Monark Built TANKLESS 5bar thread(Hawthorne Twin)

[fordmike65]

Guess I forgot to post this lil lady. Badged as a Monark....but spec'd just like the HTB. Chrome wheels, loooooong fender darts, holey guard(used on ladies HTBs), long spring Troxel and paint scheme matched fender light. My suspicion is that this bike was built right about the time MW cut ties with Monark. It was then re-badged as an inhouse Monark. Just a theory...


This is what she currently looks like. The boys dual position crossbars/stem had already been sold(Who would part this beauty out!!!???), so I picked up what was left & swapped in a set of bars & stem I had lying around.

Before pics.

 

[pkleppert]

Any chance you could help me date this one? These things are hidden SilverKings with a Hawthorne badge and a steel frame.

 

[fordmike65]

Any chance you could help me date this one? These things are hidden SilverKings with a Hawthorne badge and a steel frame.

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I posted this bike a while ago. Did you end up with it? Most likely a late '37 to mid '38 going by the info we've gathered.

 

[pkleppert]

I posted this bike a while ago. Did you end up with it? Most likely a late '37 to mid '38 going by the info we've gathered.

Yep!

 

[Krakatoa]

Yep!

Nice rare find! I can help with that fork alignment if you need it!

 

[cyclingday]

Really psyched to finally have gotten one of these to study up close. It's as cool as it looks or cooler than in the HTB ad copy. I wish I could report it as a find but it was a DOND and I did pay up but luckily it was not a bloodbath lol. Glad to keep the seat and it's proceeds circulating in New England! Big thanks to Paul @tech549

I do have someone in mind to have re make the top but I'm not sure what their availability/workload/inclination is just yet. Not sure on the condition of the inner pan as well so that's another potential issue. I don't know if there is a suitable oil cloth type material still available so that is a major consideration. It would almost seem as if if you were going to go through the trouble to recover it you would do it in leather but I don't know the answer if this saddle was offered in oil cloth and leather or just oil cloth and for that matter how long the saddle was produced for. It also looks like a real challenge to recreate the rear section. The pan does not continue under and support the rear overhang which must have been stiffened with an (unknown material) back in the day. Plenty of issues to overcome before this saddle rides again! It's not going to be easy nor cheap but well worth doing right.

I seem to remember seeing some literature about these Streamlined Troxel’s being available in leather as well as the oil cloth.
I just can’t remember ever seeing a leather top on a Hawthorne Twin Bar.
All of the as found bikes in this thread, had the oil cloth top, which fared about as well as the bikes themselves.
Totally thrashed!
Lol!

 

[Krakatoa]

That is something I've been asking myself recently as well, whether a leather version was also made. I wouldn't think the saddle was produced for very long, otherwise it might show up more often. Does anybody recall other bikes that came with this saddle? It'd be interesting to see if you could find that old ad copy Marty. Don't you have a really nice original on your htb?

 

[fordmike65]

I seem to remember seeing some literature about these Streamlined Troxel’s being available in leather as well as the oil cloth.
I just can’t remember ever seeing a leather top on a Hawthorne Twin Bar.
All of the as found bikes in this thread, had the oil cloth top, which fared about as well as the bikes themselves.
Totally thrashed!
Lol!

Like I told you recently. These poor underappreciated bikes really are the red-headed step child of the vintage bicycle hobby.

 

[cyclingday]

That is something I've been asking myself recently as well, whether a leather version was also made. I wouldn't think the saddle was produced for very long, otherwise it might show up more often. Does anybody recall other bikes that came with this saddle? It'd be interesting to see if you could find that old ad copy Marty. Don't you have a really nice original on your htb?

I probably saw the advertisement in an American Bicyclists magazine.
I’ll thumb through them to see if I can find it.
Unfortunately, the original saddle that WAS on my bike when it was found, got pilfered and restored into a tool box type. Uggh!
So the saddle that is on the bike now, is a very nicely restored leather one.
I got it from Brant, but don’t know who recovered it.

 

[fordmike65]

Another Blue! Popped up on southern Oregon CL recently. Per usual beat to crap! These bikes get no respect!