Military Torrington bars?

[Robertriley]

I purchased a bike with a very old restoration job and the handlebars were painted black and did not look right on the bike. I replaced the handlebars with a nice set of nickel plated cross brace bars. I was stripping a bike for a friend and decided to strip the black bars to see what the Chrome look like underneath. To my surprise, they were a camouflage green and look like military torrington's. I'm assuming they are what I think they are in World War II. Please add your two cents.

 

[Robertriley]

...

 

[johan willaert]

Yes, typical WW2 era US Army military bicycle handlebars...

 

[Mercian]

Hi Chris,

being Torrington, that 'Box' style with no chrome, the red undercoat and the green paint, yes, military.

Pity they didn't have the military grips still attached to them (or, for that matter, the rest of the military bike!).

Below, the (courtesy Craig Johnson) a lable from the original packaging, and some 'NOS' bars. Interesting that although the Torrington bars were the same for both Columbia and Huffman, they do specify which bike they are for.

Best Regards,

Adrian

 

[catfish]

There are a lot of these bars around. I bought a box full of these years ago. They were NOS war surplus.

 

[Krakatoa]

Nice job with the stripper Chris!

These og olive drab torrington bars are a best buy if you are looking for a paperboy heavy duty style bar. They are not for every bike but work well for cycletruck, service/delivery bikes, and obviously are correct for G519 bikes. Torrington made a few more than neccesary!

N

 

[Mercian]

I'm guessing (and it is a guess), that the large number of spare bars came about as a result of a cancelled order.

Since the bars were being made by Torrington, they would have to have been ordered in in advance of producing the bicycles. If an order for the bikes was subsequently cancelled (there was a lot of this towards the end of the war), then there may have been piles of bars, with no bikes to fit them to.

Best Regards,

Adrian

 

[MrColumbia]

Memeory Lane still sells them for $10 each. The have had them for years.