50's Murray Strato lite....whats it worth?

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Yeah, thats a cool tank! I'd clean the bike, try to sell it for 75 to 100, and keep the tank for another sweet rat project (might be able to get the tank to fit a balloon tire frame).
Just my opinion.
 
Does anybody know were to findout the wiring for the tank lite? Wires are all disconnected and I dont have a clue! theres a weird solenoid with a button comming out the top of the tank (besides the on/off switch), which i have no idea what it does! any clues my fellow rodders?
 
andytaddy said:
shawn57187 said:
andytaddy said:
Im gonna try to get 150 for it, if not, im rat'n it out with some fat butt white walls, red rims, flat dark smoke color frame with gloss red tank im thinkin
If you do all that, you're going to be in it for a lot more money. It will be harder, much harder, to get a profit from it at $150. If you're going to sell it, I'd leave it as-is. Otherwise, rat away. 8)

I'm keeping the bike now, guy didn't wanna buy it. after that I decided the strato was staying, I took the tank apart last night, took the bearing cups out of the frame, and grabbed a few other parts like the chain guard and stem, threw them in the trunk, and hopefully ill be brining it all in for powder coating today. Matte graphite frame, gloss red tank and chain guard, red stem, white bars I'm thinkin

I think that regardless what you do with the bike (the ideas you have sound like an expensive endeavor, considering the powdercoat expense), the WOW factor of the bike is the tanklight.
Beware of the mounting tabs as some of these tanks (I have never owned one of these external headlamp models) marry to an exclusive frame application. The forward section of the tank most likely wraps around the headtube and rests on a welded tab. As for the rear mounting, these frames may be a welded tab on the frame that holds it in place. Or it could be a flat bar retainer incorporated with the tank and clamps to the tubes of the frame, which would be interchangable with other frames.
As for the value of the tank alone, I believe that if it is in prestine condition (no rust and the light innerds are in good working condition), it could bring close to a $150 value, alone. These are rare tanks found in good condition.
As I recall this same style tank brought a hefty winning bid on ebay a few months ago. And it was in great shape. Near the $200 mark :shock:
here is a picture of the ebay sold tank that brought high dollars.
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Can you show the wires and the inside showing the battery tray and maybe we can help with the schematic needed?
Does it have a horn as well? Is the lamp switch a single slide switch for both lamps?

The tanklight is cool and will look great on whatever you decide to put on it.

Good luck with the build.
JD
 
Hey jd, ya it's gonna be a few bucks to do what I want with it, but I'm flipping newer bikes I find on Craigslist and it's funding my biking hobby so far lol. But I got the frame, fork, tank, and chain guard powder coated for 90 bucks so its not to bad. Ill probably have a couple hundred into the build when I'm done, but it will be worth it to me. It does have the horn! I didn't know what the heck that thing was in there, but now that you say horn, that's got to be it! Makes it even cooler now lol. The guts are out of the tank but ill post pictures soon of how it's laid out
 
Easiest way to get about 150 or more out of that is to clean the chrome up, get some new tires for those rims, maybe a seat and some grips and a coat of basic paint. The problem is with custom bike is that when people are buying them, they want them done their own way so its much easier to take a clean bike and customize it then undoing others customizations if they arent in favor of em. But since you are keeping it, you can go all out bat on it and we hope so, we love cool customs! Make sure to put up some updates!
 
Ya man I don't have any intentions to sell anymore lol, well I meen everything is for sale for a price, but like I said, no intentions. Ill post pictures when I get parts back and then for assembly. Where's the best forum to post under? I wanna make sure you guys can see it!
 

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