Roadmaster Skyrider

[blacksheep]

This is my wife's Roadmaster Skyrider. I figured it was a mid-sixties bike, but after some research I'm left scratching my head. I've seen several other nearly identical bikes listed as being 1957 or 1958 models on up to the mid-sixties. Anyone have an idea? The headbadge says AMF Roadmaster. Thanks in advance.

 

[roadmaster]

i have a thing for old cwc and amf built roadmasters, go figure. i had this old cruiser bike with no badging or writing on it at all and thru an extensive and slightly ocd search of the net and different sites, i found out my bike was a roadmaster skyrider, with the same chainring as yours has actually.

my roadmaster as of last summer (now has correct rear rack and correct rear chrome fenders with 1.75 tires. picts as soon as i can get an affordable camera ) i tried dating it by the chainring style and i saw it on alot of pre 58' and i think it was followed by the "stars" chainring, but im not sure if they ran concurrently as i believe our "spiral" chainrings were phased out by like 62 or 63' and definatly by the mid 60's amf "trispoke" chainring they used on everything throughout the rest of the 60's and probably the early 70's or so. someone said that pre 61' roadmasters didn't have seperate seatpost clamps, as they were built into the frame prior to 61' or 62'. i guessed mine out to a 59' to possibly a 62' and thats the same range id guess for your bike. i sanded it down to factory colorscheme and repainted it in those colors the oem way, so if my color scheme rings a bell for anyone out there, don't hesitate to chime in.

i gotta say these old roadmasters have a little more wheelbase and slack angles than most cruisers, especially anything post 80's and i just think they are the bee's knee's. my "59'" cruises like a friggin caddy and as they say at my work... "i'm lovin it!"

 

[Hammond Eggz]

Funny, it looked like mid-sixties to me, too.
I found this '65 men's bike with the identical graphics on the chainguard...so???
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whappen/2269593579/

 

[blacksheep]

I don't know. :roll: When we got the bike it did not have a seat post clamp at all. The seat post had a bolt like the one inside a stem. Tightened up the same way and the seat was clamped on top. I figured it was just rigged, but maybe it wasn't?

I know that the year of manufacture isn't that important, but it's always cool to tell friends, etc. "That's a 19XX Roadmaster Skyrider" instead of "that one is from the sixties".

 

[Wildcat]

The roadmaster I picked up years ago had a star sprocket with reflectors. It also had the seat post that tightened like a handlebar stem, no clamp on the frame. Since the star sprockets were early 60's, that would go along with yours being late 50's/early 60's. My frame is also very swept back like yours, more than any other cantilever frame I've had.

 

[roadmaster]

The roadmaster I picked up years ago had a star sprocket with reflectors. It also had the seat post that tightened like a handlebar stem, no clamp on the frame. Since the star sprockets were early 60's, that would go along with yours being late 50's/early 60's. My frame is also very swept back like yours, more than any other cantilever frame I've had.

i've gotta agree, the amf/roadmaster does have the most swept back/laidback angles/geometry of any cantilever i've ever had, too. i'm 6'2" and it is one of the best fitting bikes i own, cuz i hate nothin more than a cruiser with the cranks right under me, or even worse;back further and a short stem. i hope we were some help to yaz.

 

[ChadB]

I realize this is an old thread, but the AMF Roadmaster I just picked up also has the seat post with the bolt, like a handlebar stem, and it has the star chain ring. Does that narrow down the year at all?

 

[roadmaster]

I realize this is an old thread, but the AMF Roadmaster I just picked up also has the seat post with the bolt, like a handlebar stem, and it has the star chain ring. Does that narrow down the year at all?

what i was told, was that pre 61 or 62 had the clampless seatpost and the stars chainring came out in like 58 or 59. other accounts was that the stars chainring was out untill 61'. from what you describe, id say 60 to 62. just a guess.