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Seeking originality information on black fender (1947 - 1949) Roadmaster Luxury Liners

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Very interesting. I am with you. Never saw or knew about painted fenders on Luxury Liners. I had 3 and all were plated fenders. In the photos it looks sort of stealth.
Why would they go through the process of plating and do another process just to tone it down? All that for some chrome detail close to the ground?
Someone was thinking and had influence over the bean counters!

Schwinn chromed a complete bike just for a bit of chrome on sections of the seat mast, stays and fork. Totally chromed.

Thanks to stingrayjoe for the image. 1963 Superior.

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Here are another couple of threads mentioning the early black fender version:
 
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Here are another couple of threads mentioning the early black fender version:
I really appreciate you sharing these. This additional evidence is most useful.

The seller on the $250 bike states that it is a 1998 reproduction, and while some of the parts may be reproduction, the rear fender and front forks are definitely period. (The reproduction has a rear fender with bumps at the bottom and a front fork with bowed rods.)
 
I really appreciate you sharing these. This additional evidence is most useful.

The seller on the $250 bike states that it is a 1998 reproduction, and while some of the parts may be reproduction, the rear fender and front forks are definitely period. (The reproduction has a rear fender with bumps at the bottom and a front fork with bowed rods.)
Surprised GT didn't show a real deal relating to what can happen to paint over chrome. In This Schwinn and others with the same same year and colors, maroon and gray, Pretty much the only bikes in this model, year and colors, the fenders were chromed before painted. Far as I know it's the only time Schwinn did this. In this case only the maroon crocked off over the chrome. And it's like; WTF? why waist the chrome? Yet every example like this, the fenders are chromed 1st, go figure.

And I can not be sure yours was chromed and painted black, just that it looks that way. Link to topic: https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/u...and-white-49-straightbar.176209/#post-1194117

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I really appreciate you sharing these. This additional evidence is most useful.

The seller on the $250 bike states that it is a 1998 reproduction, and while some of the parts may be reproduction, the rear fender and front forks are definitely period. (The reproduction has a rear fender with bumps at the bottom and a front fork with bowed rods.)
That may be a repaint, but not reproduction (unless some kind of one off prototype), since the dropouts on the frame are definately pre 49 style. My guess is that is an original early Roadmaster Luxury Liner, but the condition is so great that the owner believed it is a reproduction. Skip-tooth chain, new departure hubs, brass badge, none of these were on a reproduction bike.
 
That's nice,
I love a picture of a bike by an old original historic building.
Very cool.
 
Here is my black fendered early Lux Liner. Headlight is a distressed repo, but the rest is pretty much original. I remember when I was putting it together after it had sat around for a few years (after arriving from the ebay seller). I had stored the seat seperately and couldn't remember which one was on the bike when I bought it, so I picked one from my stash that matched one of the ads I had acquired. I don't make a religion out of originality, but shoot for as close as I can get with the stuff I have on hand.
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Here is my black fendered early Lux Liner. Headlight is a distressed repo, but the rest is pretty much original. I remember when I was putting it together after it had sat around for a few years (after arriving from the ebay seller). I had stored the seat seperately and couldn't remember which one was on the bike when I bought it, so I picked one from my stash that matched one of the ads I had acquired. I don't make a religion out of originality, but shoot for as close as I can get with the stuff I have on hand. View attachment 1290005

View attachment 1290006

View attachment 1290022
I hear you about originality. When it's a question of reasonably close vs. exact match at 5 or 10 times the price, I always go for reasonably close.

That said, so many of these Luxury Liners have so many reproduction parts on them that I feel the need, as a librarian, to at least document what was original, and to not replace a beat up original part with a better non-original one. This means, for me, that there are going to be a good few parts missing that I just cannot get in my budget, and I am okay with that. Also, there are a bunch of little replacement parts that I am missing, mostly hardware, that shouldn't be very expensive, and if I am going to buy them, I'd at least like to know what the original should be.

Might I pick your brain on some detail questions and photos, please?
 
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