1971 Schwinn Sports Tourer - Original Paint?

[Jesserd]

I bought this bike on the cheap a couple months ago and have been working on cleaning the small parts and breaking down the bike. I noticed some strange overspray on the fork, which got me wondering the the bike had been repainted. The lettering looked a little strange also due to the sticker-like appearance (I wouldn't think they would be stickers in 1971). Let me now what you think!

More pics/better quality on my Picasaweb @ https://picasaweb.google.com/brownje414 ... b6j_CoswE#

 

[CCR]

looks like original paint to me, the decals are waterslides, basically its a sliver of clearcoat someone printed on. the dingy parts look like any other waterslides ive seen, the clear parts of the decal hold dirt and discolor compared to the rest of the bike. fork decals and chainguards were usually screened though. i still dont see this overspray your refering to though.

 

[Jesserd]

I didn't have the fork (where the overspray is) when I was taking the pictures. I will take a couple pictures of the fork and post later today! Thanks for your help!

 

[Spokeshave]

Looks like original to me too. Maybe somebody tried a touch up on the fork. Touch up paint was available from the local Schwinn dealer back in the day.

 

[Jesserd]

Re: 1971 Schwinn Sports Tourer - Original Paint? w/ fork pics

Here are the pictures of the fork. Has it been repainted? Also, as another related question, is there a way to remove paint and keep the chrome on the entire fork?

There is also a black line/sticker that is coming off between the yellow paint and chrome 2/3 down the fork. I missed that w/ the pictures.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[CCR]

Thats still looks original to me, some forks will be painted with a chrome cap on other bikes but those sport tourers were a little fancier, those are chrome forks that are painted to match the bike, instead of adding a chrome cap they masked off the chrome they wanted to show and painted the rest. might look a little crude but thats the way ive seen em in the past.

 

[Jesserd]

Thanks Jeremy! I was thinking about a re-paint, because I was told that it might have been painted. Looks like I will keep it original w/ some wax to keep it halfway clean.

I will keep this post updated once I get the bike riding.

Just for the heck of it....

 

[NLCTVWguy]

The bike looks original to me. I had a '72 in Lemon Yellow that I sold on here. I can't say for certain about the fork. I never looked at mine like that. The frame is definitely not a repaint. The red primer is 100% factory Schwinn. (Other colors used a silver basecoat under the color but Lemon Yellow did not.)

The forks are correct in 1/2 chrome, and the chrome plating would extend up to the top if they weren't painted. It's correct like it is, but all chrome would look cool too. I think Memory Lane can get you all the decals you need, or another repro decal house that regularly lists items on here.

They're special bikes- the second-best thing in the Schwinn lineup, only second to the handbuilt Paramounts, and these were partly hand-brazed chromoly frames. Very advanced and very expensive for 1971.

Here's your reference page:

http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1971_1980/1971_09.html

Enjoy, it should be a really great bike to ride.

--Rob

 

[Rustinkerer]

Yep, was a popular color in those years.

 

[Outlaw90]

yeah dude ive had a few old schwinns with that yellow color. varsitys alot.

 

[Jesserd]

I knew that it was a color options, but the red primer and overspray on the fork made me think that it had been repainted to original color.