...1950? Columbia 3 Star + sob story

[Formico]

(sorry for the bad phone-pics)
HEaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, this is my first post here. I recently picked up this bike on the great 'bay':

The rest of the original fender light was on it up until yesterday. It was one of my favorite features...

As of right now, I am absolutley heartbroken....and furious.
Yesterday I went on a ride on it for the first time after assembling....it rode surprisingly smooth...I went miles.
Two blocks away from my house I hit a bump and the top half of the light popped off (it was missing a tiny bolt and nut...I could've/should've just went to the hardware store!) onto the middle of a quiet street. I pulled over to the sidewalk and waited as a car passed by over it fine. With my luck, a bus turned the corner and came up crushing it flat to the ground. It was like a movie; as if in slow motion it gave a dramatic pop. I was and am so very dissapointed. I don't want to replace it with a lame repro or mismatched light, I liked that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

) =

 

[user 135]

That sucks bad. I have never seen a light with the little reflectors.

Cool bike anyways and welcome to Ratdom.

 

[SimpleMan]

I would have cried....nice bike :mrgreen:

 

[strangeframe]

TRY to pop it out and make it a working L.E.D. i bet you can make it work again,all is not lost,unfortunate ...yes...but make it work, i bet it looks cool when your done..and welcome..

 

[Gold Street Customs]

:shock: :shock: :x :x

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

I'm sad myself :| That is an awesome bike Sorry about your light

 

[Bettleguise]

Wow, haha. Now you have a restoration project! You should try to pull it back into shape, heat it up and hammer out the dents. Seems possible with the right tools.

 

[mattyfu]

That's a really nice bike. Sorry to hear about the light that's totally brutal.

 

[deorman]

Too bad. Still a great bike. 8) If it had been me, all that sheet metal would have been in the closet.

 

[B607]

Go steal an Army tank and find that bus and run it over till it's flat!!! What a bummer. At least it's just a lite cover that got smashed by a bus and not you. You'll find another. Gary

 

[Walker]

Oh man, that is tragic, those lights are out there....

This is the light on my 5 star superbe, different than your 3 star and certainly not as cool.

 

[Formico]

Go steal an Army tank and find that bus and run it over till it's flat!!! What a bummer. At least it's just a lite cover that got smashed by a bus and not you. You'll find another. Gary

Yeah, I considered picking it up off the street and flinging it throught the bus rear window. :lol: ...really.

@ Walker,
So, I guess people have them?!?? All hope is not lost!?!
Your ride there is sooo coool.

 

[stretch]

sorry to hear your misfortune, thats the coolest light ive seen. but thatll buff out. :wink:

 

[KOTA]

Please don't be mad....... But I can't stop laughing......I hope you stick around, you sound like you're gonna be FUN!

 

[Unchained]

I just shed a single tear.

:mrgreen: Beautiful bike, and man does that reek..! Like bigblockthing says though, I think you could actually fix it with a lot of time, patience, and heat. Welcome to the best rat bike forum around! :wink:

 

[38Vince]

Hi,
Tragic tale, but the timing of your words had me laughing out loud, (must be my British sense of humour!).....I can almost hear the sound of the bus going over it! Thank you for sharing it and I really do feel for you, a terrible thing to happen and I hope you manage to fix it up or replace it.

Those lights definitely are "out there" here's my '54 Three Star with headlight with two small reflectors built in!

Here's a close up.....look away now!

 

[dos cruiser]

Nice bike! I really like the Columbias, I have a Hiway Patol but no light. you could make wall art out of your light as a reminder to alway screw down all your parts before riding.

 

[38Vince]

Oddly enough, the rear reflector has a screw missing & I just picked up a Schwinn that has one of the fender light screws missing - guess I had better take the moral of this episode on board!

 

[Sleeper Sedan]

... here's a replacement.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-SCHWINN-Bic ... dZViewItem

 

[Road Master]

I saw that Columbia on Ebay and remember thinking it was such a nice looking bike with a hot fender light. My reaction when I read your story was immediate illness. I've done some things in my time that equaled that and I usually turn it inward - dumb a..! If that would have been me I would have slammed on the brakes, parked the bike right there and make traffic drive around me as I went back to pick it up. Course, I weigh 265 lbs which is the equivalent of hitting a large deer and most people don't want to mess up their cars. Sorry for your bad luck, it is a learning process. Good luck.