Value of vintage Schwinn tandem bike
 

My son bought this in a yard sale and we'd love to know what it is and how old it is, as well as what it might be worth. He plans to have fun with it, clean it up and ride it with his friends, but it would be good to know if he paid a fair price out of his allowance money!

It's a Schwinn tandem bike. The seats look old-fashioned but are in good condition. Some of the metal parts are rusty but the chain appears to be just dirty. It works fine. Foot brakes, single speed. Original color appears to have been green and it was painted blue on top - there's a little blue paint on the silver "Schwinn" plaque on the stem. Any help much appreciated!

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One sure way of nailing down the year is with the serial number. Use this guide to locate and decipher the number.

http://www.re-cycle.com/History/Schw...nB_Serial.aspx

Having trouble finding the serial number - it may have such thick paint over it that it can't be seen. The silver tag on the rear hub says BENDIX.

Found the serial number - most of it appears to be missing under the paint but it is located on the bottom of the bottom bracket. There's a clear A7 but there could be more to the right and left so it's not certain that the full serial number begins with the A. The number after the 7 looks like it could be a 0. All of the combinations that include A70 in the list at http://re-cycle.com/History/Schwinn/...rial.aspx#1951 are dates in 1965.

Also, the silver tag on the rear hub says BENDIX. The head badge says Chicago on it. Seats say Mesinger.

Low end tandem, without original paint and needs work = not much value. Great project to have some fun with. Tandems are a local market item (very hard to ship).

Exact year has no bearing on value. Schwinn catalogs are all on line.

Not worth a fortune. If he paid less than 80 bucks, he got a good deal. Those old coaster brake, wide wheel tandems are bulletproof. Get the pedals in time, makes them ride better.

Thanks, great to know! He talked it down from $100 to $75, so I'm glad to think that was a fair price. The neighborhood kids are having a blast with it!

tandems are GANGSTER that would be tons of fun to have as a kid