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39 Shelby Flyer

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Nice to know there are still gems like this lurking in the shadows! Before you restore you might want to try and see how clean you can get it. If there are no time restraints on the restore that is. By the looks of it this bike could be mighty prrrty with a little cleaning. Still gonna be a wonderful bike for the owner one way or the other! It feels good that he was willing to come here and share just one more of the many pictures that are posted here on the Cabe. :cool:
 
Restore or not to restore. Age old delema.

Not restored.....cool old bike
Restored.....WOW cool old bike
sadly I think you have it backwards, should be:

Not restored.....WOW!!!!cool old bike
Restored.....cool old bike.

these don't come along very often and there is a responsibility to posterity to keep the good originals for future generations. I don't care how good you are, you will never be able to get back the subtleties of the original. it will be too expensive to do and so corners will be cut, sacrifices will be made, no one will notice will become your motto when you can't find or afford show quality originals. my advice would be, if it must be, leave it in the basement for another time and eventually it will be allowed to be out in the world in all it's original brilliance. there is a reason King Tut is still in his tomb and not restored in a museum. which is more nostalgic for the family, being able to touch the actual grips, peddles, tires, etc that Grandpa actually touched, or new ones some guy put on a newly painted bike that really has little to do with Grandpa? I realize you are going to restore it anyway even after just about everyone in the bike hobby is yelling please don't but I thought I'd not be silent. old bikes are not old cars nor old motorcycles. bikes were owned by kids and almost always neglected into oblivion so there are very few stunning originals whereas cars are the domain of adults who tend to take care of nice things. give one of the collectors here that bike and they will respect the kid, who is now an old man, who had this fabulous bike so much more than his family will with a newly restored bike. John has one of these which has been newly painted which I dare say he would probably trade you and save you the trouble. now go back and explain to them why they should not restore this bike and explain to them that what they have is doubly special in that it is one of the only originals in this condition and secondly that it was owned and ridden by someone they love!
Scott:cool:
 
Rob.....old NOS tires are hard to find and usually expensive. I'm not sure what brand was original on Shelbys. New repop tires with the Goodyear style tread are plentiful and most bike shops stock them and tubes (26x2.125 size).

The spokes are just standard cad plated 14 ga. 10 5/8" (270mm) for a four cross lacing pattern. Some people prefer stainless but they are more expensive.

I don't know of any paint codes. It would probably be easier to have a paint shop color match to a part of the bike that is hidden and not faded.

I think (not positive) all Airflows had pointed grips, not coke bottles. Memory Lane Classics has them in stock.

The pedals are unique and very expensive if you can find them. Best bet is to restore the old ones and replace the rubber blocks (also check MLC).

Hope this helps,
John
 
I have a very nice set of Goodyear G-3 blackwalls. They aren't NOS, but are still supple and are not cracked/checked. Send me a PM if you are interested.

There are reproduction teardrop pedals available at memory lane.I don't know if they are correct for the bike, but I have a pair and they are nice reproductions.
 
I know there are too many opinions to go around already, but some things to consider:
Think of it as an investment, not just a project(because of it's rarity).
Re-chrome anything(if the surface is broken, polish is a band-aid) that can be, instead of paying for a repro anything.
The value will go down substantially(be sure the owner knows this) if you decide to repaint it. Try having an automotive paint shop mix a matching bit of paint to do little touch-ups. A polishing wax will work wonders to bring out the original luster. Ask anyone- patina beats new high gloss every time.
If you do repaint it, trace every dart and stripe, to keep it as true to original scheme as possible.
NOS rubber is easy to get- grips, pedal blocks, etc. Again, do it right.
Anything you decide to just replace, make sure you save the old stuff- it will add to the value down the road, even if it's in a box, not on the bike.
Get a set of NOS Torrington double-butted spokes. Save and use the old long nipples.
Re-Cad plate the fender braces.
Be proud that you had a hand in bringing back a part of balloon tire biking history that most people have only seen in pictures.:)
 
Thanks for your comments.

Scott ,

I'll take what you have to say as food for thought and pass it on to the owner Frank. I'll give the bike a good cleaning and we'll see what he says about it. It is his bike. If he wants to flash back to his memorys when it was new by see it new again and seeing it new day after day it is his deal.

As for the level of restoration. You don't know my capabilites so I'll try not to be insulted. Based on the type of motorcycles I do my motorcycles are ranked up there as the best in the world. So I am confident that if anyone can do it right I can.

I appreciate everyones help on the parts info. Thank you.

Everyone seems to be implying this bike is the niceset original they have ever seen.
Is this bike that rare?
How many were made?
How many exist today? Estimate?

Rob
 
Rob
It is pretty rare, but it is also very desirable in its own right. One of the bikes that take my breath away, just looking at pictures. If you haven't seen the handlebars on E-bay, there is a set of bars for sale like your freinds' and they are $175 this is by no means a way to calculate a value, but it is a telling example of the the bikes worth.
I wanted to thank you for posting it. It has sparked an extremely entertaining and informative debate/dialogue, let us know how it goes!!
Shane

P.s> unlike some of the Braniacs here my two cents is only worth two cents. These guys however, are the vintage bike experts their advice is just as valuable as that bike of your friends.
 
a better idea of value is that tanks go for thousands of dollars. there was no intent to insult and i don't think your abilities have anything to do with it, if you are that good then you realize that there are things that happen at the factory that us collectors would love to see and once redone they are gone. usually the paint jobs on bikes are crappy at best, crooked darts, sloppy pin stripes, etc. these things are hard to justify during restoration, the tendency is to correct poor workmanship and even if you don't correct things, getting crappy stuff correct is harder than getting nicely done stuff right. recently the market has been poor but these used to go for nearing $10,000.00 for a really nice one. and someone else has mentioned that if you paint it you cut the value in half no matter how nice you do it. this is not the most rare or valuable bike, nor is it in the best shape known, but it is near the top of the old bike hobby as far as desirability goes, and will only be original once. I'm not an expert on Shelby bikes but would hazzard a guess that there are probably around a dozen or so of these known, less in original paint.
Scott:cool:
 
Shelby

I had one once that someone found laying in the weeds on a farmstead. The handlebars were rusted into three pieces and the tank had holes rusted through. It brought $1700 as is.
 
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