theproscloset
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Repack Rider":v9o6jcjp said:
The mystery was the amount of Series III bikes and how they were numbered, not the well documented Series I bikes.
Prior to this info, MOMBAT advertised that 60 Series III bikes existed (This was based off the number of tubes Joe originally ordered). We now know this is not true and the number is really closer to 25 if not 24.
It was up until recently that we realized that Series III numbers actually started with number 26 (not 1 as previously thought) and go to about 49. Joe never finished building all the tubesets he had ordered as his hite rite business started to take off.
Series I bikes as you know have 3 numbers and their numbering is more complicated:
The first number is the order the front triangle brazed.
The 2nd number is the order the rear stay was brazed.
The 3rd and final number is the order the laterals were brazed.
For example we have Otis Guy's Series I Breezer on display in our museum and it has the serial number 2.81.
2.81 = 2nd front triangle brazed, 8th rear stays brazed, and 1st laterals brazed.
Effectively, all of the Series I frames were built at the same time with pieces getting attached in different sequences. There are pictures of the bikes lined up ready to be nickel plated.
He took a similar approach to the Series II bikes. Everything was mitered at once and most of the frames were brazed in a batch. He would finish up a bike based off of when an order was placed.
