rotharpunc

NO luck on the serial #'s here. too many results to make sense of on google.

I'm not sure if neverdull will do much for surface rust on steel. The flanges of the hubs are alloy with steel centers. I was just undr the impression that Phils were stainless centers.

divineAndbright

I dont see a tubing sticker of any kind though the fact the rear end is chromed is a good sign. Once you start removing the questionable parts those old Sekines are very very nice bikes.. I wouldnt trade my SHT for anything.. hope to find some more of them someday. Looking forward to seeing some more photos of it when you get it cleaned up.

BikeMonger

Perhaps I might keep the fat tire bikes.....They are neat looking, soo many bikes....so little time to make them pretty

rotharpunc

^sent you a PM on that wheel

droobieinop

that looks like a good idea, maybe for my old conti too..., but, wouldn't that be best as a maintenance thing vs. a clean up?

i had much the same problem looking up a letour, it starts to get sketchy but i have faith in you...
there is something 'bout the year and month being depicted by letters not including "I & O" and "S" denoting made in Japan...
i was trying to find all that stuff again to help you and got flustered... sorry

you'd be surprised what neverdull and some elbow grease will do, as for composition of woods hubs...
i can't help you w/o research that i've not the patience for right now...

but from the looks of the pics, i don't see why not, and well maybe the above item might clean that little bit up over time

mkeller234

I have a Schwinn that came with those on the hubs, I had no idea WTF they were so I took them off. They did not keep the hubs clean btw.

JohnDThompson 

They are stainless, but even stainless can rust eventually. Steel wool should take it off.

Bikedued

Kona update. Man what a sweet bike! I used another front wheel, and swapped the rim for a matching one on the back wheel. New Avid shoes in rear, used but excellent Koolstops in front. New chain, and Sinz bright green brake housing. Just need to grease the rear hub. I thought they were sealed cartridge, but upon closer inspection, nope! The front is good though, very low mile Deore that came with the wheel.,,,,BD

I may get a set of Kenda Karma's later on.....My favorite knobby of all time...

10speed

Sometimes dilligently watching ads for auctions can pay off. In our local weekly free paper an auction bill listed among other things a "schwinn 10speed bicycle". Sounding generic I figured it would be an old varsity or a calliente. On the day of the auction I stopped by the auction house to see what it was. They had forgot to bring it out so when I didn't see the I asked about it and the auctioneer told one of his guys to bring it out. Seeing the color I thought early 70s varsity orange. When it got closer I held my exitement when I saw supersport. Later I did my best to sit quietly until the auctioneer got to the bike. He tried to get a starting bid of $15. When nobody bid I said I would bid casually $5 and they took it. no one raised the bid so I got a schwinn supersport for 5 bucks!!!!!!

Gordo Grande

I scored!

You guys have been a great influence on me. It paid off yesterday.

I took my older daughter out to breakfast. We happened to pass a garage sale on the way to the restaurant, and I noticed there was a bike sitting there. I made a quick U-turn, and discovered there was a nice hybrid/cruiser type bike. Ok, it was a “Union Flyer.” Never heard of that brand, which meant it had to be a department store POS. Still, it looked pretty good, the tires had virtually no wear, and it even had the bar code hanging on one of the stays. I had a good friend who was looking for his first bike, so I gave it a shot. I gave the guy the $50 he was asking, and threw it in the trunk. Turns out, my friend is out of luck, because my daughter fell in love with the bike.



Words to live by






We congratulated ourselves over breakfast over our good fortune, but things got better. We passed another garage sale on the way home, this one only ˝ block from our house. My daughter said, “Dad, there are two more bikes there.” We parked the car in front of the house and walked back to check things out.

The first bike that caught my eye was an old 10-speed roadster type bike. It looked pretty clean, no damage that I coulds see, and was only missing a seatpost and saddle. I have extra saddles, and a seat post is easy to get. From the crank I figured it to be a late sixties or early seventies. The emblem said “American Eagle.” Ok, I never heard of that one, so I guessed it was probably another department store special.









The other bike turned out to be the real steal! A mid eighties Schwinn Traveler, all Shimano, and a real solid Sakae crank. Both of these bikes were girls frames, which is good because I have two daughters. My younger daughter is only about 5’0”, and this is a short bike. Other than a good cleaning and a tune-up, it appears that all this bike needs is a new handlebar wrap.









Here’s the best part. The seller was a young man, 21 years old, who I’ve known since he was about seven years old. He said his mom just wanted to rid of the bikes anyway they could.

HE SOLD ME BOTH BIKES FOR TWENTY BUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!

Three bikes in one day for a total of seventy bucks, all in decent shape! Hard to beat that.

I did some serious googling, and here’s what I came up with on the bikes. It seems that Huffy has acquired both” Radio Flyer” and “Royce Union” over the years. Therefore, they somehow came up with the name “Union Flyer.” So, I guess I paid fifty bucks for a Huffy POS. Still, the bike is in great shape, and my daughter likes it, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
As for the “American Eagle,” it turns out that when Nishikis were first imported they were called “American Eagles” for the first year and a half. Apparently, they got some flack over the name, since they weren’t built in this country, so they changed the name to Nishiki. In fact, the bike also has a “KB Bikes” sticker on it, which apparently stood for “Kawamura Bikes,” the company that built Nishikis.

