Show your Davis built bicycles

[hoofhearted]

Bri ... don't believe that is a Davis ... however .. Davis DID manufacture The Black Beauty Bicycle
for Haverford Cycle Co. in 1920 or 1921. Davis saw fit to use one of those '20 or '21
Davis motorbike frames ..........

 

[redline1968]

Sorry I'm even more confused, so by project do you mean that some of the parts are not original to the bike? I thought I remembered this bike with the D-A-Y-T-O-N chain ring.

Sorry never had a Dayton chain ring. it's Davis not Dayton no bottle cap hole. Term project means needs to be restored. This was in a barn in eastern ore. actually nothing has been changed even the pedals are hd's. Grips are not orig though.

 

[bricycle]

Thanks, see, I learned something today!

 

[chitown]

so Everybody made Black Beauty bikes????

Bri ... don't believe that is a Davis ... however .. Davis DID manufacture The Black Beauty Bicycle
for Haverford Cycle Co. in 1920 or 1921. Davis saw fit to use one of those awkward '20 or '21
Davis motorbike frames ... the ones that looked like they were soaked in A Tub Of Ugly for six weeks ............

View attachment 120535

Confused as ever.

If Davis made them in '20 and '21 then they would have joined Schwinn and DP Harris/HP Snyder who are documented as producing the Black Beauty for Haverford Cycle. The Schwinn document that shows the Schwinn connection is from 1919-1921. The Rollfast catalog from '30??? shows them as producers of the BB badged bike but without the Haverford affiliation. What evidence is there of Davis producing BB bikes?

Sorry never had a Dayton chain ring. it's Davis not Dayton no bottle cap hole. Term project means needs to be restored. This was in a barn in eastern ore. actually nothing has been changed even the pedals are hd's. Grips are not orig though.

OK thanks!

 

[hoofhearted]

chitown ... around 1990, I owned a rough, housepainted, Davis-Built Black Beauty Motorbike (w/o tank) .. the frame was
that UGLY '20-'21 frame ..... it was a beater ... I still have the Davis, heavy-duty truss fork and the badge .. which is very
nice ... I gave the multiple "B" chainring to Ed Boros of Chicago ... he was beginning to pick up a fair share of BB Badges
to add to his badge collection.

 

[chitown]

chitown ... around 1990, I owned a rough, housepainted, Davis-Built Black Beauty Motorbike (w/o tank) .. the frame was
that UGLY '20-'21 frame ..... it was a beater ... I still have the Davis, heavy-duty truss fork and the badge .. which is very
nice ... I gave the multiple "B" chainring to Ed Boros of Chicago ... he was beginning to pick up a fair share of BB Badges
to add to his badge collection.

Sounds like a frankenbike to me. I can't imagine Ignaz Schwinn happy with sharing his Haverford account with Horace Huffman. However, Black Beauty bikes came in a variety of styles so anything is possible... right? It sounds like many of the jobbers of the day had their pick of frames styles, forks, sprockets, tires, mud guards etc... Unfortunately without concrete evidence like fordsnakes discovery of the Indian/Westfield connection, we are left with many, many cool parts that don't always add up.

 

[hoofhearted]

CHRIS ... it is THAT VERY LABYRINTH that I Love About old bicycles .. and it's the very-same labyrinth that makes me go krazy !!!

.................. patric

 

[bricycle]

CHRIS ... it is THAT VERY LABYRINTH that I Love About old bicycles .. and it's the very-same labyrinth that makes me go krazy !!!

.................. patric

If the bike builders were anything like the early Outboard manufacturers, They did business with anyone and everyone. 1940-42 Mercury's (Keikhaefer Mfg.) who took over Thor motors, had many changes during production. I had a cylinder water jacket (alum) that had broke, was re-welded, re-machined and re-used! Back in the day they didn't throw ANYTHING away!! Times were hard back then, just like the whiskey!

 

[Nickinator]

Like this badge?

chitown ... around 1990, I owned a rough, housepainted, Davis-Built Black Beauty Motorbike (w/o tank) .. the frame was
that UGLY '20-'21 frame ..... it was a beater ... I still have the Davis, heavy-duty truss fork and the badge .. which is very
nice ... I gave the multiple "B" chainring to Ed Boros of Chicago ... he was beginning to pick up a fair share of BB Badges
to add to his badge collection.

View attachment 120581

 

[chitown]

Notice the volcano on all your sample Excelsior pics, this external joint (for lack of a better word) is not present on the Chief or Davis built bikes. if you visit GaryMc 1915 chief thread, his bike and one other a 1916 are pictured, there top and bottom bars look different from the catalog pics in that he top and bottom bar are distinctly apart where the join a the seat mast. Both bikes are also void the volcano.

Here is an early Mich City Excelsior with flush joints (and International Stamping deep 1" fenders)

1914 Chicago trade show. Excelsior booth pic is the closest thing to a 1915 Chief frame I have ever seen.