1980(?) Made In USA Good Vibrations

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sking1973

sking1973

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So I work for a local TV station and ouor station's web site has a visual classifeds page that I watch for bicycles on. This bike came up Thursday and I promptly e-mailed the seller and snatched it up for 25 bucks. I cleaned all the chrome, greased it up, and washed and waxed the paint today. Also, I mounted my set of Kenda Kraze tires and a new seat. I've got some black grips and a new chain as well, but just didn't have time to get to that stuff today. I think it's turning out like a nice rider.

P9120140.jpg
 
Congratulations on finding the US production model in such good condition. I'm curious as to the source for that date. It was around that time, I thought late 70's, but it may have been the 80's, that it took a precipitous drop in quality, due to moving production to Taiwan. It wasn't until I took the one I bought out of the box and started assembling it, that I realized that it wasn't equal to the earlier ones I had seen. Sloppy jigging, thin hub sprocket, and flimsy uneven whitewalls all had to be dealt with before it was acceptable to me, stuff that was never an issue w/US made Huffys I had previously owned. $25.00 was a great bargain. :wink:
 
Not sure if 1980 is the correct date (that's what it was advertised as), but the head tube has a sticker on it that says "Made In USA - Dayton, OH." It seems to be a quality bike. Unfortunately, I don't have a before pic. I started tearing it apart and didn't even think to take one. The wheels had light rust on them that some fine steel wool took right off. There is some rust on the frame, mainly where the cantilever bars and top bar come together at the head tube. I wasn't sure if I was going to paint or not, but after a coat of wax, I decided it looked good enough to ride.
 
yeah, i have an 86 huffy good vibrations, too. go to oldroads and look under huffy ser#s. its an 80's and the first number of the ser# would be the last didget of the year it was made. i love how smooth these bikes ride and you'll love riding it.

IMG_0774.jpg

i added the fenders to mine, but since tore it down. rebuilt with older red wheels, kept the tires but put the fenders and chainring on something else. then i shoehorned a 50tooth chainring up under the factory chainguard and it flys. i now call it menacing vibations... cuz ain't nothin good about it now. :lol:
 
Nice....very nice.....

Mine....when I first brought it home from the thrift store (added the red tires, chain ring, new bars), built 1979
100_0424.jpg


and as it is now...S/A 3 speed, Electra seat, Nirve wheels, repop springer
100_1729.jpg


Just for kicks, getting ready to change over to powder coasted black apes, alloy wheel set with a Nexus 7, and all white tires...pics soon.
 
RZ94 said:
Nice....very nice.....

Mine....when I first brought it home from the thrift store (added the red tires, chain ring, new bars), built 1979
100_0424.jpg


and as it is now...S/A 3 speed, Electra seat, Nirve wheels, repop springer
100_1729.jpg


Just for kicks, getting ready to change over to powder coasted black apes, alloy wheel set with a Nexus 7, and all white tires...pics soon.
Click to expand...


79'?!? ya know... the headsticker style on mine did look a little too new to guess it as a 89', cuz i know its either a 79' or 89'. how you figure yours is a 79' and not an 89'? and ya gotta admitt, our two huffies do look of the same vintage. yeah, i've since went with a larger 50tooth ring, getting inspiration from yours.
 
I orginally got this bike from a thrift store but it had a sticker on it from a local dept store chain where it was sold that went out of business in the very early 80's.....that with the serial number stamped in the bottom bracket......its got to be a 79.
 
got the springer and extended chrome stem from BikepartsUSA.com.
 
RZ94 said:
I orginally got this bike from a thrift store but it had a sticker on it from a local dept store chain where it was sold that went out of business in the very early 80's.....that with the serial number stamped in the bottom bracket......its got to be a 79.
Click to expand...

you've sold me. id suspect the same vintage of mine and 79' makes alot more sense. thanks.
 
When did they stop USA construction of these? The first digit of the serial on mine is an "8." I'm just trying to figure out if that's a '78 or '88. I know the the Huffy Pro Thunder BMX bike that I got new in '81 or '82 had the same headbadge sticker as this bicycle.
 
with what i recently learned about my huffy goodvibrations, which looks alot like yours and the others on this thread, id say it was a 78'. the chainring looks more like a 78', and in 88' that style was gone by then. if it was in the 80's, it would have had usa olympic provider sponser stickers on the seatpost, like mine does (for the 80' olympics) being a 79'. from your picts, i cannot see any olympic sponser stickers. i was confused on the whole 70's or 80's dating for my gv, untill RZ94 put up some good facts and info (good lookin out).

as for how long huffy bikes were made in the good ol USA, i can tell you by mid to later 90's they were imported, but i think it was around 94' to like 97' in where orgins of production shifted abroad. my newest usa built bike is my 93' murray westport cruiser. i think 93' was nearing murray's final years. you can definatly tell the chinese made huffy cruisers by the thicker frame tubing like youd see on a cranbrook or a santa fe, vs the us made good vibrations.
 
I don't remember the exact year I bought my Good Vibrations, but I was in my 20's, so it had to be before '87. It had a sticker indicating Taiwan as it's source. Although it looked nearly the same as those in this thread, the fork was different, and was definitely sloppily made compared to US Huffys. It is definitely NOT the same as the Chinese bikes. At this point I would bet dollars against dimes that yours is a '78.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18006
 

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