Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico UPDATE: 5/16 - Fender Drama

[Harvest Cyclery]

Howdy folks,

Super exited to throw my hat in the ring for this year's RRBBO. I've lurked on the forum for years and have always looked forward to the day I would have a chance to participate. I just moved Harvest Cyclery out of my studio space and into a formal storefront, so hopefully I'll get this bike finished before the deadline. I'm starting with a 52 or 53 Monark Holiday. I acquired this bike as part of a collection I bought from a gentleman out in Rockaway Beach.

Here is how it sat as I found it.

No quill bolt, left pedal boss completely blown out and the front fender was not attached to the underside of the springer fork.



Did a little research and found the original ebay listing from last year archived at http://www.vintagebicyclesonline.com

Makes me wonder how many hands it has passed through on its journey from the Midwest to New York City. I assume it came from the Midwest as the holiday was only available at Holiday Gas Station in the Wisconsin area from what I understand.


My plan for this build is to pay reverence to the local Latino bicycle clubs here in Bushwick, Brooklyn. There are a handful of clubs that mostly center around variations of Classic Schwinn Cruisers.

Puerto Rico Schwinn Club has been around the longest from what I understand. Their style is pretty wild, a lot of the O.G.'s bikes are really over the top. Tons of accessories and horns and sirens and radios.

I really appreciate these dudes because they are generally exited when they meet other folks cruising the neighborhood on classic bikes. Its a really refreshing experience considering the amount of silliness and attitude that comes along with some of the other cycling niches in New York City. These dudes are just stoked to cruise around on Sundays, have a few beers at the club house and stare at the bikes they love, its a philosophy I can relate to 100%.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Js333hCmoU0 http://www.youtube.com/embed/7O4KKWqqvPU
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So the plan is to bring this Monark Holiday back to life, and in the process build something that these dudes could appreciate, at the same time, I hope I can show them that a bike with ratty beat up paint and tons of rust all over the place can still look really awesome.

Thanks for taking the time to read this guys! Sorry for the picture overload. Happy Building!!!

-AJ

 

[raggedjim]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

Nice bike to build. Sounds like I'd fit right in with those guys, Rg

 

[user 135]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

Great idea for a build.

 

[supergoob]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

It'd be tough for me to do much to that bike, but it sounds like paying tribute to these clubs is a very fitting reason to do so. Make sure to share your documentation with them!

 

[kingfish254]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

Super sweet bike and cool theme!
Welcome to the madness and good luck

 

[axsepul]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

i still can't understand why some people like to ride with all of that stuff which makes it real hard to see the actual bike. you can still find some people here that do the same thing but luckily that trend is fading away. i hope the monark don't get the accessoriesssssss treatment.

tuned in and ready to watch!

 

[kingfish254]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

Build what you like. There is room for all bike customizing styles here.

 

[Harvest Cyclery]

Re: Monark Holiday in Puerto Rico

Thanks for all the support guys! Don't worry, I'm going to attempt to keep the accessorizing as tasteful and understated as possible, as this bike is pretty wild as is.

Picked up a set of these Vintage 90s Panaracer Smoke / Dart tires on eBay a few months ago. I test fit them quite a while ago and really liked the way they look (hope this doesn't DQ my entry) , but I'm not sure if I should go with red or white tires. Need to find some knobby red and white tires someway somehow. (any suggestions folks?)

When I attempted to mount the front fender to the underside of the springer fork, I discovered a VERY crusty mounting screw that had no intention of coming loose. So I pulled the fork off to get better access to the bolt and quickly realized the whole fork needed to be disassembled.

Attempted to saw the flathead screwdriver fitting to accept a beefer bit to I could attempt to torque on it with a cheater bar, but the bolt just exploded.

Came to terms with the fact that this would need to be drilled out and retapped. Had to wedge a screwdriver between the bolt and the inside of the steer-tube as the mount pivots on an axis, I assume to allow some freedom of motion as the fork compresses and rebounds.

Tapped the new threads to the same pitch as this old crank bolt I had laying around. Threw a few stacked washers in to act as spacers in order to lower the front fender about half an inch to really swallow the tire.
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Shot some fresh grease in the headset bearings real quick and bolted her back up.

The acorn bolt that holds the springer together blew out, so I robbed an axle nut from this parts bike that is sitting on the back burner. Also commandered the seat and seat post as well as the front rocket fender emblem.

Took a lot more work than I expected to get only part of the way through the mock-up stage, but I guess the little surprises are what makes resurrecting old bikes that much more fun. Luckily this is the last time Ill need to work in my dingy and dark "studio", as the power is getting turned on at the new shop next week. All new updates will be coming from Harvest Cyclery's new location at 606 Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn New York. I may even share some photos from the demo, build out, and move into the new shop. Thanks for watching guys. Update hopefully in the next few days.

 

[kingfish254]

Lot of work for a little fender screw, but worth it. Love those deeeeeeep fenders.
You stripped that green paint fast. What did you use?

 

[Harvest Cyclery]

Lot of work for a little fender screw, but worth it. Love those deeeeeeep fenders.
You stripped that green paint fast. What did you use?

The blue bike is actually a second Holiday I picked up along with the one I am building. Unfortunatly it has been painted over with automotive paint. Real shame. I will be borrowing a few parts from this bike until I have a chance to truly restore the repainted bike. I would NEVER strip the paint from the original Holiday!

 

[Critter1]

Nice work on the fix. Man, Monark had the nicest, flowiest (is that a word?) sheet metal back in the day!!

 

[axsepul]

looking good!!

 

[kingfish254]

Lot of work for a little fender screw, but worth it. Love those deeeeeeep fenders.
You stripped that green paint fast. What did you use?

The blue bike is actually a second Holiday I picked up along with the one I am building. Unfortunatly it has been painted over with automotive paint. Real shame. I will be borrowing a few parts from this bike until I have a chance to truly restore the repainted bike. I would NEVER strip the paint from the original Holiday!

I am glad. That really threw me off.
Lucky dog to have two of those!!!