Below are some "in person" photos of the ebay elgin. I couldn't help setting a motor and juice can tank in place to see what it will look like as a motorbicycle and as a kind of statement of intent. The crank will need to be bent a little bit, but the engine is a plug and play. Everything is there, paint is original, seat isn't torn, spokes are all there and tight. This bike must have been kept indoors somewhere and doesn't appear to have been ridden a lot. I've studied the rear bike stand and it looks like something that could be fabricated without any welding. I'll give it a shot some time before summer. I like the axles, which are different, but I can see that I won't be able to use one of Jim's clamshell adapters. If you look at the photo you can see why. The age of the spokes makes me uneasy about a rag joint sprocket, too, so I'm not sure what I'll do. I'd like to use the wheels that are on it as they're in good shape and the skip tooth sprocket can remain that way, keeping everything pretty much original. I guess rebuilding those wheels with heavy gauge spokes might be the best solution. I also like the chain guard and interesting goose neck... never seen one like that. The seat is in good shape, but it and some of the frame and fenders have a little bit of white paint speckles on it, as if someone painted something near the bike and a bit got on it. I don't know if there's a way to remove the white specks, but this paint is maybe good enough to leave alone, with some work at bringing back the color some. I will re read that part of the rustoration buildoff thread to see again what Bairdco did with his Colson, which turned out great. I think this bike should be left pretty much original, but cleaned up and yes, it will get a motor.
I have a question for anyone who might know the answer... the rear fender has spots along each edge for some kind of skirt guard. What was used? String? What did it connect to at the axle, the axle itself, just wrapped on there? Just curious. I was picturing something like a large fender washer with holes drilled along the edge fixed to the axle and either elk hide thongs or even spokes going from the fenders to the modified fender washer at the axle. It could make an interesting design motiff. Just getting ideas before actually doinganything. My plate is full at the moment with the 39 elgin in the rustoration build off.
SB