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Colson Tandem questions

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ratfink1962

Finally riding a big boys bike
Hi all, I recently bought a Colson rear steer tandem, It is in riding condition but I am looking to refurbish it. Take a look at the pics and hopefully someone here can give me the rundown on it as far as what parts are correct and what isnt.

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So as you can see from the pics, I am missing the chainguards, the headbadge, the front pedals are wrong, the front seat is wrong, the rear seat is a woman's, not sure on the fenders?... Ive seen these bikes with the peaked versions and the rounded version. anything else??

On that rear seat... It sure looks like a woman's seat to me, any ideas if its a Troxel? I will be looking for a matching Men's seat.

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I am starting to gather parts for it, so if anyone has any leads... let me know!

thanks!!!
 
It needs the Gothic peaked fenders,mens seat,headlight,chainguards,grips.drop kickstand.You should have ladies bars and seat on front and mens bar and seat on back.I am not sure if your truss bars are correct.nice find and fun ride.will be a great project.heres a pic of mine .It will give you an idea. its not 100% but it will give you an idea how it should look.Good luck and enjoy!The old pic on the bottom shows
the truss bars do not extend as far out as yours.
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I have an original equipped original paint one. Post a couple of good pictures of the front seat and I'll compare it to mine. From what I see it looks correct to me. Rear seat should be mens version of the front. Front pedals should also be womens.
 
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From what Ive seen (catalog page) it said that the saddles should be Troxel. The front saddle is a Persons so Im pretty sure its wrong. Here's a pic....

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I believe the rear saddle (long spring) is a ladies saddle and more than likely Ill be using it for the front position, and then looking for a matching men's to install in the rear position.

The pedals... The rear set appear to be torrington, not sure what # they are? but the front pedals are Wald. I think the catalog said its supposed to have Torrington #8 and #9.

Thanks a bunch for the help!
 
Your front seat is correct.. I have an original paint bike with a few pics on hear. Don't be afraid to use the search button as there is some great info on the bikes on this site.

I believe his truss rods are correct for the bike... Do you know the year? If not you can flip it over and check the serial number.. The h9 or f8 code Is the month a d date.. Ie h9 would be aug of 39 and f8 would be June of 38...
 
Thanks for the help! I have done some searching, and will continue to search till I get it all figured out.

Not to be arguemenative but... On that front seat, it says right on it that its a Persons, according to this catalog page, the saddles should be Troxel ?
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So mostly I was wondering if the rear seat is a Troxel? if it is I will use it for the front position and in the meantime I will be searching for a matching men's to use for the rear position.

And thanks for the date code explanation, I will try to get the date figured out here in the next couple of days.
 
I went out to my back garage and snapped these pictures. They're kinda crappy because of poor lighting plus the bike is up on a shelf and it's way to heavy to take down.
The seats are matching his & hers stamped leather Troxels. I snapped a couple of the chainguards since yours are missing. You can see the front has girls pedals to match the boys on the rear. I had forgotten it's badged as a Firestone until I snapped the picture.

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Front Seat

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Rear Seat

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Z.... Thanks for the pics!

So that would make both of my saddles wrong, lol

I do believe my truss rods are correct, maybe they made a couple different versions since mine appear to be different?

If anyone has those chain guards for sale... let me know!
 
Your trusses could be correct

What you can do is post the serial numbers, the long number plus the two digits underneath the serial number if any to tell what year it is. The number should be under one of the crank cases. If it has an F along with the serial number it would make sense with the badge being a Firestone Colson made bike. And there also could be an F beneath the head plate as well. Then by knowing what year and brand it was intended for you can go from they’re what should be correct for the bike if it matters. My guess is your tandem bike could be a 1940 with original older Colson characteristics under the Firestone name. Colson used petite gothic peaked fenders in 38-39 and low end 1940 models did as well right off the assembly line but again the bike is badged Firestone so who knows It could of come with round fenders.

Have you noticed the longer then normal seat post mass extending past the top before the seat post itself. It appears your tandem has a 20" frame seat mast size option rather then an 18' 1/2 as most boys’ bikes did that were only in years 38-39 with that particular frame style. You don't see that often.


Cool bike! I wish I had a tandem.
 
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