Help ID, thought it was a Jamis Earth Cruiser but...

[mediaoffline]

Hi guys, first post

I picked this up off Craigslist today pretty cheap. Thought it was a Jamis Earth Cruiser but its not labeled that way and has a slightly different fork. Some parts appear to have been updated (grips, maybe Falcon rear wheel). The frame has decals on the headtube & seattube that say 'BLT®'. The fork decals are almost entirely rubbed off but I can make out the letters 'BIK' (the K doesn't show in the picture but it's very visible in person). Obviously its probably not an actual Earth Cruiser but maybe something Jamis sold to another company? The BLT decals are high quality (not plain old stickers) and there's also an American flag decal on the seattube. No stamps on the frame other than the serial number MX038526 under the BB.

Compared to the Earth Cruiser it has:
-same dropouts (w/triangular cutout & single hole above)
-same chainring & chainguard that came on the 1979 model (as seen here: http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=29728&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=earth+cruiser)
-straight blade fork

The most obvious difference is the fork legs, they're straight at the bottom instead of the usual Earth Cruiser angle cut. I know that fork design was pretty popular at that time so it could be original or replacement, although the colors of the decals seem to match the colors on the frame decals.
Also, can't tell for sure without removing the decals, but I don't feel holes for a headbadge. I know very early Earth Cruisers had a headbadge but most didn't.
I know the Ming Bike Malibu Hopper was similar but it had 2 holes over the dropouts.
I forgot to look at the chain guard, will check that tomorrow. (EDIT: checked and it matches)

Any ideas? Thanks for any input

(sorry about the rotation on the pics of the headtube & seattube stickers, imugr rotated them and won't let me change it)

 

[RyanPartridge]

The forks are either Wald or Akisu.

 

[Robertk]

Cool find. Early EC forks were Akisu. The earliest (1979) EC's had headbadges that said "Cycles", later (1981-2) they changed to Jamis headbadges. According to Greg Webber at Jamis and Clayton Emory at Emory bikes, the EC frames were used later on diff brands, etc. However it was Ronald Jamis that had the frame originally designed based on a Schwinn cruiser frame around 1978 per Clayton Emory. There is a cool document floating out on the internet that outlines the court case between ROSS and Jamis re the Jamis design of the BOSS Cruiser copying the design of the ROSS Diamond Cruiser - lots of tidbits about Jamis in that doc.

Anyway cool find - I would turn it into an EC if it was me, of course I'm a bit biased when it come to Jamis Earth Cruisers with chrome forks

 

[mediaoffline]

I figured out what it is. Not an Earth Cruiser, at least not officially.

Loooong story short I never noticed that the seattube decal had more text on it. Under BLT was written in small letters "MT Supply USA Inc, Encino, CA 91436." The internet led me to a name associated with that company. The name (in a very round about way) led me to understand what MT stood for: Ming Ta. That led me to an archive of trademarked logos that the guy held. One of those logos was Ming Bike California. Yup, it's a Ming Bike that appears to predate the Malibu Hopper (he holds that logo too).

Not the worst thing in the world, Ming Bikes weren't terrible but it's not as nice as I had hoped. Although I learned from a fellow RRB member that the word on the street is Jamis's bikes were made in Taiwan and it's very likely the design was rebadged under different names. On closer inspection the holes above the rear dropouts are slightly different than the Earth Cruiser, they're a little further back. However the undeniable similarities are the chainring & chainguard, not sure how common those exact designs were at the time.

In any event I'll still klunk it till it breaks then get something stronger :mrgreen:

SIDENOTE: I plan to strip and repaint the frame but I will cover & preserve the decals, Encino CA 91436 happens to be where I grew up

 

[Green Dragon]

Anyway cool find - I would turn it into an EC if it was me, of course I'm a bit biased when it come to Jamis Earth Cruisers with chrome forks

I seem to remember one of those , have you got it all built ? ( never saw a thread on it, but I'm no ton as much ) .

 

[mediaoffline]

I briefly started building it as a klunker but ended up getting a Worksman frame instead. This BLT is being returned to the way I bought it and will be sold on Craigslist. Now that I know it's nothing special I don't have any interest in keeping it