Murray Skybolt Found

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yoothgeye

yoothgeye

I build stuff.
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
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Location
Roanoke Rapids, NC
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I have a guy in my church with a lot of rental houses, so he collects alot of junk after tennants move out, so I told him I was looking for my next bike, he said he had a couple on the way. I went to his house to pick up some other stuff for church and he had gotten the bikes. The one I saw in front was a newer Huffy Cruiser from Wal-Mart that I looked right through when I saw the red frame behind it. I immediately asked "How much for the red bike?" He said I could have it. It's a rider right now and I'm enjoying as is (wishing it had an original saddle), but I will start taking it apart soon.

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Oh yeah, a question...

I've looked and looked, and found the one guy trying to break the Murray serial number code, so (based on the final photo) I know that the "M O" is for Murray Ohio, and the "6" is the last digit of the year. So based on styling/condition am I correct in assuming this is a 1986? I'm kinda doubtful it's a '76, because I'm a '76 and I haven't held up this well.
 
The reflectors and pedals (with more reflectors) tell me it's a 70's bike. I don't they made a bike like that in the late 80's,could be wrong. It must have been gently used,still having the axle protectors. Cool old Murray.

Pat
 
rrednek said:
Check out this website with a bike listed as a 60's bike for sale. The chainguard is the same as yours(which is different from the chainguard in the 63 murray catalog) So, maybe a 1966. Do the reflectors have a date stamped in them.
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Looks just like mine, I love the pointed rear dropouts on this frame.

I will look at the reflectors when I get home.

As for being gently used, I was told it came from "the lake" we have 2 lakes here, Roanoke Rapids lake and Lake Gaston. Gaston has a lot of vacation homes, so it could've just been used occosionally during summers and locked up the rest of the year.

Funny the plastic axle caps are still on.
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I thought the same thing, growing up I always thought these things were installed so that the axles didn't poke holes in the boxes the bikes were shipped/sold in, I'd throw them away during assembly and thought my friends were nerdy if they kept them on.
 
I believe it's a 76, it has the older style decal badge. Usually there's a build date on that sticker down by the crank, at least on late 70s up that I've had. And their middleweight was called the Skybolt until 78 if I remember right. The Monterey was a 3 speed touring style bike until they introduced the balloon tire Monterey in 78 or 9. And those had a smoother looking guard without the fin at the end. -Adam
 
Rustinkerer said:
I believe it's a 76, it has the older style decal badge. Usually there's a build date on that sticker down by the crank, at least on late 70s up that I've had. And their middleweight was called the Skybolt until 78 if I remember right. The Monterey was a 3 speed touring style bike until they introduced the balloon tire Monterey in 78 or 9. And those had a smoother looking guard without the fin at the end. -Adam
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You are correct on all counts, earlier when I went home I looked at the sticker down by the crank and on the side clear as day it says "08-76."

So it's just a couple months older than me.
 
So, I had a couple hours, I removed the fenders, put on a different saddle I found in someone's garbage last night, put on a set of bars off a motorcycle I found, and wiped the rust off the wheels with a copper scrubby. I also took off the 1.75" MTB tires and put on 2.10 in the back and 2.0 in the front, I really want some cruiser tires, but I'm just working with what I have right now.

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Hey, that looks good! Do the 2.00 and 2.10 fit pretty good? Do you think the wider cruiser tires will fit inside the frame without modification? I am going to need new rims and tires for mine and was wondering how wide of a tire i could use.

I just missed a brand new $50 cranbrook that looked really good on the myrtle beach craigslist. The ad was only on the site for about 3 hours. I called and talked to someone that said they needed to sell it fast but they were on the other end of MB. By time I decided to call back, the add had been removed. She said she just bought it from Walmart last week for $75 and needed to sell it this week for $50.

Something tells me my hands might have gotten burned pretty bad if I had picked up this very "hot"bike. The meeting place was a local resort.

Anyway, the bike looks good!
 
rrednek said:
Hey, that looks good! Do the 2.00 and 2.10 fit pretty good? Do you think the wider cruiser tires will fit inside the frame without modification? I am going to need new rims and tires for mine and was wondering how wide of a tire i could use.
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I think the tires will fit snugly, my back 2.10 looks pretty fat, what I can do is take the front tire off my other bike with the Nirve tire and test fit it front and back... or just measure. haha

I'm gonna run fatties on this as soon as I can get the go ahead to buy some (means I gotta sell something).
 
ok thanks for the pics. The balloon tires that I have seen caused me to worry more about the fender brace on the frame than the width. Looks like they will fit.
 

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