Vintage JC Higgins Cruiser (1950s?)

[Collector]

Hey everyone!! I came across this awesome bike that was going to be sent off to the scrap metal yard. I'm having a difficult time findings information about the bike. I'll attach some pictures, which include the vin.

With pricing, my plan is to strip it down and restore it to make it look factory again. What do you think the value would be?

Thanks,

Collector

 

[Fv2]

I don't think I'd strip it and repaint, just clean it up.

 

[RustyGold]

If that is a 'MOS-M', then it would be a '56. Might be a Colorflow, with the springer...or something similar. For a full resto as a Colorflow, the value will probably be far less than the cost as you are missing some spendy pieces (tank, rack, and light). Clean it up and make a good rider out of it would be your best bet...you can add the missing parts as you run across them.

Neat project!

 

[sandman]

Time is your friend if you decide to try resto . if you can set a side and be patient as you wait for the right deal on replacement parts it might be worth it . It may also take 3 or more years ? If your doing it just to get a good return on your investment , forget it and ride it .

 

[schwinn boy]

What do I think the value would be? with a mechanical resto, back fender and tank and keeping the original paint I'd expect to get about $400-500. with a repaint, about $350. original is in demand more than restored.

 

[RustyGold]

It really depends on where you are selling it. Those prices would be high for my local area...maybe a bit high here on RRB... probably about right on thecabe or eBay. But, really...it just depends, it will be worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it...you just have to find the someone that it strikes a chord with.

 

[RustyGold]

From my pessimist side... I'm really starting to feel that the bottom is starting to fall out of this hobby (as well as vintage/classic cars). It's been happening to pretty much all of my hobbies over the last decade or two...the older guys that have been fueling the growth are beginning to downsize, and there aren't a lot of youngins stepping up to fill in the gaps.

 

[sandman]

The bottom has more then started falling . The last couple of years have been like a great depression in the hobby .

 

[RustyGold]

The bottom has more then started falling . The last couple of years have been like a great depression in the hobby .

My perspective is...on thecabe and bmxmuseum, I've seen some truly record shattering money being put up for some high end bikes. However, I've seen prices, and the amount of product being moved, plummet at local swap meets...even though attendance is good. With more regularity, people seem to be announcing that they are getting out of the hobby both on thecabe and bmxmuseum...some return, many don't. Things aren't moving out of the for sale section here as much, either. The build participation here seems to have been struggling for a while, as well, and many of the big names just aren't posting anymore.

I think the record shattering prices are due to bikes coming onto the market that have been horded for many years...big collectors downsizing. The swapmeets seem to have many of the same faces in the crowd, but, they just aren't buying anymore...at the last swap I participated in, all the 'vendors' pretty much were selling/trading to other vendors. I traded away two bikes for one (from another vendor), bought a titanium frame (from another vendor), and sold two sets of handlebars and a stem...I had a crew cab Dakota packed with stuff...bed, backseat and frontseat and sold $11 worth of stuff on a $20 space .

 

[RustyGold]

I think the Old School BMX part of the hobby has a little more life remaining, as the 'old guys' in that Hobby are, for the most part, Gen-Xers...it is post-boomer.

 

[sandman]

The College campuses are full of hybrid bikes . Function over form ?

 

[RustyGold]

Function over form sounds like they are practical...that doesn't seem to be the case. Its more that the things that convey status have changed. Used to be cool cars...now its the latest iphone. Anything not new is also looked at as not cool, just old and obsolete.

There is still a lot of money being spent on new bikes...its just that in the BMX park/street world...no matter how much you spend on it, there are no qualms about repeatedly throwing it at concrete over and over. In the BMX race world and the MTB world, if its old its obsolete. So a $6000 mountain bike that is a 2-3 seasons old is worth a fraction of that $6000...even if it was never ridden in anger...and they are often NOT (MTB) ridden in anger, my wife will constantly point at Subarus and such driving down the freeway with bikes on the back...and she'll ask me if they are expensive bikes. Nearly half the time they are $3000+ bikes...perfectly clean...they are just status symbol accessories to add to there Subaru.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

You guys seen the hipster bikes? The hobby ain't dead, just we don't like (or don't understand) what they're building. And they definitely don't do forums. the kids at work were literally grossed out that I was on one, I got the "ok boomer" treatment, and I'm barely gen x!
What I find crazy is the disdain for anything old in the MTB crowd, like Rusty mentioned above. Anything over 5 years old is viewed as what Fred Flintstone rode down the brontosaurus. And yet, I can't find a cheap Kona Explosif or Spesh Stumpjumper for the life of me! If nobody wants them, why aren't they for sale?
For some reason, retro off road seems bigger in Europe. The retrobike dot uk group are fanatics.

 

[Phil Fink]

The Murray-built frame and fork may be from 1948-M.
The seat post clamp is of the earlier style, as is the "front wheel suspension".
See the upper truss rods; the 1951-53 patent 2,660,455 eliminated the feature - as there was enough steel there already, that it was not likely going to flex much; (and a visual distraction from the distinctive bee-hive spring).

The extra-heavy design lasted from late 1940's to late 1950's, when "space" bikes were introduced. There are a lot of bikes similar to this one, in various condition, from mint to carcass. I agree with the others, to repair and refurbish to your own personal rat-rod liking, rather than restoration for a museum, or something.
The numbers following the Sears supplier code "MOD 502" (for Murray), 26 was for deluxe, and 28 for super deluxe models, (even numbers for boys/mens).
Murray may have had two (2) alphabetical sequences for their serial numbers; one starting in the beginning 1936; and another starting sometime post war-ish.

 

[RivNut]