blackbomber

I picked up a really nice Humber light roadster today. Looks like a Sports, but with the addition of full Sturmey lighting, and a saddlebag. Hubs indicate it's a 1965. Bike appears to be all original, down to the Dunlop Sports tires. Odd points are the Dunlop Endrick rims (ok, might have been switched out), and the down tube transfer which reads "Supreme." It's definately a water slide or screening, and I have no reason to believe it's not original to the bike. Except that I can't find anything on a Humber Supreme. A third oddity is the Raleigh transfer on rear fender, but my friend has a '61 Humber with the split fork (definitely a Humber fork) that has the Raleigh insignia on the fork, so I'm not too concerned about that. Any thoughts on the Supreme moniker?





I have seat, saddlebag, and pump. Removed for transport in rain.

sloar 

I had one a few years ago.

blackbomber

Thanks for sharing that. Your bike is pretty interesting (keeping in mind I'm a newb to Humber, and English bikes in general). I see it has the Sports lettering, but also has a B66, and a full chain case. Neat stem, too. I'm guessing that's a Miller headlight. What year was it, do you recall?
Loving the Duplex fork, and neat stem, too.

markk900

I have a 49 Sports Light Roadster (model 322)......don't worry about the Raleigh stuff - they owned the company by the early 30s and so their mark got onto a lot of parts!

I note that while the parts date to mid 60s, you still have the (great) maypole crank and Raleigh style brakes (fixed cable end); there is another recent post where the Humber there has the more modern brakes and crank. You also appear to have the earlier headbadge.

If I were guessing then I would say the decal was added later.

Here's a shot of mine with my wife's 1955 Standard Model K.....

markk900

I'm going to correct myself.....on closer look you have the later headbadge and the seat tube decals look more like the 60s so it could be all original.....

blackbomber

You know, it's funny that my friends '61 Humber Sports has the generic RI corporate chainring, and this (presumed) newer bike has the maypole one. He suggested this bike would be newer as it didn't have the Duplex fork, but I initially thought it would be older, as it had the signature Humber ring. I did take a look at the bike in the light of (a dry) day today, and there is clear evidence the bike has been apart at some point. So perhaps it's not as original as I'd hoped. Do you have any thoughts on the Endrick rims? I guess one thing I could do is pull the front wheel, and see if the hub has the Raleigh style cone nuts. As I understand, this being a Raleigh-built bike, it should use the nuts with the lip that fits inside the fork ends.

markk900

I didn't note the significance of the rims.....Do you have some reason to suspect they should be some other style or brand (Perhaps SA or RI branded?)

Not surprised a more than 50 year old bike shows evidence of being apart.....as to the crank it is possible different model trim levels in the 60s had different cranks....maybe that's what makes yours a "Supreme"?

Edit: doing a little more digging and found this 1971 Sport with the maypole chainring and similar decals (https://genetics.mgh.harvard.edu/hanczyc/1971humber.html)

markk900

Edit 2: also found this 1972 with the generic chainring and similar decals (sans the Supreme).....https://www.flickr.com/photos/mlw61m...umberbicycles/

markk900

And finally another one with the generic (though different) crank *and* apparently Dunlop rims......no year though and decals are slightly different.... https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...cycle-17357828

blackbomber

markk900 - Thanks for taking the time to post these examples. I've resigned to be comfortable with the fact that these bikes vary widely, and I don't need to know everything to enjoy them. I guess once I saw that the bike wasn't as pristine as I'd hoped, I went looking to find fault with it. The fact remains that it's still a nice bike, and given the distance I traveled to get it, I would still have bought it even if I was able to scrutinize it more. My kids were with me, and it was raining. Live and learn. I think I paid on the high side at $175, but given what I usually pay ($30 - $75), and the fact that it's well equipped, with the nicest B72 I have ridden, I couldn't have put together a bike this nice for what it cost me. So the search continues for the cornerstone bike of my "collection." this one is still nice. I took it on a 4 mile ride today after oiling what I could. I like to have some seat time on a bike before tearing it down. Other than a squeak from the front hub (will check bearing preload and lubrication shortly), it rode very nicely. I had to swap out the pedals, as the rubber on the neat ones that came with it doesn't look like it's going to hold up (that was a downer in itself). There is a product the vintage tractor people use on the tires - maybe I can rejuvinate the pedals. If not, I'll sell them to someone who wants them for a wall hanger. On eBay - I know the BF rules on selling.

clubman 

There's another Humber without the duplex fork on this thread although it's a much later '78.

Yours appears to be early 60's with the old Raleigh pattern cables. Endrick rims became common in the 60's and Raleigh played fast and loose with the builds of many of their secondary marques so anything was possible as they consolidated all sorts of stock. Occasionally you'll even see Birmingham forks and parts on Dunelts and other brands from the big takeover in 1960. Don't sweat it.

blackbomber

I've seen the posting for that brown Humber. the '78 hub in that post is from a different poster (and different bike). The owner of the brown bike claims it's a 1950. I passed over that one for the black one I bought, but I might go see it for a friend out of state for whom I'm looking for a bike in the 21" size.

Anyway, thanks for your perspective on the variability of these bikes. I know I've read (or maybe it was on Velocipedium) that after the 1960 takeover, some bikes were still manufactured in Birmingham, but to Raleigh spec. I have a Hercules with the RI dropouts, but early chainwheel - so that piqued my interest.

I did pull the front wheel from this bike, and it indeed has the Raleigh style cone nuts, although I might be misunderstanding that, and maybe all RI brands (I thought it was just the ones with Westrick rims) used that. I took a few pics after my ride today. I'll post in a bit.

clubman 

Yes, I see the other poster with the 78 hub but still, that brown bike screams late 60's, early 70's with the reflectors on the pedals, 32/40 wheels and full gear cable housing. The crank is not even standard generic Raleigh so perhaps it's another foreign market, perhaps Dutch. You got a nice bike and your kids will likely ride it when they grow up so it's money well spent.

blackbomber

I had a feeling the brown bike was newer as well - I almost messaged the seller to ask what she used to determine the date, but that bike is 20 minutes from me, so I figure if and when I'm ready, I'll just check it out in person. I actually like the brown.

Thanks for the compliment on the one I bought. I didn't say it explicitly, but what happened is that I was in a hurry at the sellers, bike was in a garage, and it was raining. When I checked it in daylight the following day, it appeared lackluster, and I found more bits of rust I hadn't seen before, so I went looking for faults. I'm over that now. I think what happened is that the seller probably used some kind of liquid wax or furniture polish to spruce it up, and after the 60 mile drive in a downpour on highway, all that washed off. You can see the beading in the photos in first post. I wiped it down, applied boiled linseed oil, and bam, the bike I saw in the seller's garage was back. And as for the disassembly, he did tell me he found it in an attic. He didn't say it had to be disassembled to get up there, but maybe it did. In any case, I'm happy with it, and it's going to stay with me for the time being. I did have to switch out the pedals, as the rubber on the originals was starting to come apart, and I didn't want to ruin them. But here are my post-ride, cleaned up shots. Last three are to show how clean the inside of the fenders are. I doubt the fenders on my brand new bike I got this summer are that clean.