Hello All

[DeltaNine]

New member here, longtime member over at OldMinibikes.com forum. Mostly lurking but sometimes posting. I was at the 2024 Vintage Motor Bike Club meet in Portland Indiana last month. A neglected and very rusty Huffy 20" of unknown branding grabbed my heart and followed me home. Pretty sure it's a '67. Just enjoying the pleasure of having a new project to sink my tooths into. Currently disassembled, I've cleaned up the frame and everything else as best as possible. Waiting for the rain to stop in my area of Texas to clearcoat.
Thanks!
Mark

 

[Pondo]

Welcome Mark! That's a great looking Huffy you've got there. Lot's of muscle bike enthusiasts here, myself included. The bike in my avatar is a similar frame to yours. If you're interested you might save this build for the next muscle bike build off which starts September 1st. It's a fun time. Of course, you may want to finish this one now and do another for the build off.

Check out CRASH's build page for some high quality muscle bike restorations here:
https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/crashs-bike-build-page.101575/

 

[DeltaNine]

Wow, a guy can get lost looking at Crash's builds. Spectacular.
Thanks for the offer, but I'm hoping to be able to use my bike for a couple events yet this summer. But I will put that thread on watch.
The bike in your avatar, love the front forks. Custom made or are those available?
Thanks!

 

[Pondo]

The bike in your avatar, love the front forks. Custom made or are those available?

Those forks are customized forks from a 26" British bike, Raleigh or Hercules or similar. I bought the bike from @CRASH as a project for the muscle bike build off a couple of years ago. The forks had been recurved by a previous owner. I cut the steer tube down to fit the Cheater Slick frame and re-threaded it to fit the Huffy headset. It was a fun project and I really like it but I'm a ways off from being able to do top notch stuff like a bunch of folks around here do.

 

[DeltaNine]

That's a bit beyond my fabrication skills too.
Nice paint on the chainguard. Overall just a great looking ride. Well done!

I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve. Got an original Huffy two-tone seat, in blue sparkle. Nicer handlebars and a 36" sissy bar. NOS Wald 7140 pedals. I have the original wheels/rims but they need more work than I'm willing to put into 'em for now. Got some generic aluminums for it.

It'll probably never be a show stopper, just good enough to use as a swap meet/car show/race day pit bike. And hopefully save my old tired hips/knees/feet a bit. Construction work took it's toll.

 

[Pondo]

Nice paint on the chainguard. Overall just a great looking ride. Well done!

Thanks! That chainguard was my first go at lace painting. Fun project. I'd like to do that to a car roof.

I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve. Got an original Huffy two-tone seat, in blue sparkle. Nicer handlebars and a 36" sissy bar. NOS Wald 7140 pedals. I have the original wheels/rims but they need more work than I'm willing to put into 'em for now. Got some generic aluminums for it.

This is going to be a cool ride for sure! You should start a thread in the builds section so we muscle nuts can follow along.

And hopefully save my old tired hips/knees/feet a bit. Construction work took it's toll.

I hear ya there! It'll be a great conversation piece as a pit bike too.

 

[DeltaNine]

Thank you! I will post some pix in builds when things are ready to assemble. Hopefully soon.

 

[Wildcat]

Welcome aboard!

Huffys are easy to find what year they are. The serial number will have a number and a letter at the beginning, like 8H. That first number is the last digit of the year it was made. Since yours is probably a 60's bike, 8H would be 1968, 5H would be 1965.

Post up a pic or start a build thread on it.

 

[DeltaNine]

Huffys are easy to find what year they are. The serial number will have a number and a letter at the beginning, like 8H. That first number is the last digit of the year it was made. Since yours is probably a 60's bike, 8H would be 1968, 5H would be 1965.

Hello there! These are the vital stats: on neck - HC0087141. On rear stays - C70487rj and C 2016. As I understand it that would be 1967?

I do have a post on builds. https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/rusty-huffy-muscle-bike.120043/

Thanks for checking in!

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Welcome! Great start to a cool build!

 

[Wildcat]

I do have a post on builds. https://ratrodbikes.com/threads/rusty-huffy-muscle-bike.120043/

Thanks for checking in!

I did some more research on Huffy numbers.
There's so much misinformation out there it's hard to find something that can be verified.
C70487 rj breaks down as: C is the Celina Ohio plant, 7 is the decade, 048 is the julian date of manufacture, and 7 is the last digit of the year. Everything after that is model number or sequence number.

But all I see are plastic fenders on 77 Huffys.

That would make yours a 77 Huffy, but I'm skeptical.
Here's a 77 Thunder Road from the BMX Museum. Same chain guard as yours.

 

[DeltaNine]

I did some more research on Huffy numbers.
There's so much misinformation out there it's hard to find something that can be verified.
C70487 rj breaks down as: C is the Celina Ohio plant, 7 is the decade, 048 is the julian date of manufacture, and 7 is the last digit of the year. Everything after that is model number or sequence number.

But all I see are plastic fenders on 77 Huffys.

That would make yours a 77 Huffy, but I' skeptical.
Here's a 77 Thunder Road from the BMX Museum. Same chain guard as yours.
View attachment 276374

I've only owned this bike for a month, but yeah, there seems to be a lot of questions about decoding Huffy bikes in general. From what I've seen so far anyway. Some sites suggest the rim width and hub can help track down the year.
Aside from the saddle and handlebars, that sure looks like my bike. Having completely disassembled it, I'm convinced everything on it was original. I haven't posted pix yet, but the fenders cleaned up surprisingly well.
Regardless, I'm having a blast getting her back in riding condition.
Thanks for your input.

Mark

 

[DeltaNine]

Welcome! Great start to a cool build!

I'm having a fine time making her a rider. Better yet, it'll give this retired guy more reason to head to the beach instead of sitting on my butt.
Thanks much!

 

[DeltaNine]

I did some more research on Huffy numbers.
There's so much misinformation out there it's hard to find something that can be verified.
C70487 rj breaks down as: C is the Celina Ohio plant, 7 is the decade, 048 is the julian date of manufacture, and 7 is the last digit of the year. Everything after that is model number or sequence number.

But all I see are plastic fenders on 77 Huffys.

That would make yours a 77 Huffy, but I'm skeptical.
Here's a 77 Thunder Road from the BMX Museum. Same chain guard as yours.
View attachment 276374

Looking at this bike more closely some things I noticed:
1) The seat post looks to be modified. Did it crack and get hacked off?
2) The seat itself looks oddly like it belongs on a 70s Honda Z50. Is that a typical style seat for a '77 BMX bike?
3) By the time the BMX craze started, I was into cars, motorcycles, and girls. Were whitewall tires on BMX bikes a thing?
Just thinking out loud here.
Last item for today: I got my frame clearcoated. Pix soon.

 

[Captain Awesome]

2) The seat itself looks oddly like it belongs on a 70s Honda Z50. Is that a typical style seat for a '77 BMX bike?

Loaf seat

Very bueno