When is a Sears Spaceliner not a Spaceliner?

[expjawa]

OK, I know that there several answers to that question, since there were several other-branded versions of the Spaceliner. But in this case, I mean a Sears-brand bike with a Spaceliner frame that isn't a Spaceliner. Or any specific model, for that matter. I'd been looking for a Spaceliner for a build idea for a while, but it would seem that they're actually in-demand, and really never the sort of cheap I prefer. So this nearly-a-Spaceliner bike is probably perfect.

I just bought this yesterday.

For $20, I couldn't pass it up. The guy I bought it from had retreived it from a scrap yard for $0.12 per pound, so he made money on it too. Clearly, it's the double-arched, extended dropout frame of a Spaceliner. But the only badging on it says "Sears".

The chainguard appears to be the standard Murray space-weight piece, the gold paint is scaley, but looks original, and it doesn't ever appear to have had a tank, OEM carriers (the one on it is aftermarket Wald), or any of the cool features of a Spaceliner. It has a single-band Bendix hub. I cleaned it up a bit with steelwool and WD40 and it looks alright:

There are numbers stamped on the dropout:

The stamping to the far right says "1981". Could that be a year? Was Sears selling middleweight bikes that late, especially with this frame?

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

I have one identical to that. Mine is a '64 as far as I can tell. I'll post a pic in a bit.

 

[kngtmat]

That is a cool Spaceliner kind of bike I guess it could be called a Goldliner, interesting gold bike.

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

Here's mine....

 

[expjawa]

Wow, it is exactly the same. Save for the saddle, and your lights. How does the stamped numbering compare?

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

Wow, it is exactly the same. Save for the saddle, and your lights. How does the stamped numbering compare?

Ill have to look at it in the daylight....I'm not sure.

 

[Rustinkerer]

45502 is the Sears catalog #, plus the typical extra '0' at the end. I didn't see that exact # in my book, but it only goes to 1965, and doesn't have ALL catalog pages for every year. Most likely it's a later 60's model, a basic version of the deluxe Spaceliner. There were also Flightliners made the same way, same guard and Sears badging. -Adam