Hello Folks, I've just registered here as I am beginning a vintage bicycle project and this looks like the place to be for such things. After 50+ years of total neglect I decided it was time to drag my old Monark Coupe De Ville out of the barn and give it back some of its former glory. I was gifted the bike when I was 10, (back in 1964), from my uncle who got it new in 1955 when he was 10. It still had all its original parts and paint when I received it, but that didn't last long, (unfortunately). I immediately stripped off all that wonderful mid-1950s paraphernalia, painted over the blue, white, and red Coupe De Ville graphics, and replaced it with purple paint and smaller chrome fenders and chain guard, all in an attempt to make it look "cooler" to my 10-year-old mid-1960s eyes - oh the follies of youth.
So here I am now, at age 70, and I realize that what the bike really needs to be "cooler" is everything it had originally. At this point I've managed to scrounge nearly all the missing pieces and have begun the long, pleasant process of repairing and restoring. One thing I will not be able to replace however is the original manufacturing tag that definitively proves what year and model it is. That critical little bit fell off decades ago along some dirt road of my youth. There is however an odd three-digit number stamped deep into the bottom of the sprocket hub that had been partially covered by the aluminum tag, said number being 281. Now from the research I've done already it would seem that number should not in fact be there, but it is. And it was stamped before the tag was riveted in place as the halo of the tag was still barely visible before I began sanding things down and discovered the number. And since I've owned the bike since 1964, and since the tag was there when I was given the bike, and since I did not stamp it in myself after the tag fell off, all things point to the number being stamped at the factory at the time of building. Anyone with any insight on this please chime in if you get the chance. Also, if anyone knows where I can get a crown badge for the chain guard please let me know. Thanks!
So here I am now, at age 70, and I realize that what the bike really needs to be "cooler" is everything it had originally. At this point I've managed to scrounge nearly all the missing pieces and have begun the long, pleasant process of repairing and restoring. One thing I will not be able to replace however is the original manufacturing tag that definitively proves what year and model it is. That critical little bit fell off decades ago along some dirt road of my youth. There is however an odd three-digit number stamped deep into the bottom of the sprocket hub that had been partially covered by the aluminum tag, said number being 281. Now from the research I've done already it would seem that number should not in fact be there, but it is. And it was stamped before the tag was riveted in place as the halo of the tag was still barely visible before I began sanding things down and discovered the number. And since I've owned the bike since 1964, and since the tag was there when I was given the bike, and since I did not stamp it in myself after the tag fell off, all things point to the number being stamped at the factory at the time of building. Anyone with any insight on this please chime in if you get the chance. Also, if anyone knows where I can get a crown badge for the chain guard please let me know. Thanks!
