Bike from the Dead's Freshly-Exhumed Finds (Everything I've dug up since 6/15/21)

[Bike from the Dead]

I decided to take the tank apart to check the internals. The good news is, like the rest of the bike, the tank is mostly straight and rust-free...

The bad news is that the battery tray is missing. That shouldn't be too much of a problem though. If I can't find an original battery tray for this bike, I can just install a new one from a hobby shop or something.

I couldn't get a good photo of the serial number under the bottom bracket unfortunately, as the paint's a little thick on that spot to really make it out. I'll probably figure that out when I strip this bike down to repaint it. I had planned to do a somewhat wild paint job that would have surely rubbed the purists the wrong way, but after looking at this bike in my rearview on the drive back from Missouri and really thinking about it, I think I want to make this bike an extremely mild custom, where all the parts are original/correct to the bike, like the chain guard and whatever parts I need to find or replace, but the paint won't be red and white. Red (and to a lesser extent, white,) are my least-favorite colors, and I already have 3 bikes with original red and white paint, and that's not including the many other red bikes in my collection I haven't started building yet! I don't want another red bike, and most everyone who owns one of these JC Higgins bikes I've seen leaves them original or restores them anyway, so I don't think it'd be so bad if I don't restore this one back to the way it looked when it rolled out of the factory. I'm thinking this bike would look nice with a period-correct light metallic blue, like what you'd see on some 1950's/1960's Corvettes, with white accents and maybe some subtle red or silver pinstriping to add a little extra pop. That said, that's all stuff I can figure out later.

I've got one more fresh find to share before we're all caught up, and it's one of the weirdest finds I've come across...

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Earlier this Saturday, I was browsing the free section of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, hoping to find something interesting or useful, as I usually do. Well, I certainly spotted something interesting, that's for sure. It was this weird "gravity trike" a guy built to race downhill along with his sons' "gravity carts" in Boy Scouts. Basically, this trike's an adult-sized soapbox derby racer! It's not the prettiest trike I've seen, but the guy I got it from knew what he wanted out of it, and functionality was at the top of the list. It's strong enough to easily hold my weight, yet it's no heavier than a fair number of my bikes. It rolls well enough, even though it needs some more air in the tires. The seating position is good, and it's adjustable too! Well, it was, except the seat's kind of rusted to the frame now. Still, I bet I could knock it loose. Best of all, with the wide stance and the low seating position, this trike feels stable, like it's planted to the ground. I bet I'd have to do something really stupid for this trike to throw me off!

Admittedly, I originally got this trike just for the handlebars, handlebar stem, wheels and tires, but after looking it over, I think it just might be the perfect starting point for my Class 2 entry for this year's main Build Off! I've been dying to build a pedal-powered trike for a while now, and this would be a good way for me to both learn how to weld, and to use up some of the parts I've had sitting in storage for the past few years. Time will tell if my second attempt at building a trike will pan out this time, but if nothing else, this "gravity trike" will make for a great "reverse-engineering" project!

Well, that's all the fresh finds I've accrued in the past few months! Life was a bit hectic during that time, so it was kind of hard to keep up with stuff on the forums. Thankfully, things have calmed down a bit since then, so I should be more active here again.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Getting grandpa's JC is a great score. The bike on its own is awesome, but the family connection is priceless. Also, the gravity trike looks like a HOOT!!

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Komet Super on the JC. That's my favorite coaster hub.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Getting grandpa's JC is a great score. The bike on its own is awesome, but the family connection is priceless. Also, the gravity trike looks like a HOOT!!

Agreed! That family connection is the best thing about it! It's just like with my 1964 Mercury Comet and how my dad, when he was a kid, rode in the back seat of it when his grandparents owned it!

As for the gravity trike, I was giggling like a little kid just Fred Flinstoning it around the driveway! I need to find me a good, traffic-free hill to ride it down at least once before I start rebuilding it.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Komet Super on the JC. That's my favorite coaster hub.

I rebuilt my first Komet Super hub just last year. They're actually not as hard to work on as I was lead to believe. A little finicky, sure, but once you figure out the quirks, they're pretty easy to put together. Looking forward to rebuilding this one too!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Okay, this is kind of funny now. As soon as I've decided that I have too many bikes and parts in my inventory, and I need to downsize the collection, that's the moment when everyone gifts me more bikes and parts! (Not that I'm complaining! ) My buddy Chad gave me these 2 bikes, plus the 2 tires, tubes, grips and welding helmet earlier this Saturday, and told me to do whatever I want with them!

I know I can use the grips, tubes and welding helmet (provided it actually fits; haven't tried it on yet,) but I'll probably sell those tires at a swap meet down the road. As for the blue Western Flyer, I plan to use it for parts for my other bikes, though I might slap a banana seat and some better tires on it and goof off on it while I work on something else. Both it and the red Western Flyer are rideable as they are! Speaking of that red Western Flyer, I'm not 100% sure what I'll do with it just yet. Odds are that I'll try and sell or trade it at a swap meet, but I do like the lines on it. It'd make a great custom bike, but I'd be hesitant to cut into what's left of the original paint and graphics. Plus, it looks to have most if not all of the original parts on it, and it looks pretty cool as is! Whatever happens with these bikes, I'm just happy that I've got friends who are always looking out for me and my hobbies!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Detail shots:

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Oh boy, I got quite a few new projects in April! First up is this Schwinn Tornado twin bar I picked up at a local swap meet a few weeks ago. I almost didn't get it as I didn't need or really want it, but the price was too good to pass up. I figured at the very least, it'd make a good trading token at the Haysville, Kansas bicycle swap meet I was going to two days later. I didn't end up reselling or trading it there, but I've already got a guy who's seriously interested in the frame (and just the frame,) so I won't be storing this bike for too much longer. I just need to soak the whole thing in PB Blaster for a few weeks to get everything on the bike to come loose.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Next, while I was up in Kansas for a bicycle swap meet, my parents were over in Missouri, where they picked up a couple bikes that my grandpa got for me to use however I wanted. I don't know much about the Huffy road bike, other than it's got a few parts I might use on some other bikes I've got, but that 24 inch AMF Western Flyer should be a prime parts-donor for another AMF-built Western Flyer I got from my grandpa 5 years ago.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Now brace yourselves, this next post's so big I need to break it up into a few parts!

I finally got my chance to check out the Haysville, Kansas bicycle swap meet this year, and while it didn't go quite like I had expected, I still had a good time there, and will definitely be going back again for more!

One thing I can say for certain, I brought home way more stuff than I had when I left home! The main reason for that is mostly due to there being a "free pile" there at the swap meet, and if you've been following this thread for the past few years, you know I gravitate towards free bike parts like a moth to a flame. The stuff on the left of the picture below is all the stuff I either bought or traded for. The stuff on the right is all the stuff I got for F R E E !

I know I didn't really need to bring all this stuff home with me, but it's hard for me to pass up such a good deal, especially when it's just a short walk away!

I picked up this free Foremost since it had all the pieces I need to fix up a few other Murray bikes in my stable. It's also a frame that I wouldn't mind cutting up and welding into something else.

This bike, I didn't take out of the "free pile," so much as another vendor just gave it to me. All I really cared about on this bike was the chainring and maybe the bearing cups and bearings, so I took off the handlebars, handlebar stem and seat clamp, and gave those to the vendor parked next to me who wanted all that.

I picked up the 3 bare frames for the tube bends (though I love the paint on the 26 inch Schwinn,) and the 24 inch Schwinn Spitfire for all the hardware.

Found a few high pressure 20 inch tires. I've heard a lot of good things about these, so I figured I'd give them a try!

One of my biggest regrets was getting rid of my box of kickstands I had years ago, so the moment I found all those free kickstands in the pile, I grabbed them. Also, on a funnier note, apparently someone mistook the "free pile" for a "dump pile," and threw an old vacuum cleaner in the mix. I didn't need the vacuum, but those chrome hose attachments looked cool, so I grabbed them! They make me think of exhaust pipes, so I bet they'd be perfect on a custom bike!

Now for all the stuff that I traded for or purchased. I did better trading than buying, but I didn't spend more than $30, so I think I did alright. I bought the fenders, girl's JC Higgins tank, and X-53 frame, but I traded for everything else.

This Sears Spyder is arguably my favorite fresh find from this swap meet. I'll have at least 2 posts after this one of all the photos I shot of it.

Admittedly, that Huffy frame on the left turned out to be a piece of junk, but got it because I had that tank, and I figured I could cut out the part of the frame that the tank connects to, and do something with that. Plus, I got something else as part of that trade that balanced it out. The X-53 frame was a bargain, but as you'll see later, there was a reason I got it so cheap. And the Schwinn straightbar frame is just the "guilt-free canvas" I needed for a custom bike.

Funny thing about that Huffy tank: I got it for free. My dad surprised me with it a couple days prior, and I felt compelled to get the frame that it belonged to. The tank's not perfect, but it looks cool, and I love the graphics on it!

I bought that girl's JC Higgins tank on the far right for the battery tray. Hopefully it fits the men's tank on my other JC Higgins bike. The 3 deep dish fenders are a bit banged up, but for $10, they were good enough for at least one of my custom builds. Everything else was a trade, including that NOS seat. I recognized the shape of it from @The Renaissance Man's Speedline BRAT and knew I had to have one of my own. I also got another Monark chainring, a clamp-style handlebar stem, and some OCC Stingray handlebars.

Detail shots are coming up next!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Time to show the good, the bad, and the ugly with my latest swap meet haul.

First up is the Schwinn straightbar frame. I couldn't get an exact date on it with my usual "Schwinn decoder," but I did a little digging, and it might be another 1952 model. I'm not sure, but the serial number was used twice, and I don't think this is a 1957 model. Someone hacked off the kickstand, but that doesn't worry me. Thankfully the frame's nice and straight as far as I can tell.

Next up is that Huffy frame I got solely because I had a tank for it (and admittedly because there weren't any others that were not too nice or too expensive for me to customize.) Honestly, I already knew the frame wasn't in good shape, but I figured at least the part surrounding the tank was salvageable. It might be too far gone, but I also got that NOS seat along with it, so it's not a total loss. Worst case scenario, I just got a piece of wall art solely for displaying a tank. Best case scenario, I can cut this frame up and turn it into something a bit wilder.

Speaking of that Huffy tank, here's a better look at it. It's not perfect, but it's in far better shape than the bike I got for it. Sadly, the horn doesn't work, and I don't know how to fix that. That all being said, I LOVE the cool jet plane graphics on the side. I'd love to trace those in Adobe Illustrator and recreate them in other colors, in case I decide to build a custom bike with this style of tank.

Next up is another frame on my bucket list: a Western Flyer X-53! It wasn't the only one out at the swap meet, but it was the only one in my price range. At first glance, it looked good, and for $15, I couldn't find any reason to pass it up. Sure, it's missing everything to make it a complete bike, but I never really wanted a complete X-53; I wanted a custom X-53! However, once I brought it home and really looked at it, I think I figured out why it was priced so low; it's hiding some ugly secrets.

Odds are I'm going to repaint this bike, but I like that little "bomb" design on the seat tube. Anyone know what's up with that, where that's from?

I did a quick search on the serial number for this bike, and I guess this bike's a first-year model from 1953. Pretty cool!

I also found out something else about this bike, and it almost feels like forbidden knowledge: you can fit a tank off a middleweight Murray men's bike on it. Not gonna lie, I kind of like it better than the stock tank that would've come with this frame. I'm keeping this idea logged for later...

And now for all the ugly secrets: first off, there's some weird, solid metal blockage not too far down the seat tube, and I don't know what's up with it, or how to get rid of it. What's more, the seat tube's filled with shredded metal chunks and rust flakes! I got some of it out, but there's still some bits that are too large to fit through the holes at the top and bottom of the seat tube joints. Needless to say, I'm concerned.

There are also some spots where it looks like water got inside the frame, froze, and attempted to burst through the frame. There also seems to be a bit of Bondo, applied poorly, to some of the spots where there's damage. I'm going to need to put this frame through the sandblaster to really see the full extent of the damage, but my fingers are crossed that I can still fix and build this frame.

As rough as some of those frames I picked up turned out, there's one last bike I traded for that I'm only more excited to work on ever since I brought it home. That's next, and it's the one I shot the most photos of in its "as acquired" state. If that doesn't tell you how excited I am to work on it, I don't know what will!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I traded the original parts from last year's ORBO entry for both that Schwinn straightbar frame from earlier, and for this wicked cool 24 inch Murray-built Sears Spyder 5-speed. I'd been eyeing this style of muscle bike for a while now, but I could never find one close enough or inexpensive enough. Thankfully, as the Haysville, Kansas swap meet wrapped up, I found a guy who was interested in my 1952 Schwinn Hornet, and he had a couple things I wanted that he was willing to trade for it. The guy wasn't really into muscle bikes, and given his inventory of mostly older balloon tire bikes, this Spyder stood out like a Dodge Challenger in a crowd of Ford Model As; two great tastes that didn't taste great together (for him.) Granted, I know it's not in the best shape. The shifter arm is bent, the plastic shifter cover's broken, the brake cables are... broken, the seat cover is hanging on by a thread, and the list goes on. But all that said, nothing's seized up, the wheels turn, the brakes do move, the paint still has plenty of color left in it, I could probably fix the shifter arm on my own, the chrome looks like it'd clean up, the frame's nice and straight (minus the drop out fins, but that's typical,) and it looks like it's got all of the original parts, so nothing should be missing. Honestly, I think this would be a fun "survivor-style" build, where I leave the paint and patina alone, but clean up and fix everything as best as I can. I love the gold paint too. I don't have any other bikes that color, so it'll stand out in my stable quite nicely. Anyway, I talked about this bike enough, time for pics!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Normally I don't post pictures of tires I buy from my local bike shop in the "Fresh Finds" thread, but this was a pretty unique situation.

After I got done shooting all the above pictures of my swap meet haul, I stopped by my favorite LBS, Bicycles of Tulsa, to look and see if they had any 24" x 1 3/8" tires and tubes for the Spyder. Good news is they had some in stock, but that wasn't the score I felt was worth posting here. One the tire rack were 2 lightly-used 26" x 2.5" GT Smoothies, with tubes! I've been wanting these tires for my projects for at least a year now, so the moment I saw them at the shop I had to have them. I got all 3 tires and and all 3 tubes for $70 even! I know that's more than what I spent at the last swap meet, but you just don't find these tires in-store, especially not for less than $25 each with the tubes! I know I've got at least a couple bikes that these tires would look great on!

Those are all the fresh finds I've dug up in the month of April. Now I've got to get to work on my entry or entries for this year's RRBBO!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

That huffy tank is awesome. I'm a former graphic designer too, and I love the old jet age graphics. They aren't putting cool stuff like that on bikes anymore. The GT slicks are super sweet too, that will put a hot rod spin on any ride. Congrats on the big scores!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

That huffy tank is awesome. I'm a former graphic designer too, and I love the old jet age graphics. They aren't putting cool stuff like that on bikes anymore. The GT slicks are super sweet too, that will put a hot rod spin on any ride. Congrats on the big scores!

Yeah, these old bikes had some killer designs on them, and it wasn't just limited to the tanks! I've seen a few cool designs on some modern-day bikes, but nothing on this level for sure. Thanks!

 

[musclebikemadman]

My custom 1951 Huffman Customliner. The space and flight theme's were everywhere after WW2. When I saw this bike in a pile of others I initially thought the V-8 was original. It was added at some point, It is a V-8 symbol from a 1951 Ford which really makes it appropriate. I'm a Schwinn guy all the way but this is one that will always be in my collection.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

My custom 1951 Huffman Customliner. The space and flight theme's were everywhere after WW2. When I saw this bike in a pile of others I initially thought the V-8 was original. It was added at some point, It is a V-8 symbol from a 1951 Ford which really makes it appropriate. I'm a Schwinn guy all the way but this is one that will always be in my collection.

That's sharp! Love the colors on it; it almost looks like a vintage tin-pressed toy. Love how that V8 emblem is the same year as the bike. Looks like a keeper for sure!

I'm hoping I can find a Huffy/Huffman bike in better condition than the one I picked up at the last swap meet, as I really love that frame style.

 

[Pondo]

Nice scores. That Spyder is rad!