identity crisis!

[roadmaster]

so i have this early 60's huffy built cruiser, that i thought was a jc higgins (cuz thats what it said on the chainguard when i sanded it down and repainted it years ago) untill i wondered why the ser# went W163XXX with a seperate ser# below it reading 505 - XXX63, and somewhere i read that if the huffy ser# reads with the first letter a "W", it is western flyer, "HW" a hiawatha and an "S" for sears or jc higgins. so with the ser# begining with a "W" i wondered if it was a western flyer with a chainguard off a jch, but to contridict, the sub# begining with 505 makes me wonder if 505 is a sears code and this is really a jch. all i do know for sure that it is huffy built and its chainguard would argue that it is a jch. any one out there know whats up with the "W" ser# and if the first number of a huffy ser# would indicate the last year of make in production; making this a 61'. any help would be really appreciated.

(that jch headbadge was put on by me and did not come with the bike, but is it the right one? ive got a wf one ready to go on if it isnt a jc higgins, cuz im not 100% sure that was the oe chainguard for this bike as i heard it was introduced in 63' and the ser# would have me believe it could be a 61'. thanks for any help guys!

 

[Wildcat]

If the original color of the chain guard matched the original color of the bike, it would be a good bet to be a JC Higgins. I believe the frames might have been switched around between the different brands back then.

 

[necessaryevil]

I have a Huffy, WF, and Monark chainguard just like the one on your bike. I think Huffy owned all of those companies by then and just slapped on whatever name they wanted to.

 

[roadmaster]

i have heard that 505or was it 506 was code for sears (possibly) and when i got the bike, it was an awfull housepaint blue, but i forget if the chainguard matched the rest of the bike. would it be a 61' seeing how the ser# begins W163XXX and using the huffy ser# code of the first number being the last of the year.

thanks for the help so far guys, and i at least know it is a huffy built bike.

 

[Rustinkerer]

In 'Evolution of the Bicycle Vol. 2', there's a 1961 ad of a Huffman built bike with a Bluegrass badge. It has the same chainring and guard as yours. They didn't make many JC Higgins for Sears, but there are a few. 502 is the usual code for Sears, but there are always exceptions to every rule in this hobby!! It could have started out as a WF, but painted & badged JC Higgins. -Adam

 

[roadmaster]

In 'Evolution of the Bicycle Vol. 2', there's a 1961 ad of a Huffman built bike with a Bluegrass badge. It has the same chainring and guard as yours. They didn't make many JC Higgins for Sears, but there are a few. 502 is the usual code for Sears, but there are always exceptions to every rule in this hobby!! It could have started out as a WF, but painted & badged JC Higgins. -Adam

i knew that there were not a whole lotta huffy built jc higgins out there and the whole theory you have of it starting off as a wf and being painted and badged as a higgins is the same one i thought of a while back. i got a wf badge and a jch badge i can put on there, from other bikes. thanks!