acme lady schwinn more pics

this is a 50's schwinn i got out of my dads barn, it was prety rusty, had to give it all new bright parts and powder coat the racks. the horn in the tank even still works. still need to put on the wire loom and pin stripes, it rides really great. heres a tip for everyone, i filled the frame and handlebars with expanding foam, the kind you use for basements and home repair, works great for cutting down the vibrations.

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Nicely put together! Can you show a pic on the chain side?
Was there any problems with chain clearance?
I really want to look at your rear mount.
That weld looks factory.
And it looks like if you ever wanted to put in a pull starter it would easily clear the pedals.

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Good lookin motor mt!

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Your tank looks really good.. here's a pic of my bike..

theres a pic of the frame before the motor was put in that shows the mount in the pics and vid section.

Back a few years ago I was crippled from a partial paralysis in my feet and lower legs (Guillane Barre Syndrome, similar to polio) and couldn't swing my leg over the back of the bike. So I started studying girls bikes (I have decided I prefer calling them "step through frames", as it sounds more manly, ya know) and settled on early sixties Schwinn Deluxe Americans, very similar to your very nice Acme Ladies Schwinn from the fifties. If anything there is more room on the Americans for a low engine mount. On one I have a pull start and had to go with a short armed pedal crank from a 20" bike (mine came from a Worksman folding bike... perfect!). I've just finished mounting heavy duty 2.125 wheels from bikeworldusa on both bikes and the ride is awesome, much better than the middleweight tires which came on the bikes. It is a tight fit, especially with middleweight fenders, but worth it. I also found front brake adapters for those early Schwinns so that I could mount a front caliper brake setup. Also a great improvement to these bikes. I like your gas tank in the back and would guess you have very little spill/leakage from it. I'll be on the lookout for those myself. One bike has a rear tank from thatdax... leaks at the cap no matter what, and the other has a square tank from a dead snowblower. Less leakage but not real good looking. On the other hand it holds a 1 1/2 gallons.
I like the kind of art deco look of these "step through" Schwinns, they're well made from when Schwinn was a proud company boasting "Chicago Made" and a selling point of the American model was that everything on that bike was made in the USA. Being able to step through and having the engine low enough on the frame to do that is a real plus and I think makes these good candidates as vintage motor bicycles. I was going to post pictures of mine and can't figure out how to do it. Mine are already resized by Picassa. If anyone can give me a tip on inserting photos I'd much appreciate it.
Silverbear

Nice bike! Looks really cool!

(Silverbear: in the "Quick reply"-window below theese posts there are a "Go Advanced"-button. Click it and then scroll down a bit to "Manage attachments" on the new page (yes, a bit below all the cartoons n stuff). Click it and then select the "Browse" button in the popup-window. Select your file and click "upload", then you can select "Submit reply" on the first page you got to if you want to publish your image.)

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I think I figured out the pictures...
This is a l963 Schwinn American Deluxe, made the same year I graduated from high school. It is the first chain drive bike I put together and is still my favorite. This is not the pull start, but an 80cc thatsdax bump start. I put a wider crank on it from a Japanese or Chinese made older bike so it would clear. I have a pull start for it so as soon as I find a short armed crank from a 20" bike or exercise bike I'll have it as a pull start like the other one not pictured. Seat is Worksman. High rise handlebars are from a dead three wheeler. The front fender light I absolutely love... it is from a Kawasaki Vulcan and the eyes light up when the engine is running... how cool is that! I'm ordering a front fender light for the other bike which is a reproduction of an Indian motorcycle fender light from the fifties. Expensive, but fun stuff. After adding a front caliper brake I changed the brake lever to one from an electric bike which has the brake light switch built in and wired that to a brake light. I also have a rear running light, brake light and headlight all operating off of the engine magneto. I removed the bulbs from the headlight and tail light and drilled through the base so that I could wire in five 6 volt LED lights which draw very little. The wires from five will fit through the bulb socket opening. I like having everything run off the magneto. The headlight originally had two bulbs. laughingly one was for high beam and the other low beam. I left the upper beam alone with the original incandescent bulb so that I can switch it on separately in case I need a bit more light or the bike quits at night... keeps me visible. That light operates as it orignally did off of two AA batteries inside the light housing. The bike trailer is perfect for my dog Aaniimoosh (Ojibwe for dog) who begs for rides. I also believe that the trailer makes me a lot more visible and if people think a darling child is maybe tucked inside there, they tend to give me more consideration. I figure the American flag also helps with the redneck faction... they see me and figure I must be a WWI veteran. Anything to keep it safe out there. Anyway, that's one of my "American Flyers". Long post... as I look at the frame I see it is no lower than your Acme.
Silverbear

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Thanks for the reply. I saw it myself once I got to looking around.
Silverbear

silverbear, thats a very cool bike you've got there, i love it. the tank on mine is from an old chain saw. the only draw back to the girls bikes is you have to be more creative with the cable routing, don't have the top tank or bar to hide things. a few more examples like ours and maybe people will stop over looking the girls bikes.