I’d appreciate any info that you folks might have about any of these bikes.

BikeMonger

I have bought 15+ bikes now at the local auctions this last year as I go there for other stupid stuff & eBay fodder. Bought a few really super sweet bikes for $5 to $50.

I have sold all the bikes that I bought on eBay or the Local CL and have done very well on a few.

heres a few pics.........

1960's AMF Roadmaster Skyrider Deluxe Mens Bike near mint paid $25 at local auction house
Sold on ebay for $225


1972 Mens Suburban 10 speed - $15 at auction + 5 hours labor overhauling and cleaning
Sold on eBay for $175



I bought 4 - 1972 Schwinns that day and cleaned all of them up,
I also bought a Yellow 3 spd womans Breeze - paid $15 sold eBay $170



Yellow Schwinn Collegiate Womans 5 speed - Paid $15 - sold eBay for $200 on a buy it now


and last but not least from this fine farm/estate auction in the middle of Wisconsin
a near mint Purple girls Fair Lady Sting Ray paid - $35 sold on eBay in Pieces for a total of $245


That was the find that pretty much started my major bike addiction. Here are a few more local auction finds. Im in good with the 2 local auctions and get pics sent to me in advance now....I love those guys!

I paid $2 ea for these cuz no body wanted them. 1951 Mens Arnold Schwinn Hornet and a 1952 matching Womans hornet. Both rough but salvagable also an old "our own hardware" bike with a cool springer front end. Sold all those to local guy from CL for Cheep ($80 for all 3) but I was just moving in to my new pad and did not have the room so they had to go quick.

I also picked up the Trike I am refinishing to ride around town and get groceries and stuff in town this spring. Now I can look like the special kid in town who rides a green trike. LOL! My trike is way cooler though.




I am just about done with the trike, a gold chain, whitewall tires and some new fenders and cables and shes ready to go! Got a new Gel seat for it. Lotsa neat parts off a 79 Stingray that I also bought at an auction for $25. ***** the crank, neck and handlebars from it and then sold the rest for $85


I love auctions.

Gordo Grande

Nice work, Bikemonger! I love the Suburban!

BikeMonger

That really was a sweet bike and in near mint shape after my elbow grease. I had a tough time selling it as I liked it also but the kids in Cali seem to really dig the 70's vintage schwinns.

Congrats on your find also. I have taken a few dept store bikes from garage sales. Not everyone has $100-$200+ for a fancy name brand used ride, I find that if I get them for $5-10 bucks I never seem to have a problem getting $30-$50 for them. Sell a few, make a few bucks so you can buy some more....its a sickness ya know

Rollfast

BikeMonger where were you when I needed an excellent beaten-up Schwinn?

sonatageek

I wish they had auctions like that in my neck of the woods. Those are some great bikes and even greater prices!

PlatyPius

I was watching that one......
Got too rich for my poor white trash blood. lol

joe v

Man, I'm turning your bike's colour with envy - yes, Norta's are everywhere, here in Belgium, but one with quality tubing AND with real chrome (most are sort of silver-painted) AND in good nick - Waw! VERY rare indeed - congrats, you lucky so-and-so

Joseph

gr23932

I've seen a bunch at the TROCS but they have always been the low quality ones. This one is a keeper!

divineAndbright

gr23932; just curious, are bike laws super enforced over there in belgium? I notice most of your finds have bells on them, just find it odd considering they are racing bikes.
Its the law over here, but ive never heard of anyone getting fined for not having a bell.. I did read recently its a $85 fine though, ouch!

gr23932

I can only speak for Wallonia as that's where I live and ride most often. Though I've heard that it's the law to have a bell on your bike, I have yet to hear about someone getting a ticket for not having a bell. As soon as I get the bikes, I normally remove the bells. Now, most bikes I have purchased have been from Flanders and they tend to use bikes more so than those here in the south and they also tend to ride around larger cities, hence the need to have a bell??? Maybe Joe V can elaborate.

infinityeye

Bells always

jewish_

Someone dumped this old schwinn behind my friends house a while back, and has more recently stripped the frame and converted it to a SS. sakae cranks and drop bars, suntour shifter components and the wonderful "schwinn approved brakes". most of the stuff was pretty trashed.

sorry for the terrible picture...

sonatageek

Pick up a mixed bag of things today. Nothing real special, but three of them were only 54 cents each. Old Schwinn Pixie, Jamis Starlite children's bike and a Schwinn Sprint. Also picked up a Schwinn Varsity with real nice paint and good chrome for $16.20.

I looked up the Jamis and it retails new for $160-180 dollars. I know that doesn't translate into anything for a used one, but it seems to be a cut above the average Walmart kids bike. Will probably find someone to donate it to, as I can't imagine it selling on CL for more than maybe $25.

It is kinda cold, so here are a few poorly shot pictures from inside the garage:

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Now if I can just hit that same thrift store that was having the sale when they are packed to the gills with some Treks, Miyatas and Cannondales....

cb400bill

no pics showing.

curbtender

Check out your local College. They often end up with abandoned bikes that they auction off at the end of the year.