Barn Finds "Manta Ray"

[Bowman]

We have a craig's list add looking for old bikes and yesterday we had a guy send us this picture wondering if we wanted to look at what he had. Well when all was done, we came out with these. The rims on all are toast. The where covered in mud from a ground hog. But the rest of the bike were in good shape. A total of $40.00


We started with this picture.



This is what w came home with from the picture.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: Barn Finds

Wow! What a score!

The seat on the Manta Ray is worth a couple hundred bucks as is!

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Re: Barn Finds

That Manta Ray is SWEET! :shock:

 

[Jpromo]

Ah, reminds me of my Manta Ray steal!

It was a labor of love but it turned out awesome with just a few chrome parts replaced (hoops, crank, bars) and a lot of heavy scrubbing and oxalic acid on the parts that remained original. Kind of wish I had kept this one.. I'm not really a muscle bike guy at heart and when it came to picking one to sell, this got the chopping block (for some reason!).

Good luck and enjoy! They're a blast.

 

[Bowman]

Thanks guys it was a lucky find for sure! How much do u think it is worth aas it is now?

 

[Jpromo]

The market for them was really soft when I sold mine last year. Fresh grease all around, rode, stopped, shifted impeccably, looked good, all correct down to tires and pedals, and I barely irked out $425 on ebay.

You can probably get 300-350 as is if you must sell though. This is the sad truth even though the shifter and seat would bring 250$ alone. These have a Manta only rear skinny slick so if yours is shredded, they're usually around 100$ used. Buyers know this so that's another sticking point. Hopefully it stays together though, especially since you have next to nothing invested in it.

 

[Bowman]

Thanks Jpromo i am going to keep it together as a survivor of the rat filled barn i pulled it out of lol ,and it is a very restorable bike.

 

[Jpromo]

Thanks Jpromo i am going to keep it together as a survivor of the rat filled barn i pulled it out of lol ,and it is a very restorable bike.

Good to hear! Restoration isn't even necessary. I think replaced hoops, cleaning of the rest of the chrome, and fresh grease all around will make this bike a wonderful rider and really be an eye-catcher. Good luck!

 

[CRASH]

Score!! That Manta should come out great, as should that girls Flightliner. If you go beyond restoration of what you have, prepare to pay big money for Manta parts. A NOS rear slick will set you back $150 easy. But nothing else looks as good as a new rear slick.