Nice Hawthorne tank cruiser on eBay...

GoldenMotor.com
silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
280425844654 is the item number for an early 1950's Hawthorne 26" men's cruiser with tank and rear rack. Looks pretty good to my eye. The auction ends tomorrow and it has just one bid at $70.00. Shipping to where I am is $41.00 by UPS... very reasonable. This looks like a really nice candidate for an in frame motor. Tires are 2.125 and the front wheel is missing two spokes. Generally a nice bike which I would bid on except money is short right now and I already have projects lined up. I'd like to see somebody on the list get it, though.
SB
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
there's something weird about that bike. it looks like a repop. the tin fork cap, phillips screws, and the graphics are too perfect, too mechanical.

still a cool bike for the price, but it just don't look old to me.
 
silverbear

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
bairdco said:
there's something weird about that bike. it looks like a repop. the tin fork cap, phillips screws, and the graphics are too perfect, too mechanical.

still a cool bike for the price, but it just don't look old to me.
Click to expand...
Boy, you've got good eyes. I still can't see any Phillips head screws on it, but I'll take your word on it. I don't know if a reproduction was made of that bike or not. Still, I like the frame and it's nice to have the tank and rear rack to work with. I don't think I'd keep the original paint or graphics and wouldn't feel bad for changing things. Redone it could be a nice motorbicycle for the money. Of course it could go up some in the last couple minutes of the auction. Auctions can be weird that way.
SB
 
bairdco

bairdco

a guy who makes cool bikes
Aug 18, 2009
6,537
264
63
living the dream in southern california
when i'm looking at vintage bikes, i tend to scrutinize them pretty closely. there's a lot of people out there who use the old "i don't know anything about bikes" line to try to sell bikes to people that don't know enough about bikes.

case in point. a buddy of mine shows up with this "old" cruiser for me to check out. it's rusty, but it has a tank, fenders, rack, all the good stuff. when i looked close, nothing matched, the frame was a 80's murray or something, and the tank and all that were beat beyond repair.

he paid something like $350 for a bike that was worth, maybe, 75 bucks.

all because the lady told him it was her dad's, and they've had the bike for 50 years or something.

(and it is possible that they lost the original screw on that hawthorne, and they just happened to have a phillips that would work.)
 
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