1936 Monark Silver King - Tank anyone?

[tech549]

I have Scott on the list

need my glasses!!!~

 

[cyclingday]

I always assumed that these tanks were made of aluminum.
Were they actually made of stamped steel?

 

[Glenn Rhein]

They are steel

I always assumed that these tanks were made of aluminum.
Were they actually made of stamped steel?

 

[ratrodz]

 

[tech549]

..

 

[JMack]

Can anyone post better pics of a loose one ? Be nice to see construction from several angles thanks friends

 

[FamousCarz]

Can anyone post better pics of a loose one ? Be nice to see construction from several angles thanks friends

Yes, and preferably with dimensions!

 

[NBHAA]

There was an optional tank available. Very scarce.

1937 Monark Silver King M1 – Dave's Vintage Bicycles

www.nostalgic.net

View attachment 1750427

Not Mine.

Hello

• I have been collecting Silver King bicycles since the 1950s and 1960s.

• I saved many prototype and one-of-a-kind pieces from the company in the 1970s.

• Decades ago I talked with the family of the man who invented the Silver King and several relatives of those who designed them.

• I have all of the original dealer books, parts books, customer catalogues and sales folders as well as original advertisements.

• I interviewed the Chief Engineer for Monark-Silver King, Inc. decades ago and I still have all of my notes and correspondence with him.

• I also interviewed every major person in the company who was aware of these bicycles and still alive by the 1970s.

• I have 8 x 10 original glossy photos of bicycles being made in the Chicago Monark-Silver King plant.

• I interviewed the Huffy people who took over operation of Monark-Silver King, Inc. when it sold out... and I have most of the literature from then as well as all of the notes I made in interviews back then.

Bottom line: there was no factory-original tank for aluminum Silver Kings. Nor was there ever any serious intention to include one.

When I bought out a bicycle parts warehouse for Western Auto decades ago I ended up with about 30 universal-fit tanks. In the 1970s when nobody wanted anything except Schwinn, I had numerous duplicate Silver Kings, including the Model 26-X. I attached some of these tanks to Silver King aluminum models and despite not being original, some people suddenly found Silver Kings to be mildly interesting.

While it is an unknown fact to the hobby today– such as it is– these tanks were sold by Western Auto, Sears and various other retailers as well as bicycle shops prior to World War II. All I have ever seen or had were pressed steel, painted silver with various graphics on their sides. Some people who bought shopworn NOS pieces I once had, re-did the tanks and added their own decals/graphics to further muddy the waters. There are several Silver Kings to this day running around with these tanks (or ones like them) attached.

But there were no factory-made tanks for aluminum Silver Kings.

My friend, Larry Fator of SoCal indeed had aluminum genius "Jocko" (SP?) make a tank for his Silver King hextube model. But this was several years ago. Again, this was a custom-made piece.

All but one of the remainder of my 30 tanks disappeared when I was robbed 20 years ago. So I imagine there ought to be at least a few left of these tanks loose out there in bicycle-land.

Hope this helps remove the mystery and myth– even after all these years...

 

[FamousCarz]

Thank you for your insightful response.
I'm looking forward to visiting your website to learn more about these great bikes. I'm very interested in more information regarding serial numbers for specific models as well as marketing information.

 

[JMack]

Hello

• I have been collecting Silver King bicycles since the 1950s and 1960s.

• I saved many prototype and one-of-a-kind pieces from the company in the 1970s.

• Decades ago I talked with the family of the man who invented the Silver King and several relatives of those who designed them.

• I have all of the original dealer books, parts books, customer catalogues and sales folders as well as original advertisements.

• I interviewed the Chief Engineer for Monark-Silver King, Inc. decades ago and I still have all of my notes and correspondence with him.

• I also interviewed every major person in the company who was aware of these bicycles and still alive by the 1970s.

• I have 8 x 10 original glossy photos of bicycles being made in the Chicago Monark-Silver King plant.

• I interviewed the Huffy people who took over operation of Monark-Silver King, Inc. when it sold out... and I have most of the literature from then as well as all of the notes I made in interviews back then.

Bottom line: there was no factory-original tank for aluminum Silver Kings. Nor was there ever any serious intention to include one.

When I bought out a bicycle parts warehouse for Western Auto decades ago I ended up with about 30 universal-fit tanks. In the 1970s when nobody wanted anything except Schwinn, I had numerous duplicate Silver Kings, including the Model 26-X. I attached some of these tanks to Silver King aluminum models and despite not being original, some people suddenly found Silver Kings to be mildly interesting.

While it is an unknown fact to the hobby today– such as it is– these tanks were sold by Western Auto, Sears and various other retailers as well as bicycle shops prior to World War II. All I have ever seen or had were pressed steel, painted silver with various graphics on their sides. Some people who bought shopworn NOS pieces I once had, re-did the tanks and added their own decals/graphics to further muddy the waters. There are several Silver Kings to this day running around with these tanks (or ones like them) attached.

But there were no factory-made tanks for aluminum Silver Kings.

My friend, Larry Fator of SoCal indeed had aluminum genius "Jocko" (SP?) make a tank for his Silver King hextube model. But this was several years ago. Again, this was a custom-made piece.

All but one of the remainder of my 30 tanks disappeared when I was robbed 20 years ago. So I imagine there ought to be at least a few left of these tanks loose out there in bicycle-land.

Hope this helps remove the mystery and myth– even after all these years...

View attachment 1754466

View attachment 1754467

OUT-F-ING-STANDING INFORMATION FRIEND ! Bam! THIS is why ya come to the CABE