Really? You sure you want to just Give them to me?

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MonsterMetal

MonsterMetal

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So I had a guy come by the shop today and talk to my shop mate about fixing a light mount on a trailer... the guy leaves... comes back with the trailer half an hour later or something and while Joe fixes it I chat with him a bit and he wanders around and looks at my junk.... When Joe is done (charges the guy $10) the guy says he is cleaning a house out down the road and there are some bikes he is gonna get ride of and I can have them if his helpers haven't already thrown them away... I say great... drop them by. You always hope there is something good.... but until today no one had really ever brought me anything that got me very exited..

So there was this German girls bike.... Pretty cool
3273489260_4cb9cc1b7f.jpg
Its really a quality bike... frame is neat... sorry the picture is so bad..

And then this Schwinn Le Tour.... Looks like it was a pretty nice 10 speed and is in good shape..

3273489224_e9417cbe4a_b.jpg



Oh... and then there was this..

A 68 5 speed Apple Krate...

3272668935_e2657c7b5d.jpg


3273489360_9acc44e433.jpg


I think its all there and all original .... Its got surface rust on all the chrome ... its far from mint....

I felt bad and told the guy... Hey this bike could be worth some money.... Let me research it and find out what its really worth and If I sell it I'll split it with you....

So what do you guys think would be a fair number for a Krate in this condition?
 
OH MAN! That stingray tops it off! If that's not mint, my orange krate is a heap of scrap :eek: :shock: I'd say, after a gentle, appropriate cleaning, that bike could bring $300 no problem- probably more. I wouldn't know for sure, I'm sure some Krate fans could tell you for sure. Something about the seat and sissy bar doesn't seem quite right- my '68 Orange has the shock sissy bar and had a silver glitter seat with orange stripes and the "S" in a circle.
 
yup, unchained is right. very nice finds larry! but unfortunately, the 68' came with a shock sissy bar, white glitter seat with two orange stripes and the S on it. it also had a shock seat post. bicyclerick told me that this is the one way you can tell a 68' from anything else. but definately a sweet bike!!!

Easy E
 
I saw it in the second photo and already knew the punch line. :mrgreen:

That is a really cool find. That is also very cool of you to clue the guy in on the value.

I bet if it's all cleaned up it would bring a bit more than $300.

I parted out a repop Apple Krate for more than that.
 
Great finds. However, I believe the only krate offered in 1968 (first year) was the orange krate. In 1969 they offered the krate series (orange krate, apple peeler, lemon peeler and pea picker). If your serial number dates your bike to late 1968 it was probably manufactured in 1968 for sale in 1969, same as they do with automobiles. Nowdays you can buy next year's car almost a year early.
 
Crassly said:
Great finds. However, I believe the only krate offered in 1968 (first year) was the orange krate. In 1969 they offered the krate series (orange krate, apple peeler, lemon peeler and pea picker). If your serial number dates your bike to late 1968 it was probably manufactured in 1968 for sale in 1969, same as they do with automobiles. Nowdays you can buy next year's car almost a year early.
Click to expand...

Yeah I really dont have a clue.... I found a chart online and checked the number against it and came up with 68... Serial number is JD 59126

Kind of a bummer about the seat, Its has a stingray tag on the back so I figured it was the right seat for the bike... (good logic hu?) Stingrays have never really been my thing but I think I might clean this sucker up and ride it :D
 
wow, what nice finds. just the other day i came up on a 5 bike find. one hawthorne girls cruiser (for my wife), two later model girl mountain bikes and two matching 20" kent trac climber bmx bikes. the kents i will soon be putting up for sale and for cheap.
 
Definitely wrong seat, sissy bar, and seatpost as mentioned. Back tire may not be original either, do the tires have any redlines on them? If you sell it, you could make a lot more than $300 parting it out, you have a few hundred dollars worth of parts alone depending on how nice they clean up.
 
yup it looks like a 68 apple krate to me. the krates came out in 68 (apple krate, orange krate and lemon peeler) next year in 69 they added the pea picker. then later came the cotton picker and grey ghost. the 68's came without a front fender and an apple krate would of had a suspension sissy bar with a white glitter seat with red stripes and "s" logo. and they had a white letter rear slik, but the tire with match color stripes were popluar upgrades too. pedals didnt have reflectors in 68( i know ... big whoop). cleaned up id think it would bring more than $300 even with the seat and sissybar its got now. in parts ... the front wheel/drum , front fork, and shifter/tube would probably $300+ collectively if they cleaned up okay :D

id say part it unless you like having it around. or sell it to a friend cheap and watch them part it out when they need some money later :mrgreen:
 
Well, I guess nobody should waste their money on the book "Collectible Schwinn Sting-Ray Bicycles 1963 1/2 - 1979" by T.A. Gordon and James Hurd. I have the book and they say the only krate made in 1968 was orange, and the lemon, apple and pea came out in 69.
 
Crassly said:
Well, I guess nobody should waste their money on the book "Collectible Schwinn Sting-Ray Bicycles 1963 1/2 - 1979" by T.A. Gordon and James Hurd. I have the book and they say the only krate made in 1968 was orange, and the lemon, apple and pea came out in 69.
Click to expand...

http://www.geocities.com/sldbconsumer12 ... cpg24b.jpg

I'll be the first one to admit Ive been wrong in the past on some stuff, but I'm pretty sure on this one. In fact i believe BicycleRick has all three for the year. maybe he can chime in

edit .. heres his post w/68 apple krate
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6381&p=65127&hilit=+KRATES#p65127
 
CCR said:
Crassly said:
Well, I guess nobody should waste their money on the book "Collectible Schwinn Sting-Ray Bicycles 1963 1/2 - 1979" by T.A. Gordon and James Hurd. I have the book and they say the only krate made in 1968 was orange, and the lemon, apple and pea came out in 69.
Click to expand...

http://www.geocities.com/sldbconsumer12 ... cpg24b.jpg

I'll be the first one to admit Ive been wrong in the past on some stuff, but I'm pretty sure on this one. In fact i believe BicycleRick has all three for the year. maybe he can chime in

edit .. heres his post w/68 apple krate
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6381&p=65127&hilit=+KRATES#p65127
Click to expand...
I've never noticed this before, but look at the drum brake in the Krate ad. It's not even an Atom hub, looks like the older forebrake or whatever they were called. Even the chainguard screening is different. Must have been a concept bike or something. I've seen original 68's of all three colors, so that schwinn book is way off. Now if you can find a late 67 serial number Krate you've struck gold.
 
nov and dec frames are usually the next years bikes, the 66 deluxe in the catalog has a reverse screen guard, its a 65 bike pic in the 66 catalog, also the fastback in 66 has a non schwinn sprocket on it, i guess its the concept bike in that pic too. the orange krate also has a knobbie on it in the 68 ad.
 
As someone who has worked in assembly departments in several different factories I can tell you it's very likely that unique groups of bikes with odd parts went out the door on occasion. Stockrooms full of thousands of parts and subassemblies, several lines running, assembling a couple thousand bikes a day. Each line set up to run several different models. Work orders come down for xyz model and they are out of green left-handed widgets. A red right-handed one is substituted and the line moves on. :arrow: :arrow: B607
 
MM, Bless you for being honest. Most folks would have grabbed that sucker and run.
 
bikesntrikes said:
The first bike, is it a Behrens?

Similar to this one...???

100_4429%20(Small).JPG
Click to expand...

Nope.... its something like Rhinehume or something... Starts with an R for sure. Thought It was a Raleigh until I looked at the head badge closer
 

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