This is BeBe (short for Blue Bike). Twitpics taken by Laura.
BeBe is an Eaton's Road King, all original (except for the kickstand we installed today at EBC), with 26 x 1-3/8 tires (with no recommended PSI marking), and paint and tire rims in incredibly good condition. We think it's a late-1950s design, based on the finned chainguard. How sweet is that? There are similar bikes pictured in a few places, but very little information online. Also, people we met at EBC and during the bike ride yesterday were very curious about BeBe. So with Laura's blessing we took some more photos after our ride to post for your pleasure.
The headbadge - there's a better photo on Flikr.
The front of the seatpost - painted using a stencil,
not a decal as usually seen with English-, American-, and Canadian-made bikes of the period.
On the back of the seatpost: Made in Hungary
Lovely lines, and pretty pinstriping too. I think this was all done by hand.
The chainwheel, with cottered cranks.
The single speed coaster brake is labelled Super Granat.
There's a serial number stamped into the fork right above this dropout. I suppose if there was more information online we would be able to use it to date the bike for certain. It has the format HL #### 57 - which suggests that possibly it stands for the plant in Hungary, four digit production series number, 1957. But that's totally a guess.
From what others have posted on the net, it appears that this would have been sold by Eaton's, the defunct Canadian department stores, and would originally have had a white tool bag as well. Apparently the Road King house brand was made by a number of different manufacturers over the years, including CCM, and was also used for motorcycles.
