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What bike did you ride today?

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Another nostalgia ride today, we use the ride our Stingrays cross town to sneak into the Los Amigos golf course and ride the golf cart trails like a StingRay race track but I think the main reason was the Orange Julius stand around the corner😏, luckily stayed out of the Los Padrinos back then ( behind the golf course ), 2 different old water towers 1/2 mile apart!, then over to Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation center, nobody working out today at the wheel chair obstacle course ( sand, gravel, ramps, ruts etc. ) and last down the the old Rancho to see more of the destruction!
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It's hard to say the exact year for K serials. It is wartime for sure 42-45. Have you pulled the crank and looked for a date code?

Your bike has some interesting wartime features like the blacked out hardware (headset, hubs, chainring, mudguard stays, etc.) and "victory" spec items like painted rims and only one mudguard stay in the rear. It's a VW1M victory bike. It would not have come with a chain guard or a kickstand. Here is an ad from Sept 42:
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I will start a conversation about your bike in the Wartime New World thread we have, and more New World collectors may comment.
Thank you so much for your expertise in these bikes! I appreciate the bike all the more!
 
It's been too dang long since I got out for a nice long ride. 37 Dayton Huffman. From my new apartment, to a peaceful spot, and back. My apartment complex was built in 1902 as a house for William H Dickens, son of Charles Dickens. It is believed by many that William was shot and killed by his own son in the library of the house. After a trial he was found not guilty. It has served many purposes since then including the hospital where my old neighbor was born.

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It's been too dang long since I got out for a nice long ride. 37 Dayton Huffman. From my new apartment, to a peaceful spot, and back. My apartment complex was built in 1902 as a house for William H Dickens, son of Charles Dickens. It is believed by many that William was shot and killed by his own son in the library of the house. After a trial he was found not guilty. It has served many purposes since then including the hospital where my old neighbor was born.

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Good on ya for getting your butt back in the saddle. Nice day for a ride, eh?
 
Took this one for about a tenth mile gauntlet on the train tracks to try and beat the bead out that didn't want to seat right. Lol
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Bead submitted...and the springer actually did it's job well! Now, I just need to do something about the squeaky seat hinge and weak seat springs.
 
Today I rode the 41 Shelby Gambles Hiawatha later than expected. This bike started out as a wreck picked up 10 yrs. ago in Idaho. All of it was there except for the wheels/fenders, there was no tank. I've kept all of it. Today it sports the heaviest wheelset in the shootout with a S3C Sturmey 3 coaster, and the 52 Sturmey drum, both 36h. Straight gauge/brass nips. It weighs a lot, didn't measure it not wanting to know. It has a 45" wheelbase, 12.5" BB height and slack as can be. (not measured)
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Rider Fit. This bike fits me well with the long 13/16 seat post sending me way back over the rear wheel, long, wide, sprung saddle that is pretty darned comfortable while smoothing s out the road debris, very functional Torrington Longhorns that stay out of the way of the legs and body with a gazillion hand positions. It has a long reach and laid back slack feel that wanted me to slide back on the seat, hang on to the bar ends and lean the bike over hard while pedaling. The high BB allows pedaling waaaaay leaned over without hitting the end of the Torrington 8's, which are a nice platform pedal original to the bike. Being able to move your feet around on a longer ride is a good thing. 4.5 on the fit.
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Moving out. At the start in the flats, the Shelby feels smooth and solid, getting up to speed slowly and deliberately gear to gear. 1st felt really spinny and I didn't use it much unless 1st starting up or when sitting down & slowly crawling up a short climb, where it was super effective at pulling the heavy bike up and out of low-point holes, albeit slowly. The 48/22 sprocket/cog combo in neutral with the 33% High/Low encouraged a fast foot speed that seemed to be the best way to keep the clearly heavy wheels turning. When trying to push a bigger gear or faster pace, the wheels would complain, so you settled in for what they allowed. I had to work noticeably to keep a 15/16 mph pace out to the coast against a light breeze. The bike is Dead Quiet when powered up which I like mucho. I ended up moving forward on the saddle and bars to get better power down to maintain the 16/17mph speed. I noticed there are a lot of seat, hand and foot positions that were available, but unfortunately I also heard a lot of chain and hub noise when I paused pedaling. I give a 4.0 on moving out.
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Mechanical Highlights. Well, this Black and Chrome Shelby as I call it is well equipped. I have recently laced in a new Sturmey rear hub shell as the bearing race non-drive side was showing pitting and we can't have that. I also had a mysterious slipping clutch that crept off the planetary gear pins, constantly jumping out of third gear. I resolved it with another set from a spare hub. Sturmey's are finicky, and this one gave me a bunch of trouble although I have it running nicely now. The 1952 (I think?) Sturmey Drum brake is always a bonus on any old bike and adds some performance braking to a high-mass bike. It is skip tooth drive for the cool factor, but some repositioning of the guard away from the chain is needed and soon. The shelby is well equipped. I give it a 3.75
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Performance. Well, what can I say here. This 7-bike experiment is a performance related test, and this bike does have some additional performance over it's orignal beginnings. One, it has a gear option, but is for the most part the convenience of the Three speed coaster for slow speed climbing abilities that stands out performance wise. The wheels are pig-orama, even with the light casing, high pressure CST metro tires on them. You simply have to slow down, sit up and sit back on this bike and it clips right along when brought up to speed. This looker bike would be really comfortable (and is) on long rides at a lesser pace being fully sprung with a bailout gear. The bike is very slack and smooth riding also with the Shock Ease, 3-spring seat and heavy spinning hoops, so it "glides" over everything. It felt like the heavy, wound-up rotating mass of the flashy wheels limited the affects of headwind like they had kinetic energy in them. Hmmm....3.5
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Stealth Factor. Well, powered up this bike is very smooth and quiet and I like that a lot! Silence please! But...if the power was let up on during shifts or bumpy sections that I rolled through without power on the chain, it banged around on the guard the entire ride. The Sturmey also made some weird clicking sounds when in neutral, shifting up & down or unpowered but still spinning the cranks. Once power was applied, the hub silenced itself, the road bumps didn't bang the chain around and all was well. I tried to keep it powered up more knowing it would completely shut up the chain banging and finicky hub. A 3.75.
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Another great ride today on the beautiful Black and Chrome Shelby, a sentimental favorite simply because it's smooth, flashy and confident, something that may not score well in the performance shootout, but the bike doesn't seem to care really what I think. Keep riding Cabers!
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Another ride to Grand Haven,Mi. pier to catch a sunset with friends. Lake Michigan in the background. Unbelievably warm for Nov. at 65 degrees this evening. Probably our last ride as it’s going to feel like November after tomorrow with a cold rain/snow mix coming. A mix of beater middleweights tonight and my friend James on his Lemon Peeler.

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I’m digging all the pics of the bikes along with the commentary @SKPC . The Stealth Factor category is something I relate to and is even more relevant on long rides. Thanks for including it.

Out to Gilbert on a chilly night. They have the water tower lit up in Red White and Blue tonight. A sign of unity in this tightly divided state.
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48 Columbia Cruiser
 
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