't think any of them are this big! This might go on Schwinn Dixie soon, as it won't look too small for the original chain guard like every other chainring I've mocked up so far.View attachment 1430581

Slightly smaller, but it looks like the "ring" is thicker than the other one's I've got.View attachment 1430582
These look to be the Silver King sprockets like the one on my 1950 Junker bike that i'm in the process of building ..
 
"This looks to be the latest of the parts I got. I hadn't seen this exact sprocket before, but I really can't remember the last time I saw this faceted crank arm. It has some word on it, but I can't make out what it says. Still, it looks cool."

Redline! Looks mid-school to me...
 
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