Cycle Truck ?s

[frankenbike]

I am looking at purchasing two cycle trucks owned by the same person the last thirty five years and I can't seem to find much info.
#1 prewar with blacked out chainwheel, bars, stem, fender braces, hubs, crank, pedals, and basket. No chainguard and no wood at the basket bottom. He says it was this way when he bought it.
Question: is this a government issue bike? If not, what's it worth (been restored & painted red to match the original color) and what does it need to be put back to original?
#2 december 1965 yellow paint and the bike is very nice with chrome wheels, bars, stem, etc.
Question: what is the last year multiple colors were available? I know that sometime in the sixties only red was available until they stopped producing them.
I will probably have more ??? but let's start here. Thanks, Gary.

 

[Roger Henning]

The black out would indicate a war bike not prewar. I once asked a similar question to Richard Schwinn about cycle truck colors and he said in the 1960s there were listed colors but it wasn't unusual for group buys to get special colors. For instance if you were a newspaper and going to buy 10 bikes you could probably get the color of your choice. Some dealers also offered this service. Roger

 

[Freqman1]

Gary you need to post pics. V/r Shawn

 

[REC]

A picture is worth at least a couple of words.... Show us what you're looking at.
REC

 

[frankenbike]

 

[Roger Henning]

Looks like a War bike to me which makes made 1942 to 1945 about. Roger

 

[Euphman06]

Thats a mighty fine war era machine there.... looks like a real quality resto as well

 

[OhioJones]

Ver

View attachment 1039434

Very nice.
Are those Wald pedals minus the wooden blocks? The stem makes me wonder if it isn't closer to the end of the war. I have a 43 and the razor stem was still used. Like the basket. See it has the attachment for the lid. Whether it actually came with a lid or not I'm not sure. Nice bike overall. Would love to see more photos.

P.S. The feather chainguard(prewar version) aren't to bad to locate. REC can probably tell you the exact size of the board that would've been beneath your basket.

 

[frankenbike]

The pedals appear to be all steel similar to early mountain bike pedals,(all weather). The owner says he never had a lid for the basket. I will post the serial no. as soon as I get it. The question remains, what is the range of value of the bike (opinions welcome)? On the '65 I have a good idea of price but I have not found any sale history on the war bike. If/when I can make a deal I will probably buy both. Thanks, Gary.