1979 Schwinn Spitfire

[Gravelgrinder59]

Today I got this 1979 Spitfire off

an Offer Up ad. It was advertised “Grandpas antique bike” Not really an antique but a cool bike. Spent yesterday researching these on the CABE. Had no idea what the pegs on the front forks were. Didn’t grow up near the beach, for those like me who don’t

know, they’re called “ buddy pegs”. The guys used to pedal the” bikini clad girls down the beach sitting on the foam covered bars. I was disappointed the blue anodized rims aren’t in better shape,


I thought the rims would be alloy not steel, the salt air did a number on them. From what I’ve learned this is a good representation of an upgraded California beach cruiser from this era. The”Grab On “ sticker on headtube must be reference to the “buddy” riding on the bars. I asked the lady if her grandpa was from California, she said no. He had always lived in Washington State, where I live. But the bike shop sticker on the bike is from West Covina Ca. Couple cool pics I found depicting the California beach cruiser scene during this bikes heyday. I have only sprayed alittle wd-40 on bike. Will cleanup and may put a few bmx pieces on it. I like it as is minus the foam grips.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I have heard them called "bunny" pegs

 

[RustyGold]

The glorious'80s!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I remember the first time I saw a cbx on the street. Had to stop and count the headers a couple of times. "Wait, 6?"

 

[RustyGold]

CBX was my first official street bike...I was 17. It was my first drinking and riding attempt as well. That very same night it was my first street bike accident .

 

[SoBayRon]

The rims look like the original S2’s. Someone had some blue spray at some point. Even the brake arm mount got hit with the blue.
They will probably clean up to a decent chrome, albeit a lot of elbow grease would be involved.
Really nice find, I have a 79 Spitfire as well and love riding it.

 

[buses 'n bikes]

Wow, what a time capsule of a find. VERY nice!

And as my avatar suggests, late 70s, early 80s Socal seems to me like THE PLACE to have been. Semi-related, I'm excited to see that Licorice Pizza movie here soon.

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

The rims look like the original S2’s. Someone had some blue spray at some point. Even the brake arm mount got hit with the blue.
They will probably clean up to a decent chrome, albeit a lot of elbow grease would be involved.
Really nice find, I have a 79 Spitfire as well and love riding it.

That’s exactly what happened, I thought that might have been case and today when I started cleaning it could see where spokes were masked, also under tire bead all chrome. There was also some blue overspray under handlebar foam. Does anyone know if LBS ever did this or was it Just the owner? I kinda like the blue rims even though they’re crusty. Thought about taking all blue off rims since it’s paint anyway and redoing with blue metal cast paint or leaving chrome. Not sure what direction I’m going with it yet. The wheels are the original s-2’s.

 

[macncheese]

The”Grab On “ sticker on headtube must be reference to the “buddy” riding on the bars.

I like it as is minus the foam grips.View attachment 182639

Nice score! The Grab On sticker is a reference to the foam grips. They are still in business.

https://grabongrips.com/bicycle-grips

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Wow, what a time capsule of a find. VERY nice!

And as my avatar suggests, late 70s, early 80s Socal seems to me like THE PLACE to have been. Semi-related, I'm excited to see that Licorice Pizza movie here soon.

Dunno, as a child of the 60's/70's out there, the 80's are when it jumped the shark for me. The progressions of BMX, Skateboarding and Surfing took leaps and bounds when I was coming up. While never in the thick of those progressions, I was never on the sidelines and enjoyed each of them at the levels achieved.

Handstand dude is on PCH, somewhere North of Santa Monica.

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

Nice score! The Grab On sticker is a reference to the foam grips. They are still in business.

https://grabongrips.com/bicycle-grips

Thanks, I remember that now, people were putting them on road bikes, which I was into then, but I hated em for that application.

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

Found these cool ads on Bmx musueum

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

Only spent a little over an hr cleaning Spitfire yesterday. Took foam bar pads off, cleaned bars, took messed up blue paint off stem. Cleaned headset and chrome fork crown cover. Cleaned crank and

it’s chainring alittle. Did alittle cleaner wax on frame. This blue frame really pops once it got cleaned alittle. Pumped up tires, holding air. They’re nice display tires, but I won’t ride on them. I think I can make chipped paint on rims look better with a blue permanent ink sharpie pen, I just need to get one.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Blue rims are really slick. I hope you don't strip them

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

I’m not Matti, I agree. There’s a lot of rust on em. If I was confident I could clean them up good I might strip blue paint off and redo them with blue metal cast. But they don’t look like they’d clean up and add a lot of character to bike in my opinion. Been working on it a few hrs today already and it’s looking awesome. Besides it was one of things that drew me to bike in Offer Up ad, was blue rims

 

[hamqqea]

The Spitfire should have ACS hubs. I wanted an authentic hub for my Schwinn Qualifier. I disliked those foam grips because they tore very easily. Yes, the blue hoops must remain. Display tires? ride that sucka' till the cords break!

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

It does have ACS hub in front, looks like standard schwinn hub for coaster.

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

Here’s a pic after few more hrs of cleaning. The chainguard is as close or mint as you’ll get ( one small scratch in Schwinn logo).

 

[hamqqea]

Handstand! handstand! handstand!

How many bicycles do you current have together?

 

[Gravelgrinder59]

It has ACS hub in front and looks like standard schwinn coaster in back. I had something happen to me that just about gave me a coronary on this bike today. I’m always really careful working around decals when cleaning, but never had them start coming off with Water! I was cleaning the white walls with sos pads, while rinsing off the suds I hit the frame with water, I did double take and realized parts of the Schwinn logo were missing! I’m thinking the water couldnt have washed off but it did! I freaked out, but after about an hr of free handing it back with a brush and some white paint I got it back close to what it was. I just got done spraying some clear over it to prevent that from happening again! The chainguard decals look clear coated. I’ve cleaned up a lot of bikes and NEVER had this happen before.I’m a little reluctant to post cause it looks better in person then when you zoom in on it.View attachment 182697View attachment 182697