silver king hawthorne questions

[lobsterboyx]

so i found this bike on craigslist awhile back and im pretty sure that its mine. although i havent paid for it, nor taken delivery of it, ive got a few questions. obviously more might come clear to me when i actually get it.

now for the questions:
i searched and found a thread about someone asking the year of it but there was no conclusive answer.

this bike looks like a 24 inch - and ive heard that most silver kings were 24 inch is there any chance this could be a 26?

if youll notice the bent fork... is the steer tube on these bikes also made out of aluminum? if it is, im worried about cracking it while trying to straighten it out.

are parts easy to find? like a chainguard, fenders, lights and reflectors? a quick ebay revealed nothing but im wondering if these bikes were made in mass quantity?

does anyone have any lit on these bikes? i searched nostalgic but only found the monark branded silverkings...


thanks for the info

 

[RMS37]

The bike is a 1935 Hawthorne branded variant of a Monark Silver King bicycle. Wards first offered the bikes that year as Duralium Bicycles and the window lugs and shouldered crown fork were replaced with windowless castings and a round shouldered fork for the next year.

These bikes were designed to use 24? wheels. The steerer tube is steel and is pressed and pinned into the fork crown. Accident distortion is usually limited to the steerer tube but as it is not welded to the crown, be careful not to loosen the fit between the two while manipulating the steerer.

The bike should have a hockey stick chainguard with circular holes, a deep spring Troxel seat, and a Delta Silver Ray headlight powered from a battery can mounted on the down tube. Most of these parts can be found but are somewhat pricey and not plentiful. The exception is the fenders. The 1935 catalog shows a hybrid rain gutter/crescent fender that is described as chrome plated and is next to impossible to find. Later models used 24? stainless steel rain gutters and later still, 24? stainless steel crescent fenders. These fenders are only very difficult to find in good condition.

Phil

 

[JRE]

Good info. I'm buying a 26" from Militarymonark.

 

[olschbp]

All were 24" none were 26", but 26" will fit but not with fenders, not all bikes had chain guards, mostly delux had the guards, most were plain, similar to the Schwinn hockey stick, if they had one, same with light's, if it has original crank, that will have a date on it, I would say it is late '34, early '35, I have boy's and girls ranging from '35 to 38

 

[JRE]

The one I'm getting has the hockey stick chain guard with the holes in it. 26" wheels with fenders.

 

[redline1968]

i tried to straighten out a rear stay and the aluminum snaped without any real force. so, i would be careful in straighting it out. the metal seems to be brittle.

 

[Aeropsycho]

Too Strong...

Maybe your too strong from riding that Shelby :eek:

I will still trade you for a 80 Proline....

J A M I E

 

[RMS37]

Monark designed their early aluminum bicycles to use 24? balloon wheels. This was probably an effort to maximize the weight difference between Silver Kings and typical 26? steel framed balloon bicycles. While the wheels are smaller than normal, the frames were designed to match the general rider geometry of a full size 26? balloon bike.

When Monark began to produce steel frames they acquiesced to the industry norm and designed the frames around standard 26? wheels. This is also true for the aluminum 26-X of 1939-1941 and the postwar Hex tube models. In addition Monark produced (in small numbers) an aluminum diamond frame lightweight model that used larger wheels.

Excepting those three models all of the aluminum framed Monarks were designed for and equipped with 24? wheels. An early factory aluminum bike originally fitted with 26? wheels would be a very noteworthy anomaly.

I know of one early aluminum girl?s bike that turned up a while back with 26? wheels that the owner believed to be factory. The more likely scenario involving an early aluminum frame with 26? wheels is that the wheels were added to the bike. As olschbp noted the frames and forks are large enough to accept 26? wheels and I know of one bike where the owner was also able to squeeze in 26? fenders.

Phil

 

[JRE]

Thanks for the info.

 

[redline1968]

jamie add 3 zeros to the 80 and you have a deal. haha.