I was in Buffalo today to pick up a bike from my niece. But as it happened, there was a guy about a mile away selling two older bikes as well, so I came home with all three. This is the JC Higgins that I went there for:
And the other two, a Firestone Cruiser girls bike, which looks very similar to my Monark Rocket:
And a Schwinn-built BF Goodrich:
The Firestone has the same carrier and fenders as my Rocket, plus a similar (but smaller) sprocket. The Goodrich looks to be original down to the skip-tooth chain, with the possible exception of the fork and front wheel. Shouldn't the fork on a post-war Schwinn be a forged flat-blade? This is tubular, with a crown similar to maybe an AMF (it looks like the one on both of my AMF Roadmasters). And while the rear wheel looks Schwinn, the front doesn't match.
The serial on the Goodrich, under the BB, is H271387. I take that make it a '51, built on 7/24. The Firestone has a serial and model number on a riveted tag under the BB shell. The paint down there was almost entirely gone, but the tag was barely legible. I think the serial is A0972930, but I'm not sure about the "7" or the "2". When I first looked at it, I thought those characters were "2" & "9", and I'm still not sure. The stamped numbers are very faint. Both of these bikes appear to be in good shape at a glance, but have some significant surface rust in places. One interesting point is that they both have late '60s city of Bugffalo registration plates. I'm not sure if they're worth anything, but they are cool...
And the other two, a Firestone Cruiser girls bike, which looks very similar to my Monark Rocket:
And a Schwinn-built BF Goodrich:
The Firestone has the same carrier and fenders as my Rocket, plus a similar (but smaller) sprocket. The Goodrich looks to be original down to the skip-tooth chain, with the possible exception of the fork and front wheel. Shouldn't the fork on a post-war Schwinn be a forged flat-blade? This is tubular, with a crown similar to maybe an AMF (it looks like the one on both of my AMF Roadmasters). And while the rear wheel looks Schwinn, the front doesn't match.
The serial on the Goodrich, under the BB, is H271387. I take that make it a '51, built on 7/24. The Firestone has a serial and model number on a riveted tag under the BB shell. The paint down there was almost entirely gone, but the tag was barely legible. I think the serial is A0972930, but I'm not sure about the "7" or the "2". When I first looked at it, I thought those characters were "2" & "9", and I'm still not sure. The stamped numbers are very faint. Both of these bikes appear to be in good shape at a glance, but have some significant surface rust in places. One interesting point is that they both have late '60s city of Bugffalo registration plates. I'm not sure if they're worth anything, but they are cool...
