TRADITIONAL ⚡️⚡️⚡️THUNDERBOLT⚡️⚡️⚡️

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Hey all! Nice to see a good crowd of builders this year! I needed a project. Looks like some good competition with this style of frame this year. I had a DNF in the previous MBBO, so hopefully I can hit this deadline. This men’s Hawthorne bicycle is what I will start with, along with the Monark Silver King fork. I have a seat I plan to use and a few other goodies. Since the fork and frame look as if they were meant to be together, I may not paint. I look forward to seeing everyone’s builds. Let’s have some fun!

 

[Wildcat]

Hey all! Nice to see a good crowd of builders this year! I needed a project. Looks like some good competition with this style of frame this year. I had a DNF in the previous MBBO, so hopefully I can hit this deadline. This men’s Hawthorne bicycle is what I will start with, along with the Monark Silver King fork. I have a seat I plan to use and a few other goodies. Since the fork and frame look as if they were meant to be together, I may not paint. I look forward to seeing everyone’s builds. Let’s have some fun! View attachment 263901View attachment 263902View attachment 263903View attachment 263905

That's a pretty good start to put it mildly.

Your frame is just like my 42 Hawthorne, made by Snyder. The serial number on the BB has the year and place it was made, in reverse. Mine was 24 EH, Michigan City, Indiana 1942. 14 SN would be Little Falls, NY 1941.

I don't have that bike but I have the Hawthorne chain wheel, skiptooth chain and the early Bendix coaster hub that was on it when I got it. No rim. I have the fork but it's not straight enough and too long to ship.

They could fit in a flat rate box and be shipped when I visit Hawaii at the end of June. Maybe we could make a deal.

 

[Pondo]

That frame and fork do look good together, I like the idea of a patina build on this one.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

That's a pretty good start to put it mildly.

Your frame is just like my 42 Hawthorne, made by Snyder. The serial number on the BB has the year and place it was made, in reverse. Mine was 24 EH, Michigan City, Indiana 1942. 14 SN would be Little Falls, NY 1941.

I don't have that bike but I have the Hawthorne chain wheel, skiptooth chain and the early Bendix coaster hub that was on it when I got it. No rim. I have the fork but it's not straight enough and too long to ship.
View attachment 263911

They could fit in a flat rate box and be shipped when I visit Hawaii at the end of June. Maybe we could make a deal.

Very cool! I wish I had the skip tooth items. I do have a heart chainring let’s keep talking about those items. It would be late in the build but might be something I need. I’ll keep in touch. I wish I could be in Hawaii then.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

That frame and fork do look good together, I like the idea of a patina build on this one.

I’m going to try to match some of what is going on with the fork and frame as in “patina”with some accessory painting. @OddJob has the patina game on lock. Aka Colonel Mustard

 

[Skipton]

Great looking parts. Going be a fun build to watch

 

[Wildcat]

Very cool! I wish I had the skip tooth items. I do have a heart chainring let’s keep talking about those items. It would be late in the build but might be something I need. I’ll keep in touch. I wish I could be in Hawaii then.

Shipping from here would be way too much and not reliable. Using a flat rate box in the states will keep the shipping cost around 30 bucks. I'll take a pic and put them in the buy/sell section. I'm just looking for bike parts that could be shipped to Hawaii the same way. Red band hubs, mag chain wheels, etc, those things that don't take up space. But I'm only there in Hawaii for 2 weeks so it'll be hard to coordinate.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Putting a few parts together.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Good looking combination of parts so far!

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Good looking combination of parts so far!

Thank you! Some challenges ahead but I’m working things out slowly. The fork needs a bit of work such as being threaded further to accommodate my frame and it may need some welds to the spring mounts. Working out a tank design this weekend.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

That's a pretty good start to put it mildly.

Your frame is just like my 42 Hawthorne, made by Snyder. The serial number on the BB has the year and place it was made, in reverse. Mine was 24 EH, Michigan City, Indiana 1942. 14 SN would be Little Falls, NY 1941.

I don't have that bike but I have the Hawthorne chain wheel, skiptooth chain and the early Bendix coaster hub that was on it when I got it. No rim. I have the fork but it's not straight enough and too long to ship.
View attachment 263911

They could fit in a flat rate box and be shipped when I visit Hawaii at the end of June. Maybe we could make a deal.

I really dig your 42. I would like to find the serial numbers on this bike but I would have to remove quite a bit of paint to get to it. I think it’s a Wards Hawthorne. My drop outs are different than yours and I believe to be prewar. Let me know what you think.

 

[Wildcat]

Putting a few parts together.
View attachment 264103

That's prewar, same dropouts. Restrictions on manufacture began in early 1942. You had to submit a request to buy a new bike.
A Hawthorne is the same frame, sold by Wards, but made by Snyder who also made Rollfast.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

That's prewar, same dropouts. Restrictions on manufacture began in early 1942. You had to submit a request to buy a new bike.
A Hawthorne is the same frame, sold by Wards, but made by Snyder who also made Rollfast.

View attachment 264143

View attachment 264144Thank you for all that information!

I bought a Rollfast badge and a Wards Hawthorn badge but not sure if either would be correct.

 

[Wildcat]

I think Hawthorne frame headtubes had holes on the side for the badge, and Rollfast had them top and bottom.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

I think Hawthorne frame headtubes had holes on the side for the badge, and Rollfast had them top and bottom.

The holes on this Hawthorne are in the sides, though they are not even. The WH badge looks as if it should fit but doesn’t line up well. Your wealth of knowledge kills me. Thank you.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

The Monark Silver King springer really needs some work, especially with one of the shock studs that is loose. It definitely needs welded. I have this JC Higgins Beehive Springer that is my backup. I’m undecided on the final way to go.

 

[OddJob]

One thing I like about the Monark springers is that you can add bumpers or stops to tune the motion / travel.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

One thing I like about the Monark springers is that you can add bumpers or stops to tune the motion / travel.

I’m curious now to know how I would go about doing that.

 

[OddJob]

I’m curious now to know how I would go about doing that.

I used stool leg rubber feet. Some come with a hole already drilled in them, or it's easy to do. They serve as a 'top out' cushion to take away that 'chank' sound over bumps, but also add some extra compression to the springs. I may try something like this on my longspring saddle on Quasi-Moto as well. Those old springs weren't really designed for grown man dimensions of 225 lbs and 6 ft+ leverage!

Here is the fork on 'Hawth of Another Color' build I did. It's a repop Monark, but the application is the same. The ivory colored bumpers under the top nuts on the fork legs. I believe I also added the black harder rubber spacers with washers under the bracket as well.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

I used stool leg rubber feet. Some come with a hole already drilled in them, or it's easy to do. They serve as a 'top out' cushion to take away that 'chank' sound over bumps, but also add some extra compression to the springs. I may try something like this on my longspring saddle on Quasi-Moto as well. Those old springs weren't really designed for grown man dimensions of 225 lbs and 6 ft+ leverage!

Here is the fork on 'Hawth of Another Color' build I did. It's a repop Monark, but the application is the same. The ivory colored bumpers under the top nuts on the fork legs. I believe I also added the black harder rubber spacers with washers under the bracket as well.

View attachment 264245

Thank you for the great ideas. I’m right at 200 lbs and wondered how this fork would react to heavier weight. I’m not as tall as you though.