Little Leo

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

roughrider504

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

Little Leo

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

Taz

I have a 1964 AMF 3 Speed.

I was made in England by Raliegh.

cudak888 

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

sykerocker 

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

Syke
Deranged Few M/C

Taz

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

cudak888 

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

Pompiere

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.

Stacey

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

Walter

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.

Olebiker

[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.

Stacey

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

jemoryl

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).

Mooo

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

https://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.

sykerocker 

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

sykerocker 

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

Little Leo

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

Thanks

roughrider504

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.

looneytunes

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.

gna

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.

roccobike

To the OP, We Need Pics.

We could give you a lot more information with pics.

cycleheimer

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.

Ex Pres 

Everyone, this is a 4 year old thread.

wrk101

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