33 Colson

[SKPC]

I learned a lot about this bike knowing nothing at first. Found with no badge, wrong crankset, different stem, missing grip, cheap pedals, no rack, and different stand.
Without a badge you can't say with certainty how the bike began life, but based on the serial number and some digging, I think the Frame/fork/wheelset/seat/tank/bars & fenders were original to this bike, but still can't be certain. Thanks for the great AD above for reference RCYD...

 

[GTV]

I really like what you’ve done with this. It’s got me on the hunt for a similar project.

 

[rickyd]

Technique for grinding and polishing hub?

 

[SKPC]

Yea, I took both hub shells to a machinist...He put them in the lathe chuck and ran the lathe while also running/using a dremel tool with a small, round stone that closely matched the bearing race radius in the hub shells. As the lathe ran, the dremel with bit was carefully run on the old pitted surfaces until the pits were out. He then polished the cleaned-up race with 600 grade paper afterwards to finish. Worked very nicely.

 

[Joseph FINN]

Nice job cleaning up rims !!

Working on the original(?) wheels now...... Laced up the 84 yr-old front hub and steel rim yesterday, and this was not an easy true job. I 1st cold-formed the unlaced rim on a flat surface as well as laying it onto a "true" 26" wheel to see where it was bent or dented. I ended up getting it done, but this is not for the faint-of-heart to re-lace and true a rim like this. I did manage to re-surface the hub bearing surfaces to smooth, and got it pretty dead-straight running. I am still LOOKING FOR axle/cones/bearings that are straight and undamaged. The ND port-less rear hub and rim are next...
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Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

 

[SKPC]

 

[Balloonoob]

@SKPC may as well show off the end result on this thread... y'know for documentation purposes. . I'm sure it's well ridden these days. Did the wheels / saddle get finished up? Single speed? Anything you still want to do?

 

[SKPC]

I can do that @Balloonoob, thanks for asking, it has been a journey. I got stuck on finding front hub cones for the OG wheelset, so I ended up using loose larger bearings and not-correct cones on the front hub in order to try to get the wheels back onto the bike. Worked great. Yesterday, I went to a welder and had him repair-weld a few key small things on it that were making creaking and snapping noises when I last road it a few days ago. The steer tube on this fork is a flat sheet of metal that is then bent into a tube shape and pressed into the crown then brazed. The wedge bolt for the stem was disforming it, pushing the butt joint seam apart, so the stem was never snug. When riding it, it was driving me crazy as the stem was rotating all the time in the steer tube. I had the steer tube tack welded along the butted seam to stop it from deforming. He also welded the cracks that were beginning to appear at the bottom of the stem at the end of the wedge slot. The temporary crossbar that I made from a loose truss rod also was lightly tack-welded into the bar slots on the bottom as this was making noise as well. It can easily be cut out if I(or someone else) can find a matching crusty crossbar to replace it with. The bike now runs dead quiet...
Last year in order to ride it I built this wheelset custom for the bike. Sachs 3-coaster and DT 350 front qr. They really were nice on the bike and quite BA, but at the end of the day, after I figured out the front hub bearings and cones on the original wheelset, so back on they went and it now gets even closer to "done".

The wheelset is really rare. Fenders nearly dent free. I believe (I have been wrong before) that this is the earliest 26" Colson ballooner this complete and OG that exists. I would love to see an earlier one, but maybe not.

The story behind how I came across this bike is very strange so I have to share it. Chris, @bikewhorder came to visit the Cali cartel in 2018 to conspire with Marty and friends, and I was out riding and randomly met him and T-3 on my Hawthorne. The next morning, I emailed him some contact data before I went out for a ride. Literally 10 minutes later, I was out in front adjusting something on my Elgin tanker, and two latino dudes pull up in a restored Buick and asked me if I wanted to buy a bike they had...I brushed them off thinking nothing of it, but they insisted that I see it. They happened to live two blocks away, so I followed the Buick over to their house and they pulled this out of the garage...

