Found a Schwinn Cruiser in the Trash

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wilbr

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Hi all,

I was driving home from work the other day and I found this bike in someone's trash. (What a great way to end the workday!) I haven't done any work to it (or tried to peel off the stickers or the tape around the chain yet).

The serial from the stem that leads to the handlebars reads D325... I'm guessing that this is an 80s Schwinn Cruiser. Am I right?

From pictures that I have seen of other Cruisers, this crank looks a little different. Does anyone know if this is original or if it's a replacement?

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Thanks,

wilbr
 
GTCOMA said:
Looks like a Murray to me. A Westport or Monteray maybe.

You can't beat free! nice find.
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...., based on the shape of the frame and the color, I thought it looked like a Schwinn that I have seen before.

heck, while I might be disappointed, I can't really complain about a trash find.

So, does anyone else have an idea on what brand it might be?
 
How dare you tqalk trash about schwinn!! just kiddin!!! :) yup, its a murray, there still hella kewl, and for free, you can't beat it!
 
Good points, but I always view department store brand bikes as inferior due to the quality of their parts. However, it will be a fun bike to ride.

What are the signs that this is most likely a Murray/

Thanks again,

wilbr
 
checkout "simple chop to a cantilever frame" post by locojoe in the how to section...could be sweet :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
 
i like schwinn but other bikes are just as good in my opinion, they roll and thats what theyre supposed to do. mainly i just like the schwinn colors and the styling on the parts, other than that, theyre just another bike to me.

another way to tell who made it is the dropouts where the rear wheel mounts, stare at enough bikes and youll start recognizing the little stuff.

nice bike - great price !!! enjoy
 
Thanks for all the info.

I just did a quick tune up and took it for a ride. it's a pretty fun bike.

As a newbie, I think that this find is going to be a perfect bike to start learning...First, I need to get rid of that blue paint, the handle bars, and the seat...Then we will see what it turns into. I might try the simple chop or I might bring it to a friend who is a welder by trade and see if he has any ideas.
 
From pictures that I have seen of other Cruisers, this crank looks a little different. Does anyone know if this is original or if it's a replacement?
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I've got a Murray with the same frame and chain ring. Like you, I was at first disappointed it wasn't a Schwinn, but it's a solid ride and I'm very happy with it. It was also my "starter" bike.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6653

Have fun with the bike and experiment with it. Do something you wouldn't want to do to a Schwinn. And you'll soon learn that if you do chop or modify a Schwinn, you don't want to tell any old bike store owners or at the folks at the non-ratrod Schwinn forums about it, they'll chew you a new one for not classically restoring their beloved Schwinns.

So look at it this way, you've got a free ticket (literally) to do whatever you want to do with the bike. Make it so cool, or so obscene, that the pedestrians won't even bother to think "Hey, is that a Schwinn or is that a Murray?". 99% of them will think it's a Schwinn anyway, just because of the cantilever frame.

I always view department store brand bikes as inferior due to the quality of their parts.
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Well, department store bikes today are generally of poor quality, but that's because they're all made in China and the emphasis is on volume and profit. But almost all of the great bikes from the balloon tire days were handmade in the US and sold in department stores, because before the internet, that was all we had. The big names you see in here now, like Monark and JC Higgins, were store brands for Montgomery Wards and Sears, and Sears sold the amazing Spaceliner (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong RRB veterans, I'm too lazy to confirm it with Google). Balloon tire era bikes were built with quality, no matter where they were sold, that's probably why so many of them are still around today.
 
GodHatesCleveland- Thanks for posting the thread with your bike. Great work! And, great point about this being a good bike to learn and take some chances.

I always forget that the big stores of years past used to sell higher quality items than they do today. Like the old Sears rebadged Vespas as Allstates. They might have been selling the base model, but they were (and still are) good scooters.
 
I always forget that the big stores of years past used to sell higher quality items than they do today.
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Yessir, it was a different world back then, a different...paradigm. Whoaa! How's that for an overused 90's marketing term?! Guess I'm "thinking outside the box!!!!!!!!!!"

Like the old Sears rebadged Vespas as Allstates.
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I didn't know that. Thanks!!!!!!!!!
 
So you were disappointed it wasn't a schwinn... I may be weird, but I don't own a schwinn... I have 9 complete ridable bikes and none of them are schwinns... 2 spaceliners, made by murray, a western flyer galaxy flyer, 3 Firestones(a 500, a 500 II, and a Warrior Princess), an old pre-war Hawthorne, an old Murray SabreFlight, and a Dynacraft Chopper. I do own a schwinn, I bought it at Walmart strictly for parts. I've used everything but the frame... I personally steer away from schwinns and standard cantalever-type frames... Everyone thinks they are schwinns, and it seems like everyone in the town i live in who has an old bike has a schwinnn... They are overpriced as far as vintage bikes go, in my opinion(and opinions are like buttholes... Everyone has one and they all stink. My dad taught me that...) and far more common than other brands I've found. Maybe that's just in my neck of the woods, the great Pacific Northwet. I mean Northwest... And bikes like my chinese made schwinn or my 80s beachcruiser styled huffy or your murray are great bikes to do whatever you want to... And learn on. That way when you find some old iron, be it a schwinn or something else that happens to strike your fancy, You'll know what you want to do to it, and how to do it right. But that's just my $.02
 

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