1933' Colson Moto

[SILVERKINGPC]

Sooooo. Found this today a block away! Only missing the pedals, bars cross brace, & seat clamp. He says he has the badge and wheelstand in the garage. Wheels are totally shot, but everything else is there. Don't see these very often. Nearly pooed my pants.

 

[Duchess]

If the rims don't have holes in them, they might not be as bad as they look (just had this happen with some heavily rusted rims I thought were junk and I only ended up with two broken spokes).

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Yea, the crust is only surface. Rims are nice actually. What I found interesting is that this thing is LOW MILE. Crank had no play, wheels either. Fenders dent-free! Spokes are gone. Just sitting outside I think.

 

[Duchess]

Very nice! I know they're not as strong, but it's almost too bad that you can't get replacement spokes in that gauge anymore (at least not through the normal channels I've looked)—it's something that bugs me about my 1912 Iver—the heavier spoke gauges just look off.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Very nice! I know they're not as strong, but it's almost too bad that you can't get replacement spokes in that gauge anymore (at least not through the normal channels I've looked)—it's something that bugs me about my 1912 Iver—the heavier spoke gauges just look off.

Yes, they are the butted, super-skinny spokes. Hair thin in spots. A few of em are rusted through. Not sure, but they look 14/16 gauge almost. The guy wants $1,000. A bit high, but I am contemplating it since it is almost all there. (Edit:..offered $600) Perhaps orig paint under the brushed blue? Not sure if the rack is orig. or not..

 

[Phil Fink]

The truss-fork looks like it may be a Colson Elyria build.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

The truss-fork looks like it may be a Colson Elyria build.

OK! No head badge so maybe a Colson! I was wondering myself if it could be something else. So what do you think about this bike PF? Value?

 

[Phil Fink]

So Colson could have made bikes for Sears. I have a 1933 Colson with 28" wheels, aluminum 700 replacements. Yours looks to be a 26" balloon tires, so perhaps later (1934?), but before streamlining (no curved top tubes). Colsons may have a serial numbers with a number for the year and then a letter for the month, (not sure if bikes for Sears as Elgins were stamped differently).
Value(?), seems like all the parts are there. Tanks like that go for $200+ any day, and racks like that (egg-crate?) seem to be out of my price range.

 

[Phil Fink]

Here is an example of a characteristic Colson rear drop-out:

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

This pic shows it is probably a Colson! Clearly missing the chainguard, proper pedals and crossbrace, but seems pretty complete. Thanks for your help!

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

I just took ownership of this bike and started in on the tank. I found Black shiny paint under the blue, and a tan color under the black.(Frame is og black under the blue) When looking at early Colson moto-bikes, the chain-ring is not this one. The Tank door clasps are different year to year, and this tank is original to the bike. Schwinn chain-ring? (Edit:Westfield) It also has some steel 26" double-lip clincher rims that were nickel plated(plating gone). I will continue to strip down through the old paint-overs. Serial numbermaybe today as I take it apart.......skpc

Edit:no date on crankshaft.(not colson)

 

[kirkpatrick]

Curiosity got the best of me and It's killin me to figure this out, lol. Looks like possibly a mid 30's Colson Flyer or Rover maybe, the chainring looks Mead, but that could have been changed out at anytime. Thought it could have been a Mead motorbike, but the little tangs on the forks didn't seem to match. The Flyer's tangs seem to match yours. Can't wait to see it once your done getting all that old paint off, hopefully there's still some decals on the tank. Later

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Serial number is 3J6 333. From what I have found about Colson #'s it is an Oct, 1933 frame. Frame paint is Black. Fork & Fenders are Black paint also. I will dig deeper past the black paint still covering the Tan on the Tank.

(Edit)---- Tank is different than KP's Flyer pics above. No metal seams on the top or ends, and a tank door clasp that is on the bottom, not the side. Does have the truss rod dings on both sides though!!

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Stripped the bike down to pieces: Cleaned, oiled and stored all the metal parts. Wheelset-1/2+ of the old DB spokes I did save + all the nips. Solid bar ND front hub-shell is in serviceable shape. Model D rear hub in ok as well. Has no oiler port in hubshell. Clincher/double bent 26" steel nickel hoops are slightly larger in diameter(1/8-3/16") than a side-by-side comparison with a modern 559-26" rim. Both rims are in very solid and straight condition with a little nickel plating left in spots. Stem was bent, but I was able to straighten it. Fork has slightly bent legs and small split in steer tube, but very repairable. Have not gotten to the fork yet. I want to get a better idea as to what is original to the bike and what is not.
Front sprocket is worn much less than the rear cog so may be added? Rack seems to also be added as lowest paint layer is ? No plan yet with this bike. I may just re-spoke the wheels with 14/16 wheelsmiths and move it along. While the black paint seems original, there are some hints it may have even been tan/greenish originally. Have to look/clean inside the BB and head tube shells for clues.
I will post some pics of the "cleaning" process when I get back to Utah. skpc

 

[Phil Fink]

Colson did build for others.
I believe base Colsons were red, and tank (deluxe) models maroon in their own 1933 catalog.
I have seen a page of another catalog from W. Bingham Co. of Cleveland Ohio that lists green bikes that look like Colsons.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Tan seems original to the Frame/fork as well, but is pretty toast. Moto-bike decal shadow still shows. A tan colored Colson Ranger/Flyer seems odd. Fork had a stuck angle wedge and the broken piece in it from maybe orig. stem that I did get out, so stem is probably not original. Frame had a wear spot on the R.chainstay from a bent crank, so crank/sprocket may not be original either. (no date stamp on it)
Will post frame pics later.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I think I read somewhere that Colson was a bit of a ‘boutique’ brand. Meaning, businesses/retailers could have lines of bikes built by Colson with custom paint/accessory packages. But I could be mistaken.


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[SILVERKINGPC]

Dr.T- That is what I have been researching as well. So digging deeper into it's origin continues. I believe now the frame/fork was originally black. Paint is poor on both frame and fork as you can see. Tank is tan colored with paint fair. Fenders are also black. Long-armed Mead crank-set is not original to the frame. I may sell it. Egg-crate rack also is not orig, so I will sell this also. Are the 26" wheels original to the bike?? Good question not answered yet. Pictures below show my progress with a proper length crank & 26" wheelset on the frame. Also pic of unusual 26"-nickel plated steel clincher rim shown along side some new DT swiss 26"-ers
I will be moving this to a build thread soon. I have a cool resto-plan for it.SKPC

Below pic is with shorter crankset put in. Mystery westfield/mead crank has longer arms and was not responsible for the chainstay ding.

 

[Phil Fink]

Front sprocket is worn much less than the rear cog so may be added?
Frame had a wear spot on the chain stay from a bent crank, so crank/sprocket may not be original either.

Front sprocket looks Westfield-like.
My ~33 Colson's with 28's both came to me as frames with 24-tooth "sweet heart" sprockets, and the cranks had a dimple (?) mark on the axis of rotation. Modern cranks (MTB) seem to be much wider.
I recently had trouble attaching their narrow cranks as they did not have much play right to left, seems like the washer by the RHS cone had to be just the right size.
With a 26" frame like yours having wider rear fork (stays), and if the cranks were swapped, maybe would cause bumping as the bearings/cones wore out(?). If the front truss fork fits 26's widthwise, then that size is likely original, both front and rear.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Thanks PF. For me, this is an interesting Colso moto. An amalgam of diff. stuff made to look original by someone who knew. There's good and bad with this bike, and I will figure it out as I dig deeper. If these 26" wheels are correct and original to the bike, then all is well with me. The 26" clincher rims were new in 33, and used through the mid-30's on 26ballooners. The mystery sprocket below may be early Shelby or Mead, but dunno. It is "keyed", and has longer arms, which does NOT match the ding in the stay. (Edit-Westfield 20's-30's).
So the question is, did the 26" bikes have differently spaced crank arms to clear the stays like you say? I have a lead on one now I hope to get soon so will find out. I will post some more pics later. skpc