Sid (finished)

[The Renaissance Man]

View attachment 249881Like this ? I had surgery done on my basal joint two weeks ago due to arthritis. I get the stitches out this coming Monday, then a splint, and physical therapy after 6 weeks. I’m hoping it works as good as the surgeon claims. Good luck with your surgery !

Just like that. I hope it works well after also. Right hand will follow if it does. I don't know how many bike wrecks as a kid that I landed on and hurt the ball of my hands. I figure that's part of the cause now.

Best of luck to both of you for a full recovery!

 

[Oldbiscuit]

Yah between bike wrecks, motorcycle wrecks, work and old age, it got to a point where it hurt and was a struggle to even hold a beer with it. The wrist pops and grinds real bad, but the surgeon told me to live with it until I can’t take it anymore then he’ll address that as well. My right hand is getting bad, but so far not near the pain and problem that my left was causing me.

 

[ingola]

Sid has not gotten any attention for over a couple of weeks now.

There have been a few reasons but one of them is that I have been attempting to organize my bike addiction (hoarding) which has effectively transformed my workshop into a storage building. Any of you with too many fenders and wheel sets can understand the difficulty in storing them. This simple solution moved them from several clumsy stacks to a single row up close to the ceiling and out of the way.

View attachment 249829

This is free standing but it could be constructed against a wall also.

I know that the better solution is to start thinning the stash. But until then, this buys me a little more space and time.

Great idea I'm in the same situation

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Does anyone have any insight into the serial numbers for these bikes? I found a Murray number guide (of sorts) on the CABE but nothing seems to match what I'm seeing. Maybe JC Penny had their own number system or something.

My best guess for the number is: Either 3 1124 887810 or possibly add a 1 at the beginning making it 13 1124 887810

Not wanting to sand down the paint, I took a few close-up pictures to try and see the stamps better.

I rubbed some chalk into the numbers with mixed results.

And again after wiping some of the excess chalk away which seemed to hint at an additional 1 at the beginning.

 

[Oldbiscuit]

If anyone has the date list, i’d be interested in the year of my Eliminator as well.

 

[CRASH]

Murray serial numbers are a mess. 502 at the front designates Sears. An X25 in the middle meant JC Penny. And there is a long list of other badge codes. Anyway, nothing definitive. So I tend to investigate through catalogs.

That’s not any help with you, sorry. My best guess for yours: 1969.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I put some pedals and the extra ripe banana seat on Sid yesterday evening and took it for the first ride since sometime back in the late 1900s. There are no active brakes and it is relegated to 4th gear without the shifter, so it was just a short ride down the street and back.

The sissy bar is mounted in the highest position which put the seat at a good distance from the pedals, but the bars felt too low even though the stem was at the maximum height. I might drop the sissy bar one hole to see if I like it any better.

I also had to bend the foot on the kickstand down some to get the bike closer to the upright position. As it was, it was leaning to the point of causing the front wheel to flop to the side. I may have raised it a little too much so I'll bend it back just a smidgen to further dial it in for a good parking position.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I took a close look at this advertisement photo and noticed that it also has the sissy bar mounted in the bottom hole. But the seat post is buried almost all of the way down! I think I'll set Sid up like the ad to see what that's like.

I don't think having the seat sloping down that far in the front will be very comfortable, but there's one surefire way to find out!

 

[metalchewy]

I took a close look at this advertisement photo and noticed that it also has the sissy bar mounted in the bottom hole. But the seat post is buried almost all of the way down! I think I'll set Sid up like the ad to see what that's like.

View attachment 250046

I don't think having the seat sloping down that far in the front will be very comfortable, but there's one surefire way to find out!

The Ad looks like tje seat's set just right to ride as a wheelie bike. Feathering the rear brake you could ride for blocks on one wheel.

That's what I think of when I see the lower on the front.

 

[OddJob]

Can't wait to see your RaT-ification of the bar tape!

Sid is cool! Not sure I've ever seen one of these in the wild, much less in captivity.

RaT oN~!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The Ad looks like tje seat's set just right to ride as a wheelie bike. Feathering the rear brake you could ride for blocks on one wheel.

That's what I think of when I see the lower on the front.

I didn't consider that. Maybe that was a thing with the West Coast kids.

Can't wait to see your RaT-ification of the bar tape!

Sid is cool! Not sure I've ever seen one of these in the wild, much less in captivity.

RaT oN~!

Thanks OJ. I'm hoping the tape will work as is but who knows?

I've been wondering where you've been lately.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I just bought another Hunt Wilde handlebar wrap. I hope the fourth time's the charm!

With photos online, it is so hard to tell what the color will be until I can see it with my own eyes. It looks promising though, fingers crossed.

 

[SwissGuy]

I just bought another Hunt Wilde handlebar wrap. I hope the fourth time's the charm!

View attachment 250742

With photos online, it is so hard to tell what the color will be until I can see it with my own eyes. It looks promising though, fingers crossed.

First thought:
Why the heck does he have a picture of cheese in his thread...?

 

[GeePig]

First thought:
Why the heck does he have a picture of cheese in his thread...?

If you have good cheese, you should be proud of it - and keep it away from any kids, wives etc.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

It may be a small thing, but progress is progress.

Sid came to me sans shifter mounting brackets but @CRASH came to the rescue a while back. One of them was pretty rusty and pitted so I media blasted it down to clean metal. Today I painted both pieces to protect the raw metal and make them look reasonably close to aged zinc coated.

Even though the only thing that will show is the edge on either side, I wanted them to be protected and look untouched in the big picture.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I'm through buying any more handlebar wrap unless the correct Hunt Wilde 'unobtainium gold' pops up somewhere. The latest purchase came in and has little to no difference in color from the last rolls. Moving on.

 

[CRASH]

If I could be so bold as to recommend red? The original decals had red in them. I don’t know if yours still do. You can buy the Hunt Wilde cherry red rather easily and comparatively cheap.

 

[ingola]

I'm through buying any more handlebar wrap unless the correct Hunt Wilde 'unobtainium gold' pops up somewhere. The latest purchase came in and has little to no difference in color from the last rolls. Moving on.

Get yourself some cheap bar wrap the go to Michels hobby lobby or wherever your craft stuff is sold get a roll of this

It applies with an iron come in 30 different shades of gold super strengthy and cheap. Iron it on to the bar wrap and bingo great way to recover seats to

 

[The Renaissance Man]

If I could be so bold as to recommend red? The original decals had red in them. I don’t know if yours still do. You can buy the Hunt Wilde cherry red rather easily and comparatively cheap.

Thanks but I'm trying to keep it as close as I can to the original as possible. If I can't live with the 'yellow' wrap that I have, I'm probably just going to leave it off altogether. The chrome is in very good shape and it looks good with the chrome fenders.

Get yourself some cheap bar wrap the go to Michels hobby lobby or wherever your craft stuff is sold get a roll of this View attachment 251162
It applies with an iron come in 30 different shades of gold super strengthy and cheap. Iron it on to the bar wrap and bingo great way to recover seats to

Interesting. I'll have to look into that. But again, it might be a little too far away from the original survivor motif.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Been waiting on two critical purchases for Sid.

'Out for Delivery' is like Christmas Eve!

#1

#2

Just in time for the weekend!