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Help dating a monark built firestone.

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ZE52414

Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
I went and looked at a firestone super cruiser today and need a little assistance. The serial number is stamped on the bottom bracket and not on a plate.

# 9A267A 3650042

I was a little baffled cause the tires were MW firestone tires. And it had a train light on the front fender. I guess my real question is did they make middleweight bikes using the train light and the dual shock springer?


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Are you inferring that this is a middleweight?

Or is it rolling on 26x1.75?

In the mid 50's, all Monark bicycles started coming with 1.75's.

I think 55, but I don't have my books with me at work.
 
Are you inferring that this is a middleweight?

Or is it rolling on 26x1.75?

In the mid 50's, all Monark bicycles started coming with 1.75's.

I think 55, but I don't have my books with me at work.
It has 1.75s on it. I didn’t know if that was correct? I figured it would be a ballooner.

Thank you!
 
Does it have one of the fork stops just behind the headtube? I thought somewhere I read that was a 53 or 54 item. I have a frame with one of those fork stops but no serial number plate.
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They absolutely made middleweights with train lights. I had a Monark Coupe de Ville. It was a middleweight and difficult to ride balloon tires. I will see if I can find a pic.
 
I had a Monark "Cycle King" that I believe was a '54 model, with the knee action springer.
It had 26x1.75 tires when I bought it. Never did find out if that was correct or not, but always assumed it would have been equipped with balloon tires originally.
Maybe they did come equipped with middleweight tires? Maybe someone replaced the original tires with MW tires?
Mine looked like balloon tires would fit but I never tried to see if they would.

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I had a Monark "Cycle King" that I believe was a '54 model, with the knee action springer.
It had 26x1.75 tires when I bought it. Never did find out if that was correct or not, but always assumed it would have been equipped with balloon tires originally.
Maybe they did come equipped with middleweight tires? Maybe someone replaced the original tires with MW tires?
Mine looked like balloon tires would fit but I never tried to see if they would.

View attachment 942082
View attachment 942083
I think I’m seeing a pattern here but maybe not. If you look at the front fender, I’m guessing the middleweight bikes had the short tip. Meaning the distance from the tip to the train light was a lot shorter than the balloon tire models. ??? Maybe. I’m going to go with the one I posted about is most likely OG. I mean they are Firestone tires. Just wasn’t sure if they made middleweights with a train light.

I always assumed the double spring fork were on the early postwar bikes. And the fork above on the coupe deville were later. Beautiful bike btw!
 
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