Who made "Black Beauty" badged bikes??? and Mont. Wards "De Luxe"

[chitown]

Awesome BIKE!

here it is...

That don't look like no Schwinn... perhaps Miami or Snyder frame??? Not familiar with that fork. Do the truss rods merge to a single bolt or stay separate?

Thanks for the pics Dave!

 

[dave the wave]

that would be snyder or excelsior made.i've never seen a tank like that.

 

[ejlwheels]

That bike appears to have has non-pinch stays as in the Zenith ad.
That starflake sprocket on the Zenith looks like sprockets Shelby was using in the late 30's?

But I think Shelbys of the 20's had pinched seat stays also.
And I don't think I've seen trumpet flares on any Shelby joints.

Frames by Snyder, Shelby (and Davis?) seem to frequently use that kind of seat post collar/shim.

I think your friend's frame looks kind of like a Snyder.
The fender upper bridge in the Zenith ad looks like it has a pronounced curve to it which is kind of a Snyder signature.

 

[dave the wave]

that's what i was thinking.

 

[ejlwheels]

The lower top bar on the Zenith attaches to the down tube.
In the 1919 catalogs, the Black Beauties with the single point truss termination appear to have this same frame construction with the top bar attaching to the down tube.
The Black Beauty with the torpedo tank pictured in "1917" flyer appears to have its lower top bar attach to the head tube, just above where the down tube attaches.

 

[hoofhearted]

ALL ... throwin' this ad out there ... not sure if i should .. but here it be ......

Seems like this ad is cryin' to be seen ... what with all the hoop-la over
these early motorbikes ...

Ad foto from an e-b auction ..... Unknown date .......

.......... patric

 

[ejlwheels]

To me, the tank on the Davis Dayton looks a lot like the tank on the Zenith?

I found this ad from a 1917 Monty Wards catalog

The bike was previously attributed to Schwinn by some. I think the fork might be Schwinn made, but the frame in the ad does not have pinched rear stays so I don't know. It does have the same star flake sprocket as the Zenith. The spars on this early star flake look a little more delicate than on the ones used by Shelby in the 30's.

 

[hoofhearted]

(WHISPER-MODE IS ON ......... Vinnie Boombah rolls his 14-pounder down the hardwood avenue ..
the ball veers left .. the ball veers right .. finally settling on center-lane. All the gusto Vinnie had in
his arm when he tossed the projectile .. was draining right outta that ball on it's way to punch out
the entire group of soldiers.

After what seemed to be like a short eternity .. the ball gently pushes-aside and knocks out maybe
five troops ... leaving as many standing to the left and right.)


Not bad for a man who was celebrating his one-hundred and seventeenth birthday at the moment.


Could be this ad has the same effect .......

 

[ejlwheels]

Hard to see for sure, but that Yale appears to have detachable truss rods and a non-Davis fork?

 

[hoofhearted]

ejlwheels ... my, what keen eyes you have ... that Yale in the illustration (e-bay seller says it's circa 1924)
is very similar to Scott McCaskey's 1923 and later, Shelby-Built Speedway Special ......

Go ahead and peep those frame-tube lugs ... very much a Davis-Dayton feature ...... hey ... not so fast ... you're
gonna miss those very-familiar (supposedly Dayton Models Only) bent tab, rear axel adjusters ...............