I really like motos, so I tried to hide my enthusiasm, but it was hard to do so...Long story short, we cut a deal on it later that day. I am sure that somehow in our synchonistic world, Chris had something to do with it showing up literally on my doorstep. Don't ask why. No-one knows. Just go with it. So here it is almost done from my latest ride on it...

It has been a labor of love on this moto....it really has. As it sits, it only needs a stand, correct straight 6.5" crank, perhaps some colson moto pedals and a crusty crossbar but this is the easy part. I do have the original beat up seat mat'l remnants and the short 3/4" seatpost. Perhaps a "collector" some day or even I will find them but for now it's on the road again...thanks Chris..
Oh, and I am thinking of letting it go in order to thin the herd as they say. I need to follow up on this later....Back to Utah soon...

 

[Balloonoob]

I can do that @Balloonoob, thanks for asking, it has been a journey. I got stuck on finding front hub cones for the OG wheelset, so I ended up using loose larger bearings and not-correct cones on the front hub in order to try to get the wheels back onto the bike. Worked great. Yesterday, I went to a welder and had him repair-weld a few key small things on it that were making creaking and snapping noises when I last road it a few days ago. The steer tube on this fork is a flat sheet of metal that is then bent into a tube shape and pressed into the crown then brazed. The wedge bolt for the stem was disforming it, pushing the butt joint seam apart, so the stem was never snug. When riding it, it was driving me crazy as the stem was rotating all the time in the steer tube. I had the steer tube tack welded along the join along the butted seam to stop it from deforming. He also welded the cracks that were beginning to appear at the bottom of the stem at the end of the wedge slot. The temporary crossbar that I made from a loose truss rod also was lightly tack-welded into the bar slots on the bottom as this was making noise as well. It can easily be cut out if I(or someone else) can find a matching crusty crossbar to replace it with. The bike now runs dead quiet...
Last year in order to ride it I built this wheelset custom for the bike. Sachs 3-coaster and DT 350 front qr. They really were nice on the bike and quite BA, but at the end of the day, after I figured out the front hub bearings and cones on the original wheelset, so back on they went and it now gets even closer to "done".
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The wheelset is really rare. Fenders nearly dent free. I believe (I have been wrong before) that this is the earliest 26" Colson ballooner this complete and OG that exists. I would love to see an earlier one, but maybe not.
View attachment 1095801
The story behind how I came across this bike is very strange so I have to share it. Chris, @bikewhorder came to visit the Cali cartel in 2018 to conspire with Marty and friends, and I was out riding and randomly met him and T-3 on my Hawthorne. The next morning, I emailed him some contact data before I went out for a ride. Literally 10 minutes later, I was out in front adjusting something on my Elgin tanker, and two latino dudes pull up in a restored Buick and asked me if I wanted to buy a bike they had...I brushed them off thinking nothing of it, but they insisted that I see it. They happened to live two blocks away, so I followed the Buick over to their house and they pulled this out of the garage...
View attachment 1095795
I really like motos, so I tried to hide my enthusiasm, but it was hard to do so...Long story short, we cut a deal on it later that day. I am sure that somehow in our synchonistic world, Chris had something to do with it showing up literally on my doorstep. Don't ask why. No-one knows. Just go with it. So here it is almost done from my latest ride on it...
View attachment 1095797
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It has been a labor of love on this moto....it really has. As it sits, it only needs a stand, correct straight 6.5" crank, perhaps some colson moto pedals and a crusty crossbar but this is the easy part. I do have the original beat up seat mat'l remnants and the short 3/4" seatpost. Perhaps a "collector" some day or even I will find them but for now it's on the road again...thanks Chris..
Oh, and I am thinking of letting it go in order to thin the herd as they say. I need to follow up on this later....Back to Utah soon...
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Oh wow - I didn't realize it was still being worked on. Thanks for the update. Glad you got the wheels working and the fork/stem situation worked out. Crazy story on how you got it the bike.
You probably oughta ride it for a little while now.