9 sweet old bikes. 30s-70s. What should I keep?

[harquahalas]

Quite a chore getting these. Borrowed money, borrowed vehicle, waking up family members early in the am, driving across town, fitting 9 bikes in and on a 4-runner....

Keeping one of the tank bikes and probably the 20" Schwinn. What would you keep if you could pick just one?

 

[uneasy rider]

definitely worth the effort . there's a few i'd keep if it was me... great haul!

 

[Rustinkerer]

Great googley moogley, you SCORED!!! :shock: I, of course, could not keep just one, but I'd say the rarest machine is the Columbia, looks 40ish, and nice aluminum fenders and front brake! Then the JCH springer, Roadmaster, Pilot... Wait, I have one of those!

I think the JCH w/the red fenders is a 56 import version. Wow, that's an impressive haul!!! :mrgreen: -Adam

 

[higgins]

Dam nice lode keep them all .if not let me know whut your parting with. :lol:

 

[AMFrank]

Is that higgins a jetflow? If so, does it have an incorrect rack? Let me know if you sell the roadmaster. I'm interested. Nice score man. I wish I could find just one of them.

 

[harquahalas]

The red Higgins was bought over seas and brought to the states by the original owner I was told.

 

[SimpleMan]

That Columbia gets my vote as a keeper......what a great score. They are all cool. Clean up the Columbia, rat out one of the springer bikes, keep the Schwinn you wanted and sell the rest :mrgreen:

I'd be interested in the front hub off of this one should you decide to part it out.

 

[bombshelterbikes]

If I was you I would sell/trade me that Columbia (local - no shipping!), keep the awesome Roadmaster, and part out the rest. You will likely pay for your entire cost and get to keep the Roadmaster for free!

Great score! If you actually DO consider the above, I would appreciate the heads up on the Columbia first. As I said, I'm local and have a TON of stuff to trade if that is your thing (just ask Slick Rick!). Either way, I'm sure we will meet soon on some ride or another!

Brad
480-216-8191

 

[Spokeshave]

Geez, that's a tough choice on a super haul. The Columbia is a real plum but I'm partial to the Roadmaster.

 

[thesuicideride]

JACKPOT! if i had to choose, i'd sell a kidney and keep them all. that roadmaster looks wounded. is he ok?

 

[harquahalas]

JACKPOT! if i had to choose, i'd sell a kidney and keep them all. that roadmaster looks wounded. is he ok?

Fork tube is bent. Guessing it was done on purpose, but I don't know. Gotta pull it apart and see what the damage is. If I keep the Roadmaster, I may end up on the search for a partial fork. I hope it's fixable.

 

[bombshelterbikes]

A touch o' heat, a possible tack weld and that fork is all good! Worth the trouble!!!

 

[skoda]

I'd keep the Columbia for sure, the Pilot and probably the Higgins also. Roadmaster is a nice bike also. I'd probably put the best seat on the Columbia, that's the best one for sure!

 

[Mister R]

I don't know if I could part with any of them. I think though, I'd have to go with the Columbia, keep the baskets from the Schwinn, and...wait, no, I'd take them all apart and stash away all the parts where the wife can't find them and slowly rebuild them. Wouldn't be as much of a shock to her system that way.

 

[harquahalas]

I don't know if I could part with any of them. I think though, I'd have to go with the Columbia, keep the baskets from the Schwinn, and...wait, no, I'd take them all apart and stash away all the parts where the wife can't find them and slowly rebuild them. Wouldn't be as much of a shock to her system that way.

Hmm....that just might wor....wait no...no....couldn't work since The garage is now piled with bikes and bike parts. I squeezed 5 of these into my shed in the backyard which I would have called full before I started getting the bikes in there. Hope I can get the lawnmower out for mowing without too much trouble tomorrow :lol:

 

[CCR]

i would keep the Roadmaster (tank / light / railed and full springer seat) and the fork shouldnt be too hard of a fix, just more my style too i suppose. (i might even be tempted to swap the rear baskets off the schwinn over to that bike too, or maybe just hold to them for when i wanted to use them.

i am kind of jealous of the front brake on the columbia, but without the lever and scarcity/expense of oddball outdated hub brake parts, id let it go.

the red higgins is pretty cool too, but im digging the roadmaster light more than the beehive springer at the moment

the firestone has a cool lookin seat but just isnt jumping to the top of the list for me either

the black higgins has potential but just doesnt have the same cool as the others

the champ looks like a cool frame but kind of vanilla in this crowd

the stingray midget has a lot of non original parts, but man is it hard to find one of those, sell it unless youve got a kid that could ride it

the basketed schwinn ... theres plenty of schwinns out there and youll find another easier than the rest of the bikes you picked up, but swap the pedals first, or sell the pedals seperate, nice bow pedals are desirable. and the bars almost look like they belong on a cycle truck ???

 

[harquahalas]

Not sure, but I think the Schwinn with the baskets is a paper boy special and all original?

 

[harquahalas]

+1 on the Roadmaster light. Wish it had the rear rack. Roadmaster also has a horn tank unlike the Higgins which is just a tank. Is the Roadmaster a Luxury Liner or just a similar model? Wasn't sure with the color. No color seems to have been on the tank and I think the gray is original paint (though maybe the diamond paint decals on the sides of the seat tube were added?)

 

[CCR]

Not sure, but I think the Schwinn with the baskets is a paper boy special and all original?

does it have super thick spokes ? as far as a "paper boy specials" i now the dealers would outfit some bikes for paper route kids, often the paper boys would use the heavy dutys or wasps with the beefier wheels, can you make out what it said on the chainguard at all ? definately looks like it had some beefy wheels on it from the pic.

 

[harquahalas]

Not sure, but I think the Schwinn with the baskets is a paper boy special and all original?

does it have super thick spokes ? as far as a "paper boy specials" i now the dealers would outfit some bikes for paper route kids, often the paper boys would use the heavy dutys or wasps with the beefier wheels, can you make out what it said on the chainguard at all ? definately looks like it had some beefy wheels on it from the pic.

Well, nothing left for reading on the chain guard. Just went out and looked at the wheels, very heavy duty. They're not Bendix or ND though they look old, Mattatuck USA rear hub?