Classic & Vintage - AMF bikes?

Can somebody tell me about AMF. Bike brand. I have some old bike made by AMF. Woundering if they are worth some money? The bikes came frome Europe. I have no pictures right now, sorry

AMF is basicly old Xmart bikes. Better than newer xmart bikes, but not worth much.

I do not have much details on my AMF bike. But i have just found out that it is a hurcules. Made by somebody else. I hope to have pic. and more details tommoro.
Thank you

I have a 1964 AMF 3 Speed.

I was made in England by Raliegh.

It should be clarified that the Raleigh-made AMF-Hercs are nothing to sneeze at.

If I'm not mistaken, there were other brand bicycles bearing the AMF name of poorer quality, but one should not dismiss all AMF machines as being junk.

-Kurt

When I first saw the heading, I started wondering, "Why are they discussing Harley-Davidsons?"

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

It's still a Raliegh and is Raliegh quality in very good condition with a owners manual.

When I first saw the heading, I started wondering, "Why are they discussing Harley-Davidsons?"

:eek:

You struck a nerve...

AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. "How am I doing, Doc?" "Good. Repeat four more times."

-Kurt

I have an AMF 3 speed that was made in Austria. It had "Skylark" on the chain guard. It has a 72 Sturmey Archer hub. It also has a two piece crank, meaning only one cotter on the left side. I would say it is a couple notches above any X-mart bike. I don't have a Raleigh to compare it to.

:eek:

You struck a nerve...

AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. "How am I doing, Doc?" "Good. Repeat four more times."

-Kurt


Did someone used to ride an oil leaking, failure prone, bowling ball? :lol:

While I'm sure there were some decent AMFs bicycles (though certainly not motorcycles!) my memories are of a briefly owned XMart 10 speed my parents bought used in the mid70s I guess to shut me up about wanting a 10 speed. I doubt it would've been much brand new but used....

Never shifted and eventually the frame came apart at the BB shell (1pc Ashtabula). Saved my pennies and bought a Motobecane sometim later.



:beer:

[QUOTE=cudak888
AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley.
-Kurt[/QUOTE]

Say what?
From the MoCo website:
1969 Harley-Davidson merges with the American Machine and Foundry Company (AMF), a longtime producer of leisure products.

^^^ You didn't have to hit him in the face with it :lol:

AMF were mostly made in the US dept. store type bikes (some labeled 'Roadmaster') of quite poor quality, at least from the '70s onward. I think they may have imported some English or Austrian '3-speed racers' in the '60s and '70s; these are probably higher quality than the US ones (I'm guessing that is what Walter had).

A quick visit with Uncle Sheldon will confirm that AMF imported Raleigh built "Hercules" bicycles:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/english-3.html#hercules

Pre 1960 Hercules are somewhat more interesting bikes, but the AMF Herc' is not a bad thing, not a bad thing at all.

:eek:

You struck a nerve...

AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. "How am I doing, Doc?" "Good. Repeat four more times."

-Kurt

Boy, don't a lot of my brothers wish that was true. Unfortunately, AMF saved Harley, who would have probably gone under in the early 70's without their infusion of cash. There was this little quality control problem, however.

Seems like that was the AMF mantra: "Production, production, production, and who case how good the product is." I'm getting the urge to find an AMF bike, have it hanging in the garage with my European bikes, and wait for the look on the brothers faces the next evening they drop by.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

:eek:

You struck a nerve...

AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. AMF had nothing to do with Harley. "How am I doing, Doc?" "Good. Repeat four more times."

-Kurt

Boy, don't a lot of my brothers wish that was true. Unfortunately, AMF saved Harley, who would have probably gone under in the early 70's without their infusion of cash. There was this little quality control problem, however.

Seems like that was the AMF mantra: "Production, production, production, and who cares how good the product is." I'm getting the urge to find an AMF bike, have it hanging in the garage with my European bikes, and wait for the look on the brothers faces the next evening they drop by.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

Thanks for all your help guys. My bikes are junk. Mabe got a little too exsited with them.

Thanks

Thanks for all your help guys. My bikes are junk. Mabe got a little too exsited with them.

Thanks
No! They are not junk. I had a Huffy 10 speed that I commuted on for half a year. I rode it everyday for a while more, then sold it to a friend. We ride everyday, and it has no problems. My higher end vintage is much more irreliable. :)

Reason for the Harley Davidson AMF relations, is that at one point in time Harley Davidson and AMF had a deal with AMF for golf carts. I do not know about bicycles but I have seen the AMF H-D Golf Cart. Thanks.

What kind are they? The 3-speeds, as mentioned above, were made by Raleigh and are nice. I'm not familiar with the Austrian-made ones, but could be similar to the Sears bikes, and they're ok, too.

To the OP, We Need Pics.

We could give you a lot more information with pics.

They also had a 3-speed (Shimano) model called the Nimble in the late 1970s that was made in Arkansas. Frame tubes jammed into holes cut in other frame tubes, one-piece crank, wheels that defy every attempt at trueing, and a "rattle can" quality paint job. They still show up on Craig's List for $70 to $90.

Everyone, this is a 4 year old thread.

Everyone, this is a 4 year old thread.

Guess the OP won't be posting pictures....

Everyone, this is a 4 year old thread.

Sorry, I didn't notice when I replied.

Here's an AMF ironhead Sportster:
http://hdforums.com/forum/attachments/sportster-models/57095d1247756786-what-ya-think-cimg0243.jpg

AMF did have something to do with the "moco" as we Harley owners call it.

AMF got into a lot of things. They bought out Paceship Yachts in 1975 and moved production to Connecticut. This is my 1974 pre-AMF PY26 that was built in Mahone Bay - Nova Scotia. Lots of original equipment on this one including the sails. Amazing how long things last when you take care of them. Picture taken July 4th 2009 near Bath, NC.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3465/3709848398_9eec591732_b.jpg

Did someone used to ride an oil leaking, failure prone, bowling ball? :lol:

I had a bone shaker and they were only oil leakers when Harley and AMF merged after that the EVO came out and that fixed the problem well after the merger but there is no better feeling than having 1500ci shaking under you.

AMF did have something to do with the "moco" as we Harley owners call it.

Yea. Helvetica.

-Kurt

I didn't know Harley was from Italy. ;)

Alfredo Focesi Milan (Actually, the M could be for Alfredo's middle name, I really don't know).

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/images/Italian/Gloria/1937_bike/head_tube.jpg

I just acquired a 3spd AMF Roadmaster Renegade muscle bike that is orange, with bone color shifter on frame,in good shape, along with my Schwinn Sting-ray,'68 model, 5 spd,royal blue, my Murray of Ohio childs bike w/training wheels ,Cadet Flite, a Huffy cruiser,gonna fix them all up,and oh yeah,my Schwinn 10 spd Continental-10 spd will get alloy wheels and other upgraded components.Wondering about the value of all these bikes.At the least, I could make some kids happy. Those muscle bikes just can't be beat!

Guess the OP won't be posting pictures....

Just give 'em some time... they maybe waiting to see what EVERYONE has to say first