Huffy Sportsman

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Brought this home ages ago for pennies. All original from what I can tell. I've only seen one other one.
Any thoughts on price / demand would be appreciated.
 
Raleigh bought out all the other English bike makers in 1960. Yours is a 62, because it looks all original and not used that much, so that is the hub that came with it. The month it was built should be to the right of the year digits. The pedals aren't worn out and the paint, graphics, and fenders look good. Raleigh made their own brand a little better, but those generic models, like Hercules, Robin Hood, BSA, Phillips, Hawthorne, and Huffy 3 speed English bikes after 1960 were good quality bikes.
I've had more than a few over the years. I rode a ratty 65 Hercules all over the world when I was in the Navy back in the 80s.
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The paint was pretty good on those bikes. Being careful of the lettering and graphics, I would give it a gentle scrubbing with soap and water, then use paste car wax a few times to bring out the shine. The chrome was good too and should clean up nicely. The seat looks good too, especially for a 62 model. I would go through the whole bike and shine and lube everything except the 3 speed rear hub, I wouldn't take it apart. The bearings in the front axle, headset and cranks are loose so be ready to catch them. You might just add some lube or oil to the crank bearings somehow and leave the cotter pins alone.
There still isn't much of a market for these bikes though, you would have a hard time getting 50 bucks for it, even though it's better than a 250 dollar new bike.
 
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The black paint is enamel and entire frame was dipped in the factory. It oxidizes quite a bit after 50+ years. Black is the easiest to touch up. I use rustoleum in the 1/2 pint cans from the hardware store. Brush it on thick, with 1 or 2 strokes only, let it dry a couple days, block sand the drips and runs with 800 wet. Automotive polishing compound will bring back the shine. Avoid going over the fragile decals. Then wax. Leave any shop stickers or bike license stickers on.

Others just wipe it down with a oil soaked rag. meh. Others like the flat appearance. meh.

There are countless "brands" of these bikes made by Raleigh, Phillips, Hercules, etc and sold to USA stores of all kinds and USA based bike companies who didn't want to start up a factory or production line during the bike boom years. I've owned about 30 three speed bikes. AMF, Ranger and Stelber are some of mine with USA names. Stelber was a east coast department store chain. Huffy sold the Sporstman in an English version with cottered cranks(yours) and a USA built version with 1 piece cranks. The crank is still the clue for USA vs European built. Huffy and other USA companies also got wheels from Japan with the Shimano 3 speed hubs and Huffy used to buy Raleigh 3 speed wheels with Sturmey Archer hubs. Schwinn sold millions of 3 speed bikes with hubs from Shimano, Sturmey Archer and Austrians built knock offs of SA's design.

Sturmey Archer AW hub like on your bike is by far the most produced version and the most reliable and fixable. I've rebuilt a 100+. Most just need some light oiling and they work fine. I've found a few that were abused with various other lubes. Melted parafin (bad), grease injection (bad), water (bad). No lube is better than those. A few have had chipped gear teeth or worn clutches. The pawl springs will rust away if the hub has been filled with water for decades. The most common breakage part is the axle key that the indicator rod threads into. Yanking the shift cable really hard can break the axle key. My method for oiling is to remove the axle key, lay the bike on its left side and shoot a bit of oil in the hollow axle. That gets the oil in the center of the gears where it's needed most. As you ride, gravity and centrifugal force will distribute the oil throughout the gears using less oil. A hub coated is sludge is a good sign it's been oiled. The hubs don't have any seals so over oiling will drip out and collect dirt outside the hub.
 

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