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Is There A Prewar Colson Cushioner Assembly Diagram Out There?

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My postwar fork (51) has the same as many 41 forks I've seen.
View attachment 1803675

I've seen other examples but there doesn't seem to be any rational on when they may have changed. It's possible the others could be homemade/custom as they look rough or more generic.

Best catalog pic I've found for comparison:
View attachment 1803687

More examples:
View attachment 1803667

View attachment 1803670


I've also seen these:
View attachment 1803668

And these:
View attachment 1803669
My experience with these is limited but I've only seen the ones that really look like dog bones on the post war forks.
 
I think kinda like Murry/JCH & Snyder/Rollfast springer they made alot of changes/improvements over the years.
 
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My guess is that they used up the prewar inventory on the post war bikes, before switching to the dogbone style rockers.

The dogbone style rockers should also have a different truss bar setrup going up to the torsion spring...
 
My postwar fork (51) has the same as many 41 forks I've seen.
View attachment 1803675

I've seen other examples but there doesn't seem to be any rational on when they may have changed. It's possible the others could be homemade/custom as they look rough or more generic.

Best catalog pic I've found for comparison:
View attachment 1803687

More examples:
View attachment 1803667

View attachment 1803670


I've also seen these:
View attachment 1803668

And these:
View attachment 1803669
You should know that Evans-Colson 1st series "Evanaction" forks and parts are not all directly interchangeable with Colson "Cushioner" forks– despite what may seem that way. And there are other differences.

Many of these issues are resolved by studying the Colson and Evans-Colson parts books.

Leon Dixon
National Bicycle History Archive of America
(NBHAA.com)
 
Photo courtesy Nostalgic Dave. Definitely different than prewar Cushioneer forks. I guess same principle. Where does one find a Colson parts book to study the differences? The Cabe and Google offered no such information in my perusal. Perhaps my wording was erroneous.

7EC44164-CB06-40A6-856A-1799193EA0C7.png
 
I guess that Evans supposedly may have had two (or more?) Evanactions.
Yes... they most certainly did.

Of course we have several NOS Evans-Colson bicycles, saved for many, many years now. I even have a NOS Evans-Colson with "Evanair" tires! Never ridden. I was also the first to collect Evans-Colson Firebird bicycles and had a collection of them that were stolen 22 years ago when I was robbed. My NOS Evans-Colson Olympic was exhibited in 1999-2000 at the Oakland Museum, Oakland, California. You can still see it on the museum tour on NBHAA.com.

I got to know people at Evans Products Company when they were still in business in Plymouth, Michigan and Coos Bay, Oregon. Visited both places and the big plant where they made bicycles in Michigan...WHILE they were making these bicycles. Evans sent me many of their files and 8 x 10 glossy photos from the factory.

I also met Detroit's Sagebrush Shorty TV personality in the 1950s and have his theme song vinyl record in mint condition. Sagebrush was a spokesperson for Evans-Colson and did their commercials on his TV show. Yes. He was later a Schwinn spokesman.

If you read the first and original newsletter for the hobby many years ago before there was an internet it would have been Classic Bicycle & Whizzer News. In issue #25 you may have even read the history on Evans-Colson Firebird and saw the original ticket for a Schaefer's Bread auction for a brand new Evans-Colson 1955 Firebird (see attachments for cover). That auction took place at Detroit's old Edgewater Amusement Park which no longer exists.

National Bicycle History Archive of America has prewar and postwar Colson parts books, dealerbooks, advertisements and sales brochures for nearly every year. We also have corporate files and catalogues for everything they made, from wheelchairs to casters to bicycles and tricycles. Likewise we have the parts books, dealerbooks, advertisements, sales brochures and point-of-purchase items for Evans-Colson right up to the end of production. Yes.

Colson experts in all these years the hobby has existed still don't have this stuff? CABE and Google don't have the info you want? Wellllll? It is tough to find. Of course, everything about everything can't possibly be posted online. However in the meantime, attaching some Colson and Evans-Colson images for your enjoyment. Note the patent image for the second major version of the Evanaction spring fork. The last image shows two original Evans Products employee ID badges from the original Evans-Colson bicycle plant.

Leon Dixon
National Bicycle History Archive of America
NBHAA.com

ColsonIDbadge1.jpeg


ColsonPackardBicyclesAtFactoryWM.jpeg


ColsonFactoryInvoiceWM.jpeg


EvanactionPatentWM.jpeg


Evans-ColsonPromo.jpg


EvansProtosFactPix2WM.jpeg


E-CmatchesPromoCase.JPG


EvansIDBadges2WM.jpg


CBWN25 copyWM.jpeg
 
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