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Re: Packard Bikes
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Forum Ambassador
 
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Sorry Leeedy, couldn't resist posting the photo below. Not a Packard bike, but a bike mounted on a Packard! Photo taken during the NZ Rally 2014.
Attach file:  (144.98 KB)
Posted on: 2020/3/2 18:26
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Mal
/o[]o\ ====  Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia "Out of chaos comes order" - Nietzsche. 1938 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD 1941 One-Twenty Club Coupe - SOLD 1948 Super Eight Limo, chassis RHD - SOLD 1950 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD What's this?  Put your Packard in the Packard Vehicle Registry! Here's how! Any questions - PM or email me at ozstatman@gmail.com |
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
 
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PACKARD BICYCLE FRONT SPRING SUSPENSION>>>>> If you read this 1936 bicycle accessory advertisement, a company in Cincinnati was selling a bicycle front suspension attachment they called "Packard Knee Action." Bicycle hobbyists today (even the ones who think they are "historians" or TV stars) are too young to remember, but up until the end of the 1960s, bicycle suspensions-like cars- were termed "knee-action." Thus the wording of this ad.
For whatever reason, a whole new generation of younger folks in the 1970s took to calling knee-action front suspensions, "springers"-wherever this came from. As in, "aw... that Schwinn Phantom bicycle ... or that Harley's got a springer fork." So from then on, the knee-action terminology died and was replaced in the general jargon by the term, "springer." (people today tend to just make up terms to mean whatever THEY want, irregardless of established terminology that existed previously... all of which is how "restored" now means a flashy paint job and blinding chrome instead of "returned to original"... and "all original" means whatever the person saying it chooses!). Anyway, the add-on gadget in this ad claims it would work on any bicycle but this is hard to believe since the device moves the front wheel inches forward and has no stops to prevent contact with a bicycle fender during upward movement. Also note that the ad talks about "1936 Packard smoothness"... with obvious hints here mixing Packard automobile and this bicycle suspension. Again, no genuine connection with Packard Motor Car Company, but you can see where they were going with this. Company called itself, "Packard Knee Action Company" One more of the many times the Packard name was applied to bicycles in the USA in days of old. And the beat goes on... Attach file: (68.98 KB)
Posted on: 2020/3/13 14:42
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
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Speaking of vintage green bicycles... here is another pose of my rare 2-tone green 1941 Schwinn-Built Packard Autocycle Deluxe undergoing restoration. Some is restored, some is NOS (New Old Stock) original. Unmolested from new. Has front and rear "Expander" (drum) brakes, built-in illuminated speedometer registering "0.2" miles, whitewall balloon tires (U.S. Royal Masters with "Centipede Grip"), electric horn, twin headlights, key-locking front fork.
Attach file: (209.00 KB)
Posted on: 2020/3/31 23:04
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
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Very nice machine, Leon. Quite the suspension system and the drum brakes were 'state-of-the-art' for that time, yes/no?
Does 'key-lock' mean you could actually lock the front forks as an anti-theft feature? Chris.
Posted on: 2020/3/31 23:34
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'If you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right!' Henry Ford.
1939 Packard Six, Model 1700 |
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Forum Ambassador
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Leon,
How about a photo of you on one of your "Packard" bikes  Sorry,  couldn't help it, "social distancing" does that!
Posted on: 2020/4/1 1:02
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Mal
/o[]o\ ==== Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia "Out of chaos comes order" - Nietzsche. 1938 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD 1941 One-Twenty Club Coupe - SOLD 1948 Super Eight Limo, chassis RHD - SOLD 1950 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD What's this? Put your Packard in the Packard Vehicle Registry! Here's how! Any questions - PM or email me at ozstatman@gmail.com |
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Thanks for the compliment on my Packard Deluxe Autocycle. Knee-action suspension (pardon moi if I don't call it a "springer") on American-made classic bicycles was pretty much expected on the top-of-the-line deluxe models beginning in the 1930s and running into the 1960s. On Schwinn-Built bicycles it was the suspension system that debuted in the late 1930s. Initially it was only on the most expensive models and then became available as an extra-cost option on lesser ("junior") models made by the company. Bicycle guys (who think Schwinn means "God" but don't know any better) will yell about this, but Arnold, Schwinn & Co. (AS&C) copied the Schwinn suspension from the Cleveland motorcycle... and Cleveland copied it from yet another motorcycle brand. Other USA bicycle makers had various designs for suspensions. Some were awful. Some (such as Cleveland Welding Company) were quite good and unique. Some even had rear suspensions in the Classic Era. Suspensions were also popular in the late 1800s to early 1900s. For instance the Pierce Pan American bicycle (made by a branch of the company that made Pierce-Arrow automobiles) was a very early example of front and rear suspension. As for drum brakes on bicycles in the Classic Era (1920-1965) these were largely popularized in the USA by AS&C but were also available on bicycles from other makers such as Westfield (maker of Columbia) and European brands such as Raleigh. But yes, state-of-the-art for 1941. And yes, the front fork on Schwinn-Built Autocycle Deluxe models including "Packard" brand locked with a Yale Junior key as a theft-preventive feature. This feature was introduced in the mid-1930s and became an optional extra-cost feature on lesser models. Other USA Classic Era brands also had various forms of key-locking front ends or front wheels. Among these were Cleveland Welding Company, Murray Ohio Company, Manton & Smith, Monark-Silver King,Incorporated, and others. There were also aftermarket systems that did likewise.
Posted on: 2020/4/1 11:29
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Well... that's asking a lot, but not impossible. Would take a while to get one down and out in the sun. I don't ride most of them anymore. I just look at them hanging up in storage. I'll see what I can do this summer. Had a fantasy of lining up all of the Packard bicycles for a photo shoot... but this would surely take quite a bit of doing. I've been collecting Packard bicycles since I was a kid... and that was a long, long time ago. I believe I have three that are NOS. So for now, use your imagination and I'll see if I can equal or surpass it!
Posted on: 2020/4/1 11:39
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Forum Ambassador
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 Leon,But don't go to any trouble. Just having a little fun  in these troubled times.
Posted on: 2020/4/1 11:46
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Mal
/o[]o\ ==== Bowral, Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia "Out of chaos comes order" - Nietzsche. 1938 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD 1941 One-Twenty Club Coupe - SOLD 1948 Super Eight Limo, chassis RHD - SOLD 1950 Eight Touring Sedan - SOLD What's this? Put your Packard in the Packard Vehicle Registry! Here's how! Any questions - PM or email me at ozstatman@gmail.com |
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Re: Packard Bikes
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Home away from home
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And now... for something reallllly different...
I'm sure many of you have seen Packard automobile registrations. But I'll just bet you've never seen a Packard bicycle license registration. Have you? This one is from 1947 for a Packard bicycle purchased in 1942. Address in Lorain, Ohio has been covered over here for privacy. C'mon... admit it. You've never seen one-even if you are into vintage bicycles... Ohh... and dare I say it? This one wasn't given away with a Packard automobile, but it was purchased from an automotive store! Attach file: (184.13 KB)
Posted on: 2020/4/11 12:41
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