New Arrival: World War II Era (est. 1940 - 1945) "Old Type" Raleigh Model 19 Dawn Safety Tourist

 

I had not planned on adding more bikes this year, but a fellow-collector friend of mine recently acquired and offered to me this beautiful, WWII era Raleigh Model 19 Dawn Tourist. I couldn't resist such an old and unusual bike in great condition, so I bought it from him. 

This one is a little different: an early variant of the Model 19, with 26 x 1 3/8 wheels, but a slack, roadster-style frame with rod brakes.

 

Most Raleigh aficionados know the Dawn series as the classic Sports frame paired with rod brakes. I've owned several over the years, ranging from late 1940s era bikes with rod-stirrup brakes, to early 1960 era bikes with rod-drum brakes. Each of those bikes had the Sports style frame. 

This Dawn Safety Tourist is an even earlier bike. A survey of the Raleigh catalogues shows that before, and during WWII, the Dawn Tourist had a roadster-style frame with bolt-up seat stays. These early Dawn Tourists were basically small versions of the larger roadsters. 

 

The Dawn series advertised a "safety" aspect in having smaller wheels, a lower bottom bracket, and a lower stand-over height than a traditional roadster. The Dawn Safety series of bikes adapted the rod brake roadsters for heavier traffic, where stop-and-go action would be frequent. 

This particular bike has a 22-inch frame on 26 x 1 3/8 Westwood rims. It's as if Raleigh took its traditional 28-inch wheel roadster and shrunk it down all around. It has black-out cranks and partially blacked-out brake parts. The paint is in excellent condition overall - even many of the pin stripes are still visible after 80+ years.

This bike has an un-dated Dynohub front and an un-dated Sturmey Archer AW rear. The AW has the "Patent" imprint on the shell, similar to my 1947 Raleigh Model 35 and my 1947 Schwinn Continental. I would estimate the date of this Model 19 to be some time between late 1940 and early 1946 - after the old system of hand-stamping dates ended in 1940 but before the new system of dating began in 1947. That also matches with the evolution of the Dawn series from a roadster-style frame before WWII to a Sports-style frame for the 1946 model year. I would date this as a 1940 to 1945 era bike. 

So many of these old, unusual Raleighs turn up in Massachusetts, particularly just outside of Boston. That city was home to Raleigh in the USA for many years. 

Let's take a look now at a couple of Raleigh catalogue images.

1939:  The pre-war Dawn Safety Tourist had 26 x 1 3/8 wheels, 22-inch and 24-inch frames, and a roadster-style frame with bolt-up seat stays. 

 

1940: Similar to the 1939 bike. Still a shrunk-down version of the roadster.

 

1942: A wartime catalogue shows the Model 19 again as the roadster-style frame. It is interesting that these earlier frames have the pump pegs on the seat tube rather than the down tube. The Model 19 I have acquired looks to be slightly later in having the down tube style pegs, but still with the roadster frame.

 

 

1946: The Dawn series switched to the Sports-style frame. Frames were now 21-inch and 23-inch on 26 x  3/8 wheels. This is the start of the Dawn series we are most familiar with today - a Sports-type bike with rod brakes. In the past, I've called these "hybrid roadsters" in that they combine elements of the Sports bikes with the rod brakes of more traditional roadsters. The 1946 catalogue contains the following image of the Dawn Tourist and describes the frame as "entirely brazed-up", meaning the seat stays were brazed and it was a Sports-style frame rather than the bolt-up roadster of the earlier Dawn family.

 The 1947 catalogue similarly shows the Dawn family as Sports-style "brazed-up" frames.

Season's Greetings

 Season's Greetings to everyone. 

Here in the northern hemisphere, we are in the shortest days of the year. The official start of winter is close at hand. But there are always a few bike and parts projects to do...

 

Wishing you all the best this holiday season. 

Gambling on Vintage Bikes... or Not

"You've got to know when to hold 'em,
know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away,
know when to run."

-Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler"

 

If you're familiar with the snippet above, the old Kenny Rogers song is also probably playing in your head. Those of us old enough to remember when everyone listened to AM/FM radio in the car rather than podcasts, streaming music, or God-knows-whatever-else, certainly had the song stuck in our heads at one point or another...

But that brings me to the lesson of the day - know when to fold and walk away from a vintage bike or bike parts purchase.  I reflect on this because last month I finally scrapped the half-dozen or so dead bike frames in my garage. They went to the recycler. 

There are those people who will keep everything, broken, useful, or neither-of-the-above. But there is a fine line between the eccentric collector or accumulator of stuff, and the true hoarder. 

These frames were scrapped because these were all damaged in some way: warped bottom bracket, badly bent front triangle, smashed head tube, etc. All saveable parts were stripped, cataloged, and bagged away in my stockpile. 

"Know when to fold 'em". You cut your losses, save the parts, and scrap the frame (or turn it into a wall hanger). You're not going to save or revive every single bike you find. This goes for every experience and every skill level in the hobby. I have been doing this for around 30 years now and even I find there are some bikes that are beyond saving. Don't risk your safety (or someone else's) on a bike that has been too damaged to ride. Beyond that, don't waste your time and money on a black hole of a bike that needs all kinds of special repairs, and which may not even function properly when you are done.  

Likewise, walk away from sales where you think the seller is being dishonest or the bike has a serious problem you'd like to avoid. Yes, you've just driven 60 miles one-way to see the bike and it's a frigid Sunday at 5:30 a.m... but remember, "know when to walk away, know when to run." Don't sendcompound your woes by driving all that way, so early in the morning, only to end up over-paying for a bike that can't even be properly fixed. Don't keep talking to a seller that may be misleading you or misrepresenting a bike or part. Save your money for the next bike that comes along... because eventually one will... maybe a much better one.

And always remember: your time is the most valuable resource.