Thank you again Leon. My father would have bought that bike around 1965. But I swear the original colors were black on the frame and fork and Flamboyant Red on the rack, chain guard and tank. Of course the graphics were much simpler than the other, only two unequal stripes on the top of each side of the carrier (as shown in the one picture), very plain white darts on the fork, another wider white dart on the tank and a very basic design with the word "Hiawatha" on the chain guard. You can see one just like it, except for the top tube, on YouTube under "Vintage Hiawatha Bicycle???" by Slimy Green Garage. That is what it looked liked, as near as I remember anyways. But as I take off the paint from the lousy spray bomb job, that does seems to be the way the original color scheme was.
Thanks for pointing out that someone did do some big time butchery to the carrier to fit a larger tire under the fender. I don't know, maybe it was my little brother years ago. Oops, I looked at the ugly gap for years and that modification never dawned on me. This will be made right.
Good advice on the graphics, so I will hold off on painting them. Maybe another knowledgeable reader can point me in the right direction on these. Gee, if it is on the internet, then it must be true. Just kidding. You know maybe they should just throw away that year identification chart that has been floating around, but we all know anything put on the internet is there forever.
Thanks again for providing me with detailed, more importantly the correct information, on my two Hiawatha bikes. I am glad you saw my post. By the way, I did buy a real Murray seat post today. Hah.
Thanks for pointing out that someone did do some big time butchery to the carrier to fit a larger tire under the fender. I don't know, maybe it was my little brother years ago. Oops, I looked at the ugly gap for years and that modification never dawned on me. This will be made right.
Good advice on the graphics, so I will hold off on painting them. Maybe another knowledgeable reader can point me in the right direction on these. Gee, if it is on the internet, then it must be true. Just kidding. You know maybe they should just throw away that year identification chart that has been floating around, but we all know anything put on the internet is there forever.
Thanks again for providing me with detailed, more importantly the correct information, on my two Hiawatha bikes. I am glad you saw my post. By the way, I did buy a real Murray seat post today. Hah.
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