Classic & Vintage - If Schwinn did not make a 1972 Superior......

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA
screwdriver
10-20-08, 11:52 AM
Then why does the serial number on my Superior start with MH(023194). All of the information I have states that an MH Superior is manufacturered in December of 1972. Is there something wrong with the way my bicycle is serialized?

I've been calling my Superior a 1976 but while in Houston at a Schwinn bike shop this past week, the man that has worked on Schwinn's for 41 years said that my bike is a 1972 Superior.

redneckwes
10-20-08, 11:55 AM
Likely a December production machine would have been for the '73 Sales season. So it would most likely match the specs of a '73 model.
fender1
10-20-08, 11:57 AM
It is a recycled (no pun intened) Sports Tourer. Schwinn used up the Sports Tourer stock and rebranded them as "Superior". Only difference between the two models was the kickstand. (Frame wise)

screwdriver
10-20-08, 12:05 PM
It is a recycled (no pun intened) Sports Tourer. Schwinn used up the Sports Tourer stock and rebranded them as "Superior". Only difference between the two models was the kickstand. (Frame wise)

So it still could be a 1972 because of the MH? M meaning December and H meaning '72.
rhenning
10-20-08, 12:28 PM
That late in the year it would be next years model or a 1973. I don't believe Superiors were made in 1973 so it is a Sports Tourer frame that was used up by Schwinn when they started making Superiors again. Roger
screwdriver
10-20-08, 12:36 PM
That late in the year it would be next years model or a 1973. I don't believe Superiors were made in 1973 so it is a Sports Tourer frame that was used up by Schwinn when they started making Superiors again. Roger

Well, I am confused now. I thought Schwinn didn't start making the Superior again until 1976. The serial number says it's a '72 and now you're telling me it's a '73. Did Schwinn screw up their serial number system and records keeping that bad?
Sierra
10-20-08, 01:05 PM
Check the 4 digit number stamped into the head badge. That dates when the bike was assembled for sale. The frame s/n just dates when the frame was made. Usually there is only one or sometimes two year discrepency, but we have seen this before, particularly on this model.
screwdriver
10-20-08, 06:56 PM
Check the 4 digit number stamped into the head badge. That dates when the bike was assembled for sale. The frame s/n just dates when the frame was made. Usually there is only one or sometimes two year discrepency, but we have seen this before, particularly on this model.

That number is 2236. What does that tell us?
Scooper
10-20-08, 09:07 PM
That number is 2236. What does that tell us?
Your Superior was assembled on the 223rd day of 1976. The frame was built four years earlier in December, 1972. Schwinn used left over fillet brazed frames from the early seventies to build the 1976 Superiors.

1976 Superior (http://www.geocities.com/sldbconsumer/1976/76ccpg14.html)