My First Elgin!

[Road Master]

First off, I knew nothing about Elgins before I bought this one other than they were distributed by Sears. But I do have the Sears/Wards book with the catalog pages from 1933-1946 for the Elgins. I looked through it trying to find similar frames. In 37 the Robin was similar, in 38 the Robin & the Bluebird were, and then in 1941&42 it appears they reused the frame again for less expensive models. Note in the pictures a trim piece on the stem & there are no holes in the head tube for a badge - possibly a shroud? In the last pic it looks like a model # C83 w/ a serial # C34388. Hopefully there are Elgin people out there that can help me date this approximately, I'm just figuring 1938-42 which covers all of the similar frames. The rear wheel has an Elgin brake arm. The fenders, chain guard, pedals & front wheel are not original. Interestingly the child foot brackets are painted the same color as the bike which appears to be original looking at the fork darts and the original color on the BB. The ends of the coke bottle grips are gone. And this was another find right here in town. After I figure out what model it is I can start keeping my eyes open for parts.

 

[Rat Rod]

That's one cool ride...love that kiddo seat.

 

[Unchained]

Really cool! That extra seat is hard to believe. Is that a weld repair on the left hand fork blade?

 

[Road Master]

I could't get all the photos I wanted in the first thread. What appears to be a weld repair is the foot bracket for the child's feet. Here's some more pics.

 

[user 135]

Way cool.

 

[SimpleMan]

That is one cool bike....I love that kids seat and foot pegs :mrgreen:

 

[rms37]

The frame was made by the Westfield Manufacturing Company. The serial number equates to production being in the early part of 1938.

The frame is the same one that was use on Robins beginning in late 1937 and the unique 1938 bluebird. A variation of the frame with a second top tube was offered by sears for several seasons as an Oriole.

If there are no badge holes it is likely that the frame is from the Bluebird model which used a tank that surrounded the head tube. If it was originally built as a Bluebird then the fork and crank were changed out at some point, the original fork on the Bluebird would not have provided the flat crown surfaces for mounting the child foot pegs.

Another possibility is that the bike was a Sears variation not pictured in the catalogs (not all the models, variations, and suppliers were pictured in the catalogs) or that it is a Westfield product that was not originally sold through Sears.

 

[Unchained]

That child's seat setup is just wild. Looks pretty unsafe :lol:

 

[Rat Rod]

And these guys thought they came up with something new... :lol:

 

[Unchained]

Got to give them credit for including seat belts at least ^^ :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[GTCOMA]

Nice find!

 

[ish]

That bike is super cool. Nice find.

 

[julesjunk]

Excellent find!
I'm visualizing some ideas/variations on that ultra cool childs seat setup for a rat.......

 

[Road Master]

I'm really impressed with all the responses to the child seat addition. I hadn't given it much thought but if everybody likes it that much I'm going to leave it. It does make for some interesting conversation. As far as safety is concerned, it looks a whole lot safer to me than the way we used to ride on the handlebars. Times have changed.

 

[rustymotors]

I saw that on craigslist and tryed to buy it. Glad to see it went to another Ratrod member. here is a pic of a restored one. If you can find the tank and rear rack they are worth a MINT!!!

 

[julesjunk]

I wonder if the tank, if it ever had one, was scrapped in order to install the childs seat??

 

[rustymotors]

I wonder if the tank, if it ever had one, was scrapped in order to install the childs seat??

That is a good question. There are reproductions of that tank out there. They are fiberglass and still cost a ton of pennies.

Jules
I will see you in a couple of weeks. You do not happen to have any roadbikes for sale I could buy while I am in Kansas City?

 

[JLarkin]

Check this out: http://www.nostalgic.net/bicycle49.htm

Look at the photo of just the tank and handlebars. See that little sleeve with the set screw? See the sleeve on his? Gotta be that bike.

 

[Road Master]

Thanks alot John, that's it exactly - same sprocket & fork also. Now I have something to shoot for. I've never seen a rear reflector like that one but it does seem like I saw a tank listed somewhere sometime. Looks good. Thanks again.

 

[Metal Militia]

wow, cool find. i love that child seat! it's similar to this westfield built bike i posted in the fresh finds a few weeks ago.