Roadmaster Luxury Liners

[silvertonguedevil]

And lastly the rear rack...

The 1947-1949 rear rack looked like this:

You'll notice that the rear rack is flat when viewed from the side. They had a battery-operated taillight in them as did the later version but they appear thin and flat when viewed from the side. Also note that the rear rack brace takes a soft 90-degree bend and then goes straight up to the rack.

And in 1950, they changed to this style:

On this new style rack, you'll see that the support braces are different. They come up from the rear of the frame at a 45 degree angle and actually protrude out from the bike, much like the truss rods on the front. Most ads I've seen refer to these as "bumpers". Here's a Christmas ad that kinda shows how they protrude out.

Also with this newer styled rack, when viewed from the side, you'll notice that it has a "skirt" in the rear. This was designed to hide the taillight mechanism.

Here's another quick side-by-side comparison:

Earlier '47-'49............... Later '50-'53

 

[Freqman1]

Some good info Greg. Hopefully we can see som more early, original examples. I believe the first ones used the pointed grips. I would also be interested to know what tires were original to these bikes. V/r Shawn

 

[silvertonguedevil]

The last thing I'll cover is what I've learned (or heard rather) about the differences between the classic style and the 1998 reissue. Now, I've not seen a reissue in person so I'm mainly listing what I've learned from people I've talked to. I'm sure there are some of you that either currently own or have owned one of these bikes that could either agree or disagree with the information I've gotten. Here's what I've got as far as differences go.

-The earlier bikes had a brass headbadge that was riveted to the headtube and they had painted details. I've talked to some guys that have said that the reissued bikes had stickers for headbadges and then I've also talked to some guys that said they had metal (or brass maybe even) headbadges but that they were screwed to the headtube instead of riveted.

-The spokes on the reissues were of a much thicker guage than the earlier bikes.

-Even though the bikes were built to depict the 1948 model, they got the horn-button wrong. They reproduced the tank with the '51-'53 style, right-side horn with the smaller button. They also put the lettering "Luxury Liner" on the chainguard which didn't show up until 1951.

-The earlier bikes had their serial number punched into the frame, right under the crank. The newer bikes just had a sticker placed there and no numbers punched into the frame.

-The earlier bikes had a skip-tooth chain and the reissues did not

-The reissued bikes were adorned with reflectors. One on the front, one on the rear, one on each wheel and the pedals.

 

[silvertonguedevil]

Well that's all I have for now. I hope this helps some of you. If anything is incorrect, please feel free to discuss what you've found. I'd like to keep this thread going until we are all loaded with information when it comes to these beautiful bikes!!

 

[silvertonguedevil]

Some good info Greg. Hopefully we can see som more early, original examples. I believe the first ones used the pointed grips. I would also be interested to know what tires were original to these bikes. V/r Shawn

Thank you Shawn. I'm also curious about the grips. Hopefully, somebody will have something more to ad.

 

[halfatruck]

OK, I've got a repro (got such a good price I couldn't turn it down), the head badge is metal ( don't believe it's brass) and screwed on (Phillips screws). The bike is supposed to look like a '48 (has the flat curved rack braces), it has pointed grips, and the small horn button (right side, toward the top). The chain guard has a script decal (shouldn't have) and it does have the large gauge spokes. The bike rides so good I may keep it - most of the parts (springer, peddles, etc.) appear to be well made. On the bike I have there are some small areas of paint loss - I may end up repainting (can't hurt a repro) and doing away with the chain guard decal.....

 

[silvertonguedevil]

Awesome! Thank you for contributing! So there's a confirmation of a metal headbadge attached with screws. Anyone out there seen one that has a sticker instead?

 

[carolinaskies]

I'm curious. Who sold these repro bikes in 1998? Anyone remember or have an ad?

 

[Freqman1]

I'm curious. Who sold these repro bikes in 1998? Anyone remember or have an ad?

You can check out this thread. While I don't think the thread specifically says who sold them I believe they were released through several outlets. It seems I remember seeing an ad in Hemmings back in the day for these. V/r Shawn

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/roadmaster-reproduction.9722/

 

[HIGGINSFOREVER]

I'm curious. Who sold these repro bikes in 1998? Anyone remember or have an ad?

I bought one in the box from mike up at dudley show.He also had the columbia 100 year reissue. that i also bought.This was about 10 years ago