# 1974 fastback stingray 5 speed attic find handlebar shift



## Arrington

Got this stingray yesterday.  Bike has been stored in attic for over 30 yrs.  I am into more of the 1940's to late 1950's bikes.  I couldn't pass on this stingray because it was so original and clean one owner.  I am curious about history of this stingray.  Why is it a handlebar shift, never really seen one this way?  How come it's not a shifter version?  It's a 5 speed all factory.  Is version kinda hard to find?


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## Arrington




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## greenephantom

Clean looking Fastback you scored. Last year of the Stik-Shift was 1973. For 1974 and up the 5 and 3 speed bikes switched over to thumb shifters. The muscle bike thing was sort of dying down by then anyway, so likely wasn't a big deal to the kids. If you care to, you can always retro-fit a Stik-Shift onto your yellow Fastback. Use a 1970s era style one and no one will be able to tell it didn't come stock unless they look at the serial number.
Cheers, Geoff


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## Arrington

Thanks for the info.  How hard is it to change to stick shift model and are those easy to find?  Would it be better to change or leave completely original.  I like shifter look personally.  Did know what would be best.


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## Jaxon

Changing the shifter is a easy job. Couple of screws for the shifter and change out the cable. Usually it is best to keep a bike original but in this case the shifter would be a upgrade. Keep the original shifter and it can be changed back if wanted. Nice looking bike!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970s-Schwi...150?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ee100e24e


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## Arrington

Does anyone have a nice shifter and original cable to change to stik shift?  Bolts and etc to make it complete and correct?


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## Arrington

Also which shifter would be correct, I see  a style with opening or holes on side of shifter and solid style shifter.  Which would be correct?  Also is there 2 different shifter knob styles?


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## Jaxon

A 70's style would be correct. Check the one in the link to ebay in my last post.


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## island schwinn

Another thing I've discovered with the 74 models is a lot of customers still wanted the old style shifter and they were still available as replacement parts,so the dealer would install them at extra cost to the consumer.i was told by an old schwinn dealer that schwinn stopped shipping shifter parts at the end of 74 due to new safety standards.thanks Ralph Nader.
The 70-73 shifter had the slots on the shift arm,and you will also need an overload tube as well as a cable.


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## Metacortex

island schwinn said:


> ...i was told by an old schwinn dealer that schwinn stopped shipping shifter parts at the end of 74 due to new safety standards.




The dealer you spoke to may have been off on the timing as all of the Sting-Ray Stik-Shift parts were listed as available in the dealer parts catalogs at least into 1978. I don't have a '79 catalog but I can confirm they were listed through '78 and no longer available in 1980. He may have been referring to the fact that complete assemblies (under one p/n) were no longer available in '74, after '73 you had to order all of the component parts individually.


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## partsguy

Ralph Nader is a man that deserves no respect. A ruthless, career minded, self serving man.


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## how

Arrington said:


> Got this stingray yesterday.  Bike has been stored in attic for over 30 yrs.  I am into more of the 1940's to late 1950's bikes.  I couldn't pass on this stingray because it was so original and clean one owner.  I am curious about history of this stingray.  Why is it a handlebar shift, never really seen one this way?  How come it's not a shifter version?  It's a 5 speed all factory.  Is version kinda hard to find?




Not hard to find, blame it on Ralph Nader i have a beautiful blue one, I also have a 68 with the stick shift, which is way cooler lol


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## partsguy

I tend to like pre-'71 Muscle Bikes myself. After that, they started to look the same and more mundane year by year. The mid-late 70's "MX" bikes - muscle bikes with cheap plastic trim and cladding - don't look classic at all to me.


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## Sambikeman

..........Nice Fastback ........... Thanks For The Stik-Shift Info.


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