mens tank bike find !!

[whopperchopper]

Picked this up from CL Chicago, i haven't seen many MENS tank bikes on there for under $300 so i jumped on this for $50. Its a Monark, from all i found on the web it may be a Thunderbird ???? I'm not much of an expert but i would guess mid to late 60's due to the end caps on the frame like the 60's huffy rails had, anyway is this a rare bike not much on the web!! Looks mostly original except for the 24" front rim and missing light and chain. It is fairly crusty, What would you do with it?? I'm thinking of keeping the 24" rim and doing a bit of a hot rod rake on it, rear rim set back 2" and up 2" and dropping the front down with a home made springer, also opening up the middle of the bike by removing the seat post tube. Any info on this bike or any leads on a front light would be helpful Thanks Mike..

 

[Wildcat]

This looks pretty close.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19678&start=15&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Nice find for $50!

 

[whopperchopper]

wheres the serial # on these?

 

[Skipton]

Nice score!

 

[partsguy]

This is a hard to find bike. It is not the Monark Silver King, but it looks like the Monark equivalent of the Huffy Monza GT. Its from the mid 60s and the number is on the rear dropout. Nice find indeed!

 

[whopperchopper]

This is a hard to find bike. It is not the Monark Silver King, but it looks like the Monark equivalent of the Huffy Monza GT. Its from the mid 60s and the number is on the rear dropout. Nice find indeed!

Thanks that helps a bit, i have only been able to find womens huffy monza GT pics, it also looks close to the huffy silver jet which i have found pics of in a mens bike. but nothing so far on the net thats a Monark with a chrome tank...

 

[partsguy]

This is a hard to find bike. It is not the Monark Silver King, but it looks like the Monark equivalent of the Huffy Monza GT. Its from the mid 60s and the number is on the rear dropout. Nice find indeed!

Thanks that helps a bit, i have only been able to find womens huffy monza GT pics, it also looks close to the huffy silver jet which i have found pics of in a mens bike. but nothing so far on the net thats a Monark with a chrome tank...

The Silver Jet was similar, but it had the horn tank and had a completely chrome frame, and fork. The Monark version was the Silver Jet, which featured a blue tank and rack, instead of a red.

 

[partsguy]

Oh, Huffy catalogs are rare as they are, but I am unaware of any Monark catalogs of this era. So restoring one to correct condition is sometimes very difficult.

What was the serial number on the dropout?

 

[Pappy]

I dunno...but I think this is a Huffy built bike with the model being Monark.I don't think it has anything to do with the Monark Silver King Corp. but I could be wrong.It appears to have the Huffy build signatures but like I said I may be wrong...Pappy 8)

 

[dogdart]

Huffy bought Monark in 1957 and sold bikes badged as Monarks thru 1980

 

[whopperchopper]

This is a hard to find bike. It is not the Monark Silver King, but it looks like the Monark equivalent of the Huffy Monza GT. Its from the mid 60s and the number is on the rear dropout. Nice find indeed!

Found the numbers it is 4H86XXX x=unreadable guessing its a 1964? I don't think its worth restoring, the tank is pitted along with the crank, fenders, sprocket, and crank, plus the missing seat, headlight, front rim,etc.. Think this will be a rat type build!! What would you do???

 

[Voyager Al]

Id do it all in paint. Red wheels with whitewalls,black frame,red tank and fenders.

 

[whopperchopper]

Id do it all in paint. Red wheels with whitewalls,black frame,red tank and fenders.

Your reading my mind! i was thinking flat or satin black, red rims, home made springer, not sure about the fenders though..

 

[partsguy]

1980? Latest I've seen them is 1967 or so. Source for this info? Whatever you do man, IF YOU DON'T KEEP THOSE MONARK EMBLEMS, PM ME! Be GENTLE if you try to remove them. This is indeed the Monark version of the Monza GT, the ad can be seen on the musclebikeforums for the Huffy version. Also, if you are going to paint over that Monark decal on the headtube, could you at least send me a close up pic of it with the size? Sorry, these don't turn up often and I'm covering my bases for the future.

 

[partsguy]

Is it mechanically sound? If so, find yourself a seat to match the bike...like a pleated back seat with a chrome crashrail. Find the headlight bezel and paint it black (plus you will have a working light). Put on a set of whitewalls, black, white, or red grips, then RIDE! Only other thing woud be to clear coat that chrome emblem on the headtube as that is very fragile (dishsoap wil disolve it) but it is also VERY cool!

Thats my suggection. A neat old piece of Huffy history with some nice age/patina I might add.

 

[partsguy]

This is a hard to find bike. It is not the Monark Silver King, but it looks like the Monark equivalent of the Huffy Monza GT. Its from the mid 60s and the number is on the rear dropout. Nice find indeed!

Found the numbers it is 4H86XXX x=unreadable guessing its a 1964? I don't think its worth restoring, the tank is pitted along with the crank, fenders, sprocket, and crank, plus the missing seat, headlight, front rim,etc.. Think this will be a rat type build!! What would you do???

I read this again and I have to disagree. If you do a restoration, I would suggest a mild one. The fenders, rims, chainring/sprocket, and crank, are all easy to find and can be pulled out of almost ANY 1960-1980s Huffy middleweight cruiser (the rear fender would be a 1964-1974 but still an easy find). They can be had pretty cheap, too. The tank is something to clean up and keep. The tank itself is nothing special, but that switch plate still has the sticker and it still has those very rare Monark tank emblems. Try an SOS pad on the chrome and see was happens. the headlight piece will be the most difficult part for this bike, but its not the end of the world. Many models from 1964-1969 had this piece.

Very restorable, especially since the prices for middleweights just keep going up. NOW is the time to buy and restore if want to...before prices get out of reach.

EDIT: Chaingaurd is also an easy find. I can send you a pic of one I have and you can use this has a guide for painting.

 

[whopperchopper]

1980? Latest I've seen them is 1967 or so. Source for this info? Whatever you do man, IF YOU DON'T KEEP THOSE MONARK EMBLEMS, PM ME! Be GENTLE if you try to remove them. This is indeed the Monark version of the Monza GT, the ad can be seen on the musclebikeforums for the Huffy version. Also, if you are going to paint over that Monark decal on the headtube, could you at least send me a close up pic of it with the size? Sorry, these don't turn up often and I'm covering my bases for the future.

I'm leaving the emblems, they are probably very brittle. I'm guessing there are no reproductions of the decal?? I've looked and cant find one. PM me your e-mail and I'll get pics and measurements for you in the next few days.

 

[partsguy]

You are correct, they do NOT reproduce the headbadges, decals, or emblems for any of these Monark bikes, so I pack rat these and info for them when I can.


As far what to do with, I've submitted my Rat or Resto ideas, but if the tank is painted, might I recommend black with a black headlight and rechrome the raised lettering? That would be SHARP!