Columbia Twin Bar- Barn Find

[Re-Cyclist]

Thought you all might enjoy my recent barn find. Have not yet researched the year but was told it could be a 36. I'll be looking for the tank, headlight, speedometer glass, and new grips. Anyone out there have any of this stuff for sale?

 

[militarymonark]

i've actually never seen one. looks rare

 

[partsguy]

OH MY GOSH! My jaw just hit the fricking floor when I pulled up that picture! There are all kinds of those headlights out there, but I don't think it ever had a tank (but I've been wrong before). Those Columbia dashboards (if original) can be easily worth hundreds of dollars. For a proper year identification, go to www.oldroads.com and there you will find a serial number chart for Columbias.

 

[Re-Cyclist]

I believe the entire bike is original, including the dashboard. I'm really not sure that it had a tank either. As I understand some models came with a tank and others did not but I'm not sure how to tell. The bike was one-family owned since new.

 

[bud poe]

Wow, I found one of those once, not nearly as complete as yours...From what I gather an incredibly rare bike. You could try looking for any markings on the top tube where tank brackets might have been if there was one. Mine dated to 1936 and the frame looked identical to yours from what I can see. If your fenders are aluminum, they are incredibly rare as well as the light and rack. Really cool bike, what a great find! How much did you have to shell out for her?

 

[Oldbikes]

GREAT score! Congrats!

 

[old hotrod]

Very cool, I love it...and want it...

 

[MrColumbia]

I believe it has to be a 1938. This is the only year that had the combination you have of the cheesegrater chainguard, the style luggage rack and the painted dash. Here is a scan from the 1938 catalog. I do not find a model with the dash that does not have the tank but anything is possible.

 

[MrColumbia]

I noticed that Ed P. (catfish) had one of those horn-lights at Dudley last week. He may still have it.
The correct grips are the same style as the ones Columbia had reproduced for the 41 repop. The difference is the material they were made of is more spungy that the originals. I have a pair of the repops for $20 if interested. I also have a pair of originals but one of the grips was broken and glued together. They became brittle with age but display ok. I could let you have those for the same price.

 

[Re-Cyclist]

Wow, I found one of those once, not nearly as complete as yours...From what I gather an incredibly rare bike. You could try looking for any markings on the top tube where tank brackets might have been if there was one. Mine dated to 1936 and the frame looked identical to yours from what I can see. If your fenders are aluminum, they are incredibly rare as well as the light and rack. Really cool bike, what a great find! How much did you have to shell out for her?

Thanks for the tips. I did not see any obvious markings where the tank would have been mounted, and yes, the fenders are aluminum with a green pinstripe. I paid $300.00