# Help Determining Murray Jetfire Year Model



## OLDTIMER (Jul 28, 2016)

Hi,
I bought a 26" Murray Jetfire a while back and I was getting around to some disassembly & clean-up and was attempting to determine the year of the bike.
I used the Murray serial number decoding site, but I have to say honestly, I am a little confused.
The serial number is stamped on the left rear dropout. The digit size is small and unfortunately lightly stamped making it hard to read.  What I can read looks to be:  M5020X70...and a series of maybe 5-7 numbers
I have looked through the Murray Catalogs in an attempt to make a pictoral determination and I believe it is a 1971 year model.  It is your typical black frame, chrome fenders with a red rear rack, chain guard and tank.
What leads me to think it is a 1971, is that it has a tank without a headlight.  Once the tank is installed, there are no provisions for headlight mounting...plus their is a large rectangular "Murray" name badge on the front of the fork tube with a white and gold checkered background.  I don't think Murray would cover a large, full-length fork tube badge with a headlight, and pictorally I can only find this tank (-) minus headlamp set-up in the 1971 catalog.
I am newer to this stuff so any help with this is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.....


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## rhenning (Jul 28, 2016)

The 502 means it was a Murray built bike but sold by Sears.  It would not of had the Murray name on it not been a Murray color.  Roger


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## OLDTIMER (Jul 29, 2016)

Surpisingly, there is nothing on the bike to visually signify/distinguish it as a Sears bicycle.  I own/have owned a few Sears bike both with Huffy frames (mid 60s Sears Spyder series musclebike) and another late 60s Murray-built Sears bike.
In both of the above cases, these bikes were clearly badged with the typical Sears head badges and had specific "Sears" decals on the chain guard(s).
In what I could determine on this bike we speak of, I considered a breakdown of the serial # (at least the beginning.....) as:
M = Murray
5020 = (model number) Boy's 26" Jetfire (as depicted in the 1971catalog)
After this is where my confusion lies......as I can't seem to locate a corresponding year model designation.
So now...more confusion.....


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## rhenning (Jul 29, 2016)

502 is the Sears number for a Murray bike.  917 is the Roper later AYP number for a garden tractor.  There are lists of who made what for Sears on the net.  All are 3 digit numbers.  You can believe it or not that is up to you.  Roger


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## Adamtinkerer (Jul 30, 2016)

Post a pic! '71-9 models will have a BMA/6 certification decal just below the seat clamp.


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## OLDTIMER (Jul 31, 2016)




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## OLDTIMER (Jul 31, 2016)

Here are two photos if helpful. The bike does not posses a BMA/6 seat post decal.
Roger,
Am I correct in understanding that Sears would sell a bike with a Murray head badge....?????
Please guys, I am not being contradictory/confrontational.... I am new to this and have a narrow band of knowledge.
Two "department store" bikes I owned ( a Huffy Dragster III from Grant's Department stores and a Huffy Rail from Sears) each were "dressed" with head badges and chain guard decals from the respective stores, not Huffy...
By looking at the serial number given, is their a possibility that a number and/orletter may be missing....???
As said before, the stamping is light then painted making the reading very difficult.
Thanks to all.


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## rhenning (Jul 31, 2016)

Normally Sears would not have sold a Murray named bike.  If it is a bike from the bike years 1970 to 1974 it could have happened.  It could also be a frame made for Sears but Sears didn't buy as many bikes so it got used on Murray's assembly line instead.  Waste not want not.  I wouldn't worry about it as the manufacturing records for most bikes were not very accurate.  It is not like it is a K engine Mustang or a L88 Corvette.  The serial number for bikes were really for logistics more than anything else.  Even Schwinn records with the exception of Paramounts really tell you almost nothing about the bike and the numbers in the 1950s for example were reused 2 or sometimes 3 times.  Again I wouldn't worry to much about the number.  Roger


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## wrongway (Aug 1, 2016)

Other than the head badge it's the spittin' image of a '66 that I restored. Great bikes with plenty of style!


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## Adamtinkerer (Aug 