Show your Davis built bicycles

[hoofhearted]

Flat Tire ... have bought so many, many badges from folks in vans at Memory Lane Classics ... you can contact me .....

>>> [email protected] <<<

Look ... some Davis rides have been observed without any numbers at all ... some with ONLY the serial numbers ... the earliest
Davis motorbike i have seen is in a motorcycle / bicycle magazine dated April 14, 1914. Don't know what that large "1" is about.
That motorbike was a Dayton.

ATTACHED IS THE DAVIS Motorbike that has the Year of Manufacture "6" and the Model Year "7".

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

THIS FRAME / FORK ASSEMBLY is my favorite Davis Motorbike ....... the motorbikes that really move me are the ones that
have a real raked-out angle ti the haed=tbue ,,, aw CARP ...,,...... my tpying is strattin' to go haywrie .. nornally i don;t get
all njacked outta shap ... but i peep juts one koool ride and my wohle wrold goze shizz axe. Outta hear for know ,,,,,,,,,,

 

[hoofhearted]

ONE O' THESE DAYS ... gonna know how to post a pic so that it shows big on this page ... not the little
postage stamp that has to be leaned on ... then it explodes to the size of something that can be seen.

 

[chitown]

... it must have been a mad-house at that plant during that time.

Which plant though?

View attachment 67077

I think Lyman Gould's job was in charge of receiving cases of HD sprockets that were forged at the Davis plant, then make sure they were put on last years Mead's frames and shipped off to Milwaukee crated and ready for the jobbers and final assembly.

Patric,

Thanks for the thanks. The history is what I too find most fascinating. But I blame you for these thoughts of Mead frames being sold to Harley. That article that you posted on the Dayton Rolled Metal Co was what sent me down this Mead/Davis connection. I keep going back to the forks and the dropouts of the Harley's (teen Sears bikes also) that have patented construction... Mead Patents.

The recent Harley Owners Mag article I believe, mentioned parts were sent from the Davis Plant to be assembled in Milwaukee. I didn't read the article so can't confirm that, but that is what lead me to believe that the forging Dept at Davis was more capable than Mead in producing the familiar HD sprocket. Mead had made the move to import the 1/2" drivetrains from England and no longer had the forging dept it had before 1916. It was becoming and transforming into a modern manufacturing plant with much of the tool and die and forgings being done off site of the main plant.

Chris

 

[ejlwheels]

which year/model would this be?

Here is one I am working on...
I am guessing it is a model 162 from 1916?
But why the 9 above? Or is it an upside down 6?

I think this has the "Dayton" fork with the 1/8" strut.

 

[bud poe]

Nice advert's, thanks for posting, here's my latest Davis built acquisition....

An added pic of the stampings on the Bottom Bracket....Not sure what to make of it though...

 

[hoofhearted]

HEY TO CHRIS ... all that lit about Davis building bicycles, sewing machines and munitions, AND playing
Beat The Clock, put me into a thought that says, Wow .. whatta Mad-House. Images of workers elbow
to elbow dance in my noggin ... but the dancin' is far from pretty. The number of workers in that plant,
at the time, is enormous. The building, enlarged many times, (as per the articles) must have been a
haven for the "let's get er done, in a quality manner" crowd.

AM NOT SOLD on the possibility of a serious connection between Lewis and Huffman. Sr. Am not sure what
was applicable on the Lewis Fork patent. Was it the three-plate crown ... was it the manner of attaching the
steer tube or, the fork blades ?? The one thing that differs in the Lewis fork and the Davis fork is the manner
of attachment of the front fender.

THE LEWIS FORK APPEARS to have a sleeve, with a metal bottom placed into the lowest part of the steer tube.
The metal bottom has a tiny hole drilled into the center of that bottom. i do not know if the tiny hole was
threaded ... but if guessing is still legal here, my guess is that the hole was threaded. WHA LAH ... a manner
to attach the fender via a retaining-screw, placed into an a preordained hole in the fender, then continuing
occupancy in the little, threaded hole in the lowest part of the steer tube.

EVERY DAVIS FORK that i have seen DOES NOT have this feature. The teens-era Davis fork has an eighth-inch
(about) steel rod inserted into a pair of opposing-holes in the vicinity of the steer tube diameter .. about a half-
inch from the bottom, and well-within the surrounding, three-plate crown. A little, threaded-at-the-bottom hook
was placed over that rod .. its threaded-end hanging below the base of the steer tube .. the fender installed ..
and the whole package buttoned up with the application of a corresponding washer and nut. This design made
the fork less-costly to produce, had weight-savings benefits BUT WAS A BEAR to fool with if all of the other bicycle
parts were present.

WITH THE DAVIS FENDER HANGER, a bicyclist needed to remove the handlebar stem .. insert a three-quarter-
inch dowel rod into the steer tube .. 'til the dowel rod bottomed out on the threaded hook. The removal of the
fender was often a breeze ... but the re-attachment of the fender .. is rarely straightforward .. as the application
of the retaining nut and washer, from below the fender, wants to raise that hook off its perch. NO BIG DEAL ??!

ONCE THE BICYCLIST takes ownership of his/her Davis ride .. one day choosing to remove the front fender .. well ...
let's just say they had better have all the tools necessary to remove the stem and bars AND a dowel rod to shove
down the throat of the fork ... or that fender IS NOT going back on as easily as it came off.

RIGHT NOW, i would really like to use some Fowl Language.

LOOK ... PRESENTLY i AM still hacked from having to remove and replace a Davis front fender ... and have NO
OPINION on what Lyman Gould's job was regarding H-D sprockets .. putting them on last-year's Mead frames,
and shipping them off to Milwaukee. DAMMIT !!

......... patric

post script ... i will be okay.

 

[hoofhearted]

ejlwheels ... thank you for those really great pics of your Davis YALE Motorbike frame and fork.

AM SAYING YALE ... only if that residual, blue paint is original to the parts. The Dayton was offered
in Black or in Carmine paint. The Yale was offered in a brilliant blue ... same as on your parts.

AT SOME TIME OR ANOTHER .. the Yale was offered in other colors ... not necessarily stated in the
Yale catalogues .. but showing up in a random fashion. The Yale Badge was attached with a "pop-
bottle cap" device ... not screws. Does your frame have a one-half-inch hole placed into the center
of the head-tube ??

IF THAT HOLE IS not present ... and you see screwholes ... the frame was never a Yale. Generally-
speaking, the Dayton and the Yale Shared frame designs ... occasionally the Yale would have Dayton
truss fork (like yours in the pic) ... but sometimes the Yale could have a Davis Truss Fork ... Standard
Duty OR Heavy Duty.

THE THREE-DIGIT NUMBER STAMPING is a mystery to me. And ... if a "9" were stamped where the model
year would be ... well .. i have seen a "6" stamped lightly then a "9" Bogarted right over the "6".

YOUR FRAME has a clear and distinctly-stamped "9". This shows your frame to be a 1919 Model Year.

THAT FRAME / FORK PACKAGE IS VERY STOUT !!!

.......... patric

 

[hoofhearted]

bud poe ... your Dayton does not have a Model-Year Numerical Stamping. It does have,
however, an extra set of three digits ... don't know what that means. Many Dayton rides
sport that single "D" in the area of the serial numbers. The Dayton Fork did not come as
Heavy-Duty or Standard-Duty ... just Non-Truss (like yours) and Truss (like ejlwheels).

Nice Dayton !!!

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

 

[ejlwheels]

The bike came with a bottle cap Dayton badge and the frame has the hole (although the badge was held on with glue, as the bottle cap flanges have mostly broken off). It was spray painted blue, with a possible gray primer, and beneath all that I have found possible specs of carmine or red oxide primer? At any rate, I am planning to repaint it and build it as a carmine red 1919 Dayton.

 

[redline1968]

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