1942 Shelby Gambles Hiawatha

[Michael Boyd]

Hi All,
In late September , I was looking for a Shelby built Gambles Hiawatha, preferably prewar , with the train badge.
I found one on eBay that was an old restoration , but could tell that several parts were not correct, but the bike had been an older restoration etc , so I took the plunge. One thing I really liked was it had the shock ease system Shelby had and I loved the Hiawatha train badge.
This project isn’t a huge rebuild, more of a correcting what’s wrong and riding and enjoying the heck out of it.
Two people that have helped me immeasurably are Stan Cain and Chris Montoya. As you know, with the exception of the reprint book Scott sells(thank God he does), info on Shelbys is hard to come by.
Thanks to Scott, I was able to get a really nice correct Sprocket/Crank.
Then I put on:
Correct Mesinger Seat and Seat post
No 8 Torington pedals
New correct style grips

I went to our local Gladwin paint shop and had them match the bikes color so I can paint items I intend to add to it shortly:
Rack
Tank
Biscuit headlight

The current fender ornament is not correct and will come off and be replaced by the biscuit headlight after I paint it.
Stay tuned...I love this bike!

 

[rusty.kirkpatrick]

Cool colors, looks good.

 

[BLWNMNY]

Very clean........ Love the green!

 

[Michael Boyd]

Thanks guys, can't take credit for the colors of the bike, but , I agree. As you can see by the first to pictures from the eBay listing, it really didn't show how nice a green it was. Like I said, we have an auto paint place here that can mix colors, take photos etc......and they mixed an exact green for me to paint the rack, light and tank. I'm starting small with the biscuit light.

 

[stezell]

Cool bike, nice color scheme, I noticed you have a Huffman fender ornament on the front fender.
Sean

 

[Michael Boyd]

Thank you, I agree
On the Huffman ornament, it is coming off and, as soon as I paint it, be replaced with a Shelby Biscuit Light.

 

[skiptooth]

Great bike ,great project congrats...

 

[Michael Boyd]

Thank you!