OK, I know that there several answers to that question, since there were several other-branded versions of the Spaceliner. But in this case, I mean a Sears-brand bike with a Spaceliner frame that isn't a Spaceliner. Or any specific model, for that matter. I'd been looking for a Spaceliner for a build idea for a while, but it would seem that they're actually in-demand, and really never the sort of cheap I prefer. So this nearly-a-Spaceliner bike is probably perfect.
I just bought this yesterday.
For $20, I couldn't pass it up. The guy I bought it from had retreived it from a scrap yard for $0.12 per pound, so he made money on it too. Clearly, it's the double-arched, extended dropout frame of a Spaceliner. But the only badging on it says "Sears".
The chainguard appears to be the standard Murray space-weight piece, the gold paint is scaley, but looks original, and it doesn't ever appear to have had a tank, OEM carriers (the one on it is aftermarket Wald), or any of the cool features of a Spaceliner. It has a single-band Bendix hub. I cleaned it up a bit with steelwool and WD40 and it looks alright:
There are numbers stamped on the dropout:
The stamping to the far right says "1981". Could that be a year? Was Sears selling middleweight bikes that late, especially with this frame?
I just bought this yesterday.
For $20, I couldn't pass it up. The guy I bought it from had retreived it from a scrap yard for $0.12 per pound, so he made money on it too. Clearly, it's the double-arched, extended dropout frame of a Spaceliner. But the only badging on it says "Sears".
The chainguard appears to be the standard Murray space-weight piece, the gold paint is scaley, but looks original, and it doesn't ever appear to have had a tank, OEM carriers (the one on it is aftermarket Wald), or any of the cool features of a Spaceliner. It has a single-band Bendix hub. I cleaned it up a bit with steelwool and WD40 and it looks alright:
There are numbers stamped on the dropout:
The stamping to the far right says "1981". Could that be a year? Was Sears selling middleweight bikes that late, especially with this frame?