STOKED!

[chrisp]

Hi,
I guess this is my introduction post...
I've only recently been bitten by the bike bug. I joined RRB's a couple months back and have been drooling at all the bikes you folks build. So, I got to work selling old stuff that's been sitting in storage and watching craigslist. I finally scraped a little coin together last week and yesterday morning I swooped on a Schwinn Heavy Duti near me for $50. (It didn't come with the kid seat, I just put that on.)

The seller told me that it's all original except for the pedals and the rear tires. It needed a new tire and tube.

Then, on the way to the grocery store yesterday afternoon, I picked this up at a yard sale for another $50. =)

It rides great and needs nothing immediately so, I figured I could pirate the tubes, tires, and maybe some other stuff then sell the rest and maybe even come out even. But, when I got it home, my wife said she wanted it. It reminded her of her Stingray she had as a little girl. =) I'm looking forward to family rides.

So, yesterday evening my buddy came over with a tire and helped me pull the stuck seat post (Thanks Dan). We got the Heavy Duti riding, filled the tires on both bikes, and went for a ride in the parking lot behind our condo.

I'm stoked! =)

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Nice finds, I like the fender light on the second one. Also welcome to the site.

 

[jackdaw]

Hey, those are cool scores!

 

[chrisp]

Thanks guys! =)
I've been brainstorming a banana seat and sissy bar for the yellow one.
I want to take the stickers off my wife's bike but I'll have to ask if that's what she wants...
We've been riding every day. Rode my daughter to preschool today. It's nice just cruisin' ...
Not just trying to get where I'm going, now I'm enjoying the ride. =)

 

[chrisp]

I'm having trouble decoding my serial #. I've been searching all over the interwebs...
The number on the bottom of the BB is: HD310264 ...
I found this: http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index ... 39056.html ...
So is it August of '68? The bike doesn't seem that old. My highly uneducated guess is that it's not more than 20 years old. Really, just looking at it, it doesn't seem that old...
My bike does have the "Made in Hungary" sticker.

 

[Wildcat]

That's a good bike, the yellow Schwinn, but it's not a Chicago Schwinn. It was made sometime after 1983. That's all I know.

 

[chrisp]

That's a good bike, the yellow Schwinn, but it's not a Chicago Schwinn. It was made sometime after 1983. That's all I know.

Thanks Wildcat! That seems about right...
How can you tell from looking at it?

 

[Buster1]

The 80s style headbadge and forks visually show it to be of that era.

Love the score! That tan/brown second bike is awesome!

 

[outskirtscustoms]

If you look closely at the head badge there should be a 4 digit code stamped into it. First number is the last digit of the year the other three are the day of the year 1-365. For example 3010 would be 1973 1983 or 1993 January 10. You can normally narrow down the decade by looking at the components of the bike.

Yes I'm a Schwinn nut.

 

[chrisp]

The # stamped into the head badge is 1753...
I double checked to make sure it wasn't 1253 but, it's pretty clearly 1753.
Under the head badge is a sticker that says "Made In Hungary"...
hmmm did they do something different with the numbers in Hungary?

On another note, I took apart the light on the front fender of the brown bike. I originally thought that it was just for looks but, when I took it apart, I found a light socket inside and a wire that runs out through the bolt. It looks like the kind of socket that would take a light from a car. Like a side marker light or a blinker. The kind that you push in and twist to lock... I'm going to see if I can find something that fits at the local auto parts house. Then, I think I'll just need to wire up a battery pack and switch or maybe get one of those generators to power it...
=)

I've been reading some on the s-2 and s-7 rims that Schwinn used. How can I tell what I have?

The yellow bike is MUCH heavier and solid than the brown one. I think the brown one came from Target or K-Mart. The brown bike pedals really smoothly. When riding the yellow bike, the crank gets stuck when my left foot is at the bottom / slightly in front of bottom. Not so stuck that I can't push through it but definitely not the way it's supposed to be. I tried to crack the BB open with some channel locks but ended up braking them. So, I soaked the BB with some liquid wrench and plan to go buy a crescent wrench as I can't seem to find mine... Hopefully I can get it opened and figure out what's going on. Hopefully I can just replace/repack the bearings and it'll be good.

Thanks for all your help, I haven't had anything to wrench on in a while and I'm having a blast with this! =)

 

[outskirtscustoms]

The # stamped into the head badge is 1753...
I double checked to make sure it wasn't 1253 but, it's pretty clearly 1753.
Under the head badge is a sticker that says "Made In Hungary"...
hmmm did they do something different with the numbers in Hungary?

On another note, I took apart the light on the front fender of the brown bike. I originally thought that it was just for looks but, when I took it apart, I found a light socket inside and a wire that runs out through the bolt. It looks like the kind of socket that would take a light from a car. Like a side marker light or a blinker. The kind that you push in and twist to lock... I'm going to see if I can find something that fits at the local auto parts house. Then, I think I'll just need to wire up a battery pack and switch or maybe get one of those generators to power it...
=)

I've been reading some on the s-2 and s-7 rims that Schwinn used. How can I tell what I have?

The yellow bike is MUCH heavier and solid than the brown one. I think the brown one came from Target or K-Mart. The brown bike pedals really smoothly. When riding the yellow bike, the crank gets stuck when my left foot is at the bottom / slightly in front of bottom. Not so stuck that I can't push through it but definitely not the way it's supposed to be. I tried to crack the BB open with some channel locks but ended up braking them. So, I soaked the BB with some liquid wrench and plan to go buy a crescent wrench as I can't seem to find mine... Hopefully I can get it opened and figure out what's going on. Hopefully I can just replace/repack the bearings and it'll be good.

Thanks for all your help, I haven't had anything to wrench on in a while and I'm having a blast with this! =)

Well this is the first one I have seen from Hungary or with numbers like that so I'm not sure. Still a nice bike regardless.

 

[axsepul]

If you look closely at the head badge there should be a 4 digit code stamped into it. First number is the last digit of the year the other three are the day of the year 1-365. For example 3010 would be 1973 1983 or 1993 January 10. You can normally narrow down the decade by looking at the components of the bike.

Yes I'm a Schwinn nut.

So does that mean that the 0 equals january or is it the 01 and then the last 0 is 10

3-01-0 or 3-0-10

 

[outskirtscustoms]

If you look closely at the head badge there should be a 4 digit code stamped into it. First number is the last digit of the year the other three are the day of the year 1-365. For example 3010 would be 1973 1983 or 1993 January 10. You can normally narrow down the decade by looking at the components of the bike.

Yes I'm a Schwinn nut.

So does that mean that the 0 equals january or is it the 01 and then the last 0 is 10

3-01-0 or 3-0-10

No, 010 is the tenth day of the year. 365 would be December 31st.