'57 Speed Creep

['48 Hawthorne]

I found this bike in the classifieds a few years ago, and have been dragging it around with me ever since. It spent the years of '57-85 in the front window of a Firestone Tire store, then went in to hiding. I found it, got it working, but have never been happy with it, till now.

http://s1037.photobucket.com/albums/a452/chester_fuzzingten/?action=view&current=monarkoriginal.jpg

 

[Schweetcruisers]

to post pictures simply copy and paste the image code from photobucket

Like the colors,cool bike

 

['48 Hawthorne]

Thanks for the posting tip! A little bit of progress, flat black paint and some decals. Thanks to the folks at Rue Morgue Magazine.

I like the original colours of the bike myself, but they are not my cup of tea, nor is the way it behaved. The original rusty paint, Firestone decals, seat, crank and pedals are staying in the mix. Everything else is subject to the wrath of heavy metal and Pabst Blue Ribbon!

 

['48 Hawthorne]

Still waiting on the wheels. I got some lights all done up, vintage, mixed with LEDs for reliability!

 

['48 Hawthorne]

This was my first build, and even though the 3-speed hasn't panned out yet, here's what I got. It all started with a 1957 Monark Firestone Speed Chief middleweight that I have had for a few years, but was never happy with. The bike was completely torn down, the only original parts that remained are the crank, seat, chain, pedals and stem. I swapped out the original fork for a Monark repop springer and painted it flat black. The handlebars are off a 70's muscle bike, the chain guard is off a 1930s Mead, the grips are 70s NOS, and the reflectors in the grips are 60s NOS. The bell is WWII blackout, tires are Duro flame tread ballooners, taillights are 50s Delta, and the headlight is unknown 40s. I gutted the headlight and placed a new LED bar mount light in the battery tray. The taillights were painted flat black and have LEDs in them as well. The original kickstand was swapped out for a bat-wing style one. The air caps are vintage rubber checkered flags. The rear fender is a front fender from an Electra that I had to do some adjustments on to get it to fit. I really like the ratty original decals so they stayed and I added a few others. It rides so smooth and I'm finally happy with it! Cheers!

 

[HotRodRob]

Great job man! Thats a great spot for photo shoots eh? Ya even got some waves in there We should get together and cruise the beach sometime.