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You're definitely on the right track with your research! Early Postwar CWC is very finicky and there are many factors that go into dating them. I said '47-49 when you put the curve of the downtube into the equation. Prewar and early postwar had a very shallow curve, which gave way to a deeper...

The frame is indeed CWC built; with that frame and dropouts, it's 47-49. Could have been badged Roadmaster, Western Flyer, Hiawatha, Hawthorne, several other things but those are the big ones.

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I'm working on one right now too! Funny is that I recently got both a Hawthorne 5-bar and a Twin as well.. who needs tanks when you have wild frames?

To get up and running, you can just flush it with ATF, let it all drain out for a day, then medium oil in the port and into the open end of the axle. Unless you're putting some serious miles on a fair lady, then a bearing regrease wouldn't be a bad idea.

That's a very good bike for a C-note. The owner is right on--I'd call it early 60s. Could be a Sonic Flyer. Fender is no issue. There are a million Murray frames from this era around and all the fenders are the same.

Nice! I agree with Dave that it was built in early-mid 1945 by the serial number. I think CWC called their bikes a delivery cycle, model 2010 in the catalog. What is scripted on the hubs? They should both be Morrow/Eclipse with 10 gauge spokes. Peaked fenders, and you'll need fenders if you're...

Hey Dave, er Mark.. have you seen the G stamp under the headbadge before? I'm only familiar with the "GY" under the bottom bracket denoting Goodyear. I know I've seen that as early as 1939 but I don't know if I've ever seen a '38 GY Colson.. It's an intriguing suggestion. And I agree that every...

That would be a Colson. 1938 by the serial. Good catch on the dropstand eyelets--Colson is the only company that used a completely unique dropstand in that it had studs mounted on them for use of cotter pins, instead of dropstand bolts. Here's a picture of my '39 snap tank Colson with the same...

This would be a frame built by CWC Cleveland Welding Co. The chainring and guard suggest it was originally badged Wards Hawthorne sold by Montgomery Wards. Parts that are there look to be mostly correct for the bike. Fender looks universal though and grips replaced. If fork is original, it was...

A quick and dirty option would be to switch the rear cog to a B-20 to lower the drive ratio (standard is typically 18 on a men's bike). They even made 22t but those are hard to find. Bendix cogs are very easy to change. But Bendix automatic is a nice hub. I love them--low gear hum and all.

The crank may or may not be date stamped. If you list the serial, we can probably give a date even if it's not in the records. Parts are missing and a restore would cost far more than its value (as is the case 98% of the time anyway). Ride as is or even respray it however fancies you!

Serial? It's postwar and it could be 46-48 if it doesn't match any later serials, when Schwinn records were lost. I've never seen the ribbon badge on a postwar bicycle though, but it's possible. Pre-48 used drop centers before the S-2 was introduced that year. It looks like you have one of each...

Loose bearings can always be used but assembling will prove a challenge on this particular hub. Can be done though!

Could have been badged a number of things. Flyer being one of them. The fork on the Roadmaster is original.

Nice Colson! '38-40ish; a few parts like bars/stem and the fenders have been replaced, but the core is there and correct. These can be dated from a serial number--you'll see something like D8 being 1938 and then the general consensus is that D would be the month for April. Roadmaster looks to...

It's true; most of these Hawthorne 5-bars that turn up are the Monark built frames. I have a 5-bar built by HP Snyder. I can't quite determine if bigharley's is a Snyder or CWC build--they're very similar but a serial would be an easy determiner. '38 was the first model year they were offered...

That's an awesome bike. If you're looking for tall frames, nearly every manufacturer did make them in the 30s. They are definitely not an every day find since an 18" frame would have been for the majority of the market who was buying bicycles. 20" would have been for the adults at the time...

I too would call this an early postwar Dayton/Huffman. The only distinguishing feature I know of on these frames is the seat collar. Postwar had a separate collar tacked in place like yours whereas prewar was integrated on the seat tube. Otherwise, I think they're identical.

It's a child's bike. Those often look very different from their 26" counterparts. There aren't as many of them around so they're hard to find reference photos. Probably early-mid 50s if the rear hub is original.