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lets see those americans

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'63 American I restored last winter. I have a blue '64 that will be done this winter.

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heres one of my 55s,classic bike that was kept outside its whole life,i took the factory rim brakes to keep em out of the elements,still has the 2 speed manuel with the hard to fing og clamps,knob is not factory but fairly old
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Here's a pretty nice "1955/57" American that sold on EBay last weekend.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Vintag...IQGadkg4tBfGhtT7ia038%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I'm guessing that the first generation Americans with the manual two speed always came with rim brakes in front, but I've seen a lot with caliper brakes, like this one. Since the calipers weren't American-made, they must have been added later, but there are enough of them that it looks like the forks must have already had the holes for the calipers. Is this correct?
 
Here's a pretty nice "1955/57" American that sold on EBay last weekend.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Vintage-1955-039-57-SCHWINN-AMERICAN-26-034-Boys-2-speed-Caliper-Coaster-Brakes-/202075523283?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=ChgItPIQGadkg4tBfGhtT7ia038%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc
I'm guessing that the first generation Americans with the manual two speed always came with rim brakes in front, but I've seen a lot with caliper brakes, like this one. Since the calipers weren't American-made, they must have been added later, but there are enough of them that it looks like the forks must have already had the holes for the calipers. Is this correct?

Pretty much correct. The flat rear fender/brake bracket was also used. The drilled fork and flat brake bracket were pretty much the norm on all the bikes, gears or not, during the first couple years of the new middleweights since most all of the models were available with multiple gears. Here's my original 1955 Girls Corvette coaster that came with the flat rear bracket and drilled fork.

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