Sears Spyder 24"

[wheelbender6]

I bought a Sears Spyder 24" frame/fork this week (banana seat bike). Original chrome finish has been painted over, so no need to attempt to source original parts.

-It was advertised as a Sears Screamer, but I don't think there were any 24" Screamers produced.

-I don't think Sears sold any Spyders or Screamers with the included Rat Trap springer fork either.

-At any rate, the serial no indicates that it is indeed a bike sold by Sears and I will attempt to further decode the serial no when I take delivery near the end of the week. Should be a fun build.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/81cAAOSwFuZbPQpe/s-l1600.jpg

 

[Jaxon]

Cool Start. Is the fork a 24 or 26 inch fork?

 

[AndyA]

Mr. Wheelbender:
Jaxon's question is important. Is it really a 24" bike? The only model in the Sears catalogs that seems to have a chrome frame of this design and a springer fork is the 1961 Flightliner, which was only available as a 26" bike. Some other models of that era were available as 24's, but those frames were painted. The chain wheel belongs on a Flightliner but the chain guard shown does not match any Sears bikes from 1958 thru 1963 (the Age of the Flightliners).

The Sears Screamer was a muscle bike with an odd, rectangular frame that has no relation to this bike. Sears Spyders initially had conventional 20" cantilever frames then later had Spaceliner-style frames. Again, not the frame pictured. If anyone knows more, please weigh in.

In any case, have fun.

 

[wheelbender6]

When I saw that the frame originally had a chrome finish, I thought it may have actually been a Flightliner myself, AndyA.
-I'm OK with it either way: Spyder or Flightliner -24" or 26" wheels. Like'm both. -I guess I will move the thread to another sub-forum if turns out to be a 26 inch Flightliner!
-I will not get actually my hands on the bike until Friday, Jaxon, so I will be in suspense until then.

 

[wheelbender6]

A fellow on another forum said the metal tab behind the head tube in the photo is used to attach a tank.
-I don't remember Spyders or Screamers having tanks.
-Looks like I will have a Flightliner, or some other tank cruiser.

 

[RustyGold]

Here is a claimed 24" Fleet Wing with a chrome flightliner type frame

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-24...=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Jason

 

[wheelbender6]

I opened up the box about an hour ago. It is a Sears Flightliner, BUT, it takes 24in wheels. My 26in wheel was too big for it. I had thought only girls Flightliners had 24in wheels.
I think I will give it the banana seat treatment for now. It will take a while for me to source the correct tank and rack to make it look like a proper Flightliner.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Cool bike whatever it is!

The Muscle bike build off is on you know, perfect timing to join!

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php#muscle-bike-build-off-2018.167

 

[wheelbender6]

The original chrome finish looked pretty good, so I began stripping the paint this weekend.
The painted part of the rat trap fork is too damaged to use. I will have to transplant the suspension components to a different, more sound fork.

 

[wheelbender6]

I have stripped off quite a lot of purple paint. The original chrome frame looks good, especially after some Mother's chrome polish.
The rat trap fork workings cannot be simply unbolted from the original, damaged fork. They are welded to it. I bolted the original crown and rat trap mechanism to a Spaceliner fork with 3/4" bolts. Time will tell if it will be durable enough.
With the frame color and rat trap fork sorted out, its time to source a donor bike for the 24" wheels, brakes and drive train.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks good!

 

[wheelbender6]

Finally bought a donor bike for most of the parts I need. Shown here with 24" wheels.
-I need to enlarge the front dropouts a bit for the axle to fit properly. My Dremel tool is pretty small, so I may need to do that manually, with a rasp.
-The photos are visible when I am in the editing mode, but i can't see them otherwise. Sorry about duplicate pics but I am having trouble trying to erase them.

https://thecabe.com/forum/attachments/flt-liner-wheels-jpg.931554/

https://thecabe.com/forum/attachments/flt-liner-wheels-1-jpg.931555/

 

[RustyGold]

Probably better to notch the axles vs enlarge the dropouts.

Looking good

 

[wheelbender6]

Thanks for the advice on grinding the axle, RustyGold. It was much easier than grinding the dropouts. The steel in that old rat trap fork is really tough.

 

[wheelbender6]

Banana seat arrived so I did more work on the Flightliner. The 24" spyders were purple, so I got a purple seat and grips. Packed the headset and crank bearings.

-Installed a universal rear brake kit. I didn't trim the cable since I don't have the ape hanger bars yet. Flightliners were single speed coaster or a few came with a 2 speed kick back.

-I planned to finish the drive train but I didn't have a bmx chain. I was sure that I had one. I guess I mis-remembered.

 

[wheelbender6]

It turns slow with the fork reversed like that. I need to get my drive train working before I can really evaluate the steering.

 

[wheelbender6]

I added the ape hangers and grips this weekend. Hung the shifter on the seat tube for now. Ran out of time before I could finish the drive train. Posting pics on this site is much tougher than any other site I have experienced.

]

https://thecabe.com/forum/data/attachments/884/884387-2b4b8a5bdabf0706895ba6eb926827bc.jpg[/img]

 

[wheelbender6]

A little more done on the faux Spyder today. The drive train transplanted from a mountain bike shifts well now. I like the location of the shifter, but it needs cosmetic help.
-The original Flightliner chain guard cleaned up well and is installed (with zip ties until I acquire more hardware.)
-Still have little things to do like trim the cable housings, remove extra chain rings and rub on more chrome polish.
-Sorry for the inverted pics.

 

[Jaxon]

Looks Good. Nice collection of parts to make a cool ride. I had a Spaceliner I flipped the fork like that. It was harder to ride but looked cool!

 

[wheelbender6]

The biggest news since my last post is that I managed to do an endo on the bike today while crossing a ditch. Turns out that the torsion fork compressed soooo far that the tire jammed against the fork crown, locking the front tire.
--I will have to concoct some way of limiting the fork travel so that the front wheel will not lock again when I hit a big pothole or get run off the road by a cager. I could also switch the front wheel for a 20“ to fix the problem. The fork still works quietly, with no rattles or squeaks.
--I added a third bracket to the chain guard and it is steady now. Doesn’t rub on the cranks or chain.
--I stuck a wine cork in the grip shifter since I haven’t come up with any mod for it yet. I wish I had something for it that matched my purple jeweled valve caps.

--I still need more leg room, even though it’s a 24” bike. Thighs start to burn before the mile mark, even in low gear. I’ll try a lay-back seat post before resorting to a longer sear and sissy bar.