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1935 Elgin Gull Parts

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Bicycle Museum of America

Finally riding a big boys bike
Good morning/afternoon/evening.

We have a 1935 Elgin Gull in the collection, though many of the parts are incorrect - notably the fenders and handlebars. The Elgin motor that is attached to it will be taken off as well, and displayed next to it as the rigging that attaches it to the bicycle is incorrect. It will also need matching tires. I have a suspicion that the pedals are also incorrect.

Does anyone know where I can find replacement parts for this Gull?
 
I have a set of fenders. The handle bars are impossible to find. I think only 3 of the seven Gulls I know of have original Aluminum handlebars.
 
Good morning/afternoon/evening.

We have a 1935 Elgin Gull in the collection, though many of the parts are incorrect - notably the fenders and handlebars. The Elgin motor that is attached to it will be taken off as well, and displayed next to it as the rigging that attaches it to the bicycle is incorrect. It will also need matching tires. I have a suspicion that the pedals are also incorrect.

Does anyone know where I can find replacement parts for this Gull?
The pedals on the BMA bicycle when I last saw it were absolutely positively incorrect. They appear to be modern bowed pedals off of a 1960s Huffy middleweight.

Yes, of course the steel handlebars with bolt-on cross-brace bar are not original. As I have stated elsewhere previously, originals were aluminum. For a short time, Sears indeed did offer replacement steel handlebars since the aluminum originals often broke the first time the kid fell on the Gull (usually broke the ornament off too!). Have only seen one other set of loose aluminum Gull handlebars, long ago on eBay with one end broken off and the seller swearing they were from a Silver King. No idea what happened to them.

The motor I saw installed on this Gull at BMA (and which I recommended many years ago that it be removed) was possible to buy through Sears, but it has no business on an Elgin Gull. It would quickly destroy this frame from vibrations alone.

I noted when I last saw it that the saddle had issues and so did the truss rods and cap nuts.

The tires installed appeared to be heavy-duty prewar Allstate blackwalls when they ought to be regular balloon whitewall Allstates. Tough to find.

There was an aftermarket accessory Delta Road Rowdy horn and headlight installed but no control switch or horn button obvious when I saw it.

I also recall that the "ELGIN" headbadge on the ABM Gull was attached to the head tube with modern DIY pop-rivets. The factory never did such a thing. You will surely want to address this issue while looking for parts.

Original Elgin Gull fenders were delicate aluminum, but several were replaced with stainless.

Here is an image from many years ago at the Oakland Museum (Oakland, California) showing some of my bicycles including my keeper Elgin Gull. The saddle here looks brown, but it is merely dark from lighting and shadows. It is actually bright red.
• Next to it is my prototype aluminum Roadmaster "Skylark" which originally sat on display for many years in the lobby of Roadmaster/AMF Bicycle Division. The Troxel square-nose saddle on it is original and also bright red. Roadmaster electric sign on the wall is mine too. Photo was taken with a Nikon film camera many years ago (long before digital and cell phone cameras) in poor lighting conditions prior to the public opening of the exhibition.
Shelby Speedline Airflow here was partially restored– years before most ever even saw one. Seat was unmolested original. This bicycle also appeared with me in the video interview done in the 1990s by The Outdoor Channel (yes, I have the video on VHS and converted to DVD).
• The Mercury shown here was the bicycle that Murray-Ohio displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair. While black paint on the frame was touched-in a bit (you can't tell) the chrome is all original. The head shroud was never chromed on this particular bicycle, but rather, it was polished. Remember, this is not a normal production model, but was hand built for exhibition. My late friend, Viktor Schreckengost told me so... and he should have known since he designed it.
• The Huffman-built Firestone Fleetwood Super Streamline here was restored in the early 1980s, but had it since the 1970s. It needed little originally, but I made the decision to restore. It was a special model apparently unknown to today's collectors. This Fleetwood was a special stainless steel edition with special stainless fenders, stainless chain guard and more. Originally it had a tiny logo graphic in red script on the seatpost tube. The ONLY one I have ever seen. Painter assured me he could absolutely, positively duplicate the graphic. Of course, when I finally got the frame back it was..."Logo? What logo?" He could not remember the logo at all! Never have seen another. At one time I had piles and piles (no exaggeration) of these Huffman streamlined frames... and many running around the country today were once in that pile.

Leon Dixon
National Bicycle History Archive of America
NBHAA.com

Gull&Skylark copy.jpeg
 
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Do you know of anyone that makes reproduction handlebars? I would prefer that to the rusted steel ones on it now.
One thing I would like to know–officially from the Bicycle Museum of America– is this:
How did the exact same wording and historical description of the Elgin Gull exhibited in the Oakland Museum in 1999 end up on the description sign at Bicycle Museum of America...? All with neither permission to use nor acknowledgement, nor credit given to National Bicycle History Archive of America OR Leon Dixon as the source?

Writing and histories on NBHAA.com and in articles by Leon Dixon are copyrighted intellectual properties and one needs to at least ask permission to use them. At the very least, one needs to post acknowledgement and credit the source of the information when using it. Especially in displays to the public. Read the BMA Gull sign... then go back and read the Gull description at the 1999 Oakland Museum exhibition as shown on NBHAA.com. Why is the text the same, but no credit or acknowledgement given as to where that text came from?

ElginGullFULL copyWM.jpeg
 
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