1938 Prewar Schwinn Model BC 117 Men's Standard Motorbike Bicycle Straight Bar

  
This is a straight bar Motorbike bicycle. I believe this to be a 1938 Schwinn Model BC 117 "The Men's Standard (Equipped)". Because the bike is missing its badge, it is always possible the bike could be something other than a Schwinn. The two vertical head badge holes look like a Schwinn to me. First, let me tell you a little bit about the bike. The rear wheel is severely bent with several broken spokes. As far as I can see myself, I see no severe impact damage to the rest of the bike except some seat post clamp bolts (still operable) as noted in the pics. Of course, it has dents, dings, and surface rust areas on it.

I received the bike complete, but at some point someone had put a modern (1960's) saddle on it, ape hangers, and sprayed the whole thing red including the non-painted parts. It appears that after the rear wheel was damaged the bike was just left outside and not ridden again for many years.

I assumed the bike was from the 40's and was going to do kind of a rat rod refresh to it. I removed and threw away the tetanus special saddle and bulb horn and the rusted through ape hangers. I removed one frozen original pedal and a working modern pedal which are included with the bike. As I started removing pieces, I realized this bike was earlier than I thought.

I have a near mint condition pre-war Schwinn Admiral, and I started noticing the similarities. So here are the reasons I think the bike is a 1934-38 and also specifically the model I stated above. The New Departure coaster brake actually says Model D on the brake arm. While it was obvious to me that the saddle and handlebars were not original, everything else on this bike appears original, including that it doesn't look like the bike was ever taken apart before I did it.

Of course, it is always possible that parts could have been replaced on the bike. In checking the 1933 catalog and the catalogs from 1939 on, nothing matched the rear rack, back reflector, front length of front fender, spot for headlight, flare at rear of front fender only, sweetheart crank, hole in front fender for cable from tank plus attachments under fender to hold the cable leading to the front fender light. There is NO fender light, tank, or wiring. However, the hole for the wiring and hardware is still intact under the front fender.

But these are the reasons it seems to clearly match the model I stated. Because I can't access Schwinn catalogs from 1934 - 1937, I cannot see whether it can match another year or model, but perhaps your research can figure it out. There is no chainguard and also now no handlebars, grips, saddle, rear rack, or rear drop down stand. As you see in the last pic with the thumbs down, there is NO rear rack or rear drop kickstand or kickstand clip. The first pic also shows the rear rack, but the bike will not come with the rear rack. I'm sorry, but I'm keeping the rear rack for my prewar Admiral and the kickstand and clip for one of my other bikes. You WILL receive the rear reflector which while beat up a bit with some paint on it is not broken. I'm not going to go through how valuable a lot of the parts included with this bike are. I would expect you know that if you're looking at this bike. Also included is the side kickstand which came with the bike and is sturdy as heck.

The rear wheel is bent with broken spokes. The front wheel shares what looks like some rust through and the axle is tight and doesn't spin, but I would think it could be rebuilt. I aired up the tires just enough to expand onto the rims, and they held air.

But the tires are quite dry rotted and could never handle full pressure. Includes truss rods, chain adjuster screws, extra long lucky 7 seat post, and skip tooth chain.

Chain is rusty, but most of the links move, and I would think it could be cleaned up and used. Basically, everything in the other pictures is what is included with the bike. Obviously you will want to go through it. Especially, tighten all bolts and nuts, because I have loosened many in taking the bike apart, and have left the bolts loosely attached so you can clean them up or at a minimum grease/ oil them up. I found a lot of the bolts to come off surprisingly easily after spraying them down with oil.

The crank, headset, forks, etc all move freely although I'm sure you'll want to rebuild/ repack the bearings. This description includes a lot of just my opinions. I have tried to represent it well including its flaws. But, please look carefully at the pics as they are the most important part of the description, do your own research, and I'm happy to answer any questions I can.