# Carlisle Lightning Dart White Wall Tire Question



## chicagoglen (Aug 1, 2012)

Hey all!  Long Time no Talk.

Anyway, Today I bought a Womans Murray Balloon Cruiser bicycle.  I only bought the bike for the tires as they seemed vintage.  They seem in great condition.

They say Carlisle Lightning Dart on them.

I looked on ebay for similar tires but the ones on there seem older.  These do have the word Nylon on them in raised letters.

When did they stop making these?

I figured these would be good for a Balloon Tire Project in the future if I ever get a project.

Thoughts?  Sorry for the bad pictures.  I got home and it was dark so I quickly cleaned them up and snapped a few photos.














Thanks,

Glen


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## Ozark Flyer (Aug 1, 2012)

Nice pic Glen.  I don't know the answer to your question but dig the tires.


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## jpromo (Aug 1, 2012)

These tires are the best reason to buy an 80s Murray cruiser. Carlisle was, I believe, the last american tire producer and held out until the mid 80s. The lightning darts came out in the early 60s, I believe, and ran through Carlisle's demise.

They're nice looking tires that can still be found in good condition for a reasonable price while still being classic, especially W/Ws. Nice find!


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## militarymonark (Aug 1, 2012)

they still have the tooling to make these tires, I've called them. I do have a thread somewhere. We can start the emailing again and see if they will start producing them.


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## MagicRat (Aug 2, 2012)

YEOW,those are NICE tires!

I want some!


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## cyclonecoaster.com (Aug 2, 2012)

*Those are earlier run tires*

The early Lightning Dart tires have the Indian Heads on them like the ones in your picture -- on the later production runs they no longer had the Indian Heads on both sides of the LIGHTNING DART lettering -- They used them on mostly non Schwinn branded bicycles as well as sold them as replacement tires all the way up to the 80's cruiser bikes & in my opinion are the most rideable " vintage tires " out there & are almost bullet proof -- I have yet to have one fail on me ( knock on wood ) - where I have had plenty of other vintage balloon tires fail on me over the years -- from Goodyear G3's to BF Goodrich & Schwinn Typhoon Cords splitting in the middle of the tread or side walls or beads -- that's why I run newer tires from Duro - Felt ( quick bricks & thick bricks ) - Electra - Kenda - Ritchey - Bontrager - ect for the reliability on the ride -- I like the LIGHTNING DARTS a lot for vintage tires & I like to use these on all my riders for period correct tires - visually they usually split between the whitewall & black tread area but not to worry as long as it looks good on the inside & its not split all the way through - just run new tubes & a little baby powder inside ( old mountain bike tip ) & they are ready for the ride -- enjoy the tires -- RIDE VINTAGE -- Frank


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