A Proud New Ballooner Owner-- A Pre-War (Maybe?) Hawthorne

[soddruntlestuntle]

BTW, if anyone has any Carlisle Roadgrippers like this one they'd care to sell or trade for, do let me know, as I'd really like to keep some vintage rubber on this thing if at all possible (and I will put a posting up in the wanted section, too), and I really dig these tires.

 

[piercer_99]

So would the three slightly smaller digits above be the serial number? I’m already missing the nice, neat, rear drop-out stamping of a post-war Schwinn.

most likely a model number.

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

most likely a model number.

This morning I was actually able to decode the hieroglyphics, and the three smaller characters spelled out ‘SAC’.

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

Couldn’t wait to mess with the S2 rims that came with the bike, so I slapped the wheelset from my ‘46 Schwinn DX on Thorny this morning to see how it looked and rode. Nice on both fronts, though I discovered the front hub on THIS set is due for a rebuild as well…

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

So, is there any way to accurately determine the model and age of this without the serial number? Any details that might make it unique and identifiable?

 

[tech549]

here is an original v-70 rollfast .yours looks like a lot of parts were swapped out.

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

here is an original v-70 rollfast .yours looks like a lot of parts were swapped out.

View attachment 1842405

Ye gods, they look like two totally different bikes. So mine would have originally come with a tank?

 

[tech549]

hard to say if it came with a tank,have not seen a hawthorne with this frame before.
fenders look post war,missing truss rods.

 

[catfish]

Great bike. These make great riders.

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

Great bike. These make great riders.

Thanks, I'm extremely happy so far!