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Bicycle oddities and factory mistakes

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Drosentreter

I live for the CABE
Let’s see your bicycle oddities/factory mistakes. The stuff that you just don’t see because it is super uncommon, but is just plain cool. That factory worker that took a cat nap as a few frames went by, the one frame that missed the silver base coat etc. Think printing mistakes in currency, but on bikes. For example if @phantom could post up his upside down serial on his red Schwinn that’s what I’m talking about. I don’t have any to share but I want to see what you’ve all got.
 
Here is a very similar thread
Thanks Shawn! Didn’t see that. I suppose I can ask the mods to delete this one now!

Edit: due to some unforeseen interest in the thread I have chosen to leave it alone. Post em up!
 
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Upside-down serial number...1980 Schwinn Cruiser, build date on my 10th Birthday!

1728112


1728113


1728114
 
Great idea for a thread!

No photo, but an '84 Schwinn Sierra I once owned had a headbage that was riveted on way off center.

My '71 Suburban's rear wheel has spokes that cross at the valve stem. Hard to say if it's a factory mistake or a new rim was laced to the old hub and the mechanic made a mistake. The rear rim is an S-6 and hub date code is "1 71" which matches the Jan '71 serial (AG) serial #. You can just about see the crossed spokes in the photo below that I received from the seller. The seller was the original owner and insisted that everything was original to the bike, except for the tires.

00g0g_6nfd0n7qAEmz_0CI0t2_1200x900.jpg
 
This one sucks: a cottered crank spindle where the flats were not 180 degrees opposite. The result was that one crank was always a few degrees off opposite from the other. Result:

20171105_104809.jpg


It's not uncommon that you reassemble the bike and the cranks aren't perfectly opposite. Usually the result is a pin inserted incorrectly, or a worn pin, or just that you have to reset the crank on the spindle and try again. I went through this process several times and spent several evenings trying to get the cranks to line up. In fact, it looks a lot like the old "pins oriented the wrong way" problem... but it isn't that.

You reach the point that you're saying, "I've been pulling apart cottered cranks for 15 or 20 years, and I still don't know what the hell is wrong with this thing...".

I gave up and pulled everything apart to start over. I decided to check the spindle - flats not opposite from the factory. It was an otherwise great condition part that was apparently ridden this way for years. New spindle added and the problem went away.
 
Here is a very similar thread
Never saw that one but I saw this one keep it !
 
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