Help with my new 81 Schwinn Cruiser

[twotimes]

Greetings, I'm new to customizing bikes and I've poked around on a couple other forums but I don't think I really fit in with the raked-out Chopper crowd and I don't think I fit in with the blinged-out low rider crowd. Rat rods seems like a good home for me.

I recently purchased a Kustom Kruiser Roadster that I am still trying to figure out what to do with.

This past weekend, however, I bought- somewhat on impulse- the Schwinn Cruiser pictured below. For the past month I've been looking on craigslist for cruiser candidates for customization. This one caught my eye. It was more than I wanted to spend (truthfully I'm still looking for a rusted but solid cruiser for like $10) but it was different than anything else I had seen and I decided to go check it out. I tried to do a bit of hurried research before I left but I couldn't find much to tell me its value.

The guy I bought it from was a bit eccentric and rough-around-the-edges but seemed to know his bikes and he told me that he was basically "giving the bike away for $250." Of course, he was trying to "sell" me on the bike but I did suspect that it had some inherent value beyond being a simple cruiser. I had already invested $30 in gas to go check it out, so I bit the bullet and decided, "what the hell, even if I get ripped off, it's a cool bike and it's only $100 more than other cruisers I've looked at. At the very least, I can cut it apart." I paid $240 for it.

When I got home I did some scouring of Schwinn forums and I found varying information, some of it valuing the bike between $200-$500 and some of it saying that it's basically just a run-of-the-mill Schwinn Cruiser, suggesting a lower value.

I know this about the bike:
Serial number LS524500 (built in 1981)
"Quality Schwinn Chincago" on tube, as well as other emblems

So, it appears to be a Chicago-made 1981 Schwinn.

Any idea what it's worth?

Thanks, and I look forward to being around here a bunch.

-jimi two times

 

[CCR]

just from the pics, those tanks go for around $100 or so on ebay (if the springer fork hasnt banged it up already). so bike minus the tank youve got $150 bike. looks like a schwinn frame as youve decoded already, bars, grips, neck, chainguard look original to the 81 schwinn cruiser, looks like an older schwinn s-seat in gold color, springer looks like a cheaper non-schwinn "economy" fork (still 40-50 new) and looks like the rims have been swapped out for aluminum rims with some knobbie whitewalls.

nice bike and right on the price IMO, not a "deal" but you didnt get "taken" if thats what you were fishin for :mrgreen:

it wouldnt make a difference on value as a whole if ypu swapped parts out or repainted it, the frame is nicer than most "$10" cruiser frames, but no tears would be shed if it was dismembered for customizing :wink:

 

[CCR]

watch these bid out

tank with 6 days left

tank with 1 day left

guys and girls bike in same auction without the extras with 3 days left

theres also a couple 80s schwinn cruisers listed with starting bids of $150 with no bids yet ( shipping kinda ruins it )

should give ya a ballpark of what people are payin anyway

 

[bombshelterbikes]

Not to be "that guy" here, but did Schwinn even make a "Phantom-esque" cruiser in 1981???? At that time they were making "Cruiser 5" set ups, lightweights, etc. I'm definitely not a Schwinn expert, but everything on that bike screams of the late 1990's last-gasp "retro" Schwinns right before the company went .... up. Where is that serial number? Bunchobikes.com has a detailed list/way to accurately date that. Decals, etc can be bought on the net easily.

NOW.......having hypothesized from a thousand miles away :roll: .....I definitely think you have a sweet candidate for a "kustom" or RAT-Phantom Get crazy with it....loose those sorta-fenders, KILL that same ol' same ol' paint job, paint the rims, burn the seat, etc :wink:

You own it already, now it's time to make it you own :mrgreen:

 

[CCR]

I believe the phantom reproductions were made in 1995

 

[FaceOFFbikes]

They also made a Schwinn Deluxe (1995) with left over Phantom repop frames, forks and tanks.. lol.. They sure messed up a good "brand"

 

[fast eddie]

thats a really cool lookin bike, but thats also alot more than i would have paid for it. 'real' schwinn frames are cool and all, but they also made...i dunno...thousands of them over the period of time they were still 'real' schwinns.' a schwinn frame is not rare or hard to come by. the fact that they're so easy to find is what makes 'em such good rat candidates, even if ya chop it up and mess it up...no worries, just hit another garage sale or flea market and nab another one. unless your a collector, parts are parts, and repops work just as well (usually)and look just as cool as the originals. if ya wanna make it worth something trick it out and do what you can to make it look totally unique and your own. ride and enjoy it, thats how you'll figure out how much it's worth. and for 240 bucks, you got alot of riding to do! but thats just my opinion and i could be way wrong. i like custom and customized bikes, not brand names.
fast eddie outty

 

[JoeyMac]

I'm with Fast Eddie on this one. A bike is worth as much as you paid for it as long as you ride it and use it. Nothing sadder than an nice bike just sitting there collecting dust (or rust).

 

[Markm]

what does the chainguard say?
Are the spokes "heavy-duty"? (if those are the orig wheels, Sun rims maybe?)

 

[twotimes]

Where is that serial number?

It's on the neck. According to a few different sources, it was made in Chicago in November, 1981.

LS524500
http://www.bunchobikes.com/serialnumber5.htm

what does the chainguard say?

"Schwinn Cruiser"

Are the spokes "heavy-duty"?

Not sure what "heavy duty" means. The spokes look to be the same as on my Kustom Kruiser Roadster. The wheels are original Schwinns but are cracked and need to be replaced. The rims have no brand markings, only two rows of short lines going around the rims, like the rows of short lines on the side of the freeway that wake you up when you're dosing off.

 

[Markm]

I have a cruiser 5 from 80 or 81. I guess I should have said thicker spokes. I also got what I think are the original wheels and theyre Sun rims. Mine was a 5 speed though...

 

[CCR]

my 80 cruiser five has chrome schwinn (non-stamped) rims i believe.

 

[Markm]

I could be wrong, and probably am. I got the frame and wheels seperately but from the same guy.

 

[twotimes]

watch these bid out

tank with 6 days left

tank with 1 day left

guys and girls bike in same auction without the extras with 3 days left

Thanks for these links. One of the tanks ended just over $100. And the pair of bikes is currently at $350 plus $100 shipping.

 

[FaceOFFbikes]

You said two lines of grooves on the rims? S2 schwinn rims have those 2 rows of knurls you are talking about. You say cracked? Do you mean you can see where the rim was welded together? Because most of schwinn's older rims are all made that way..let's see some close up pics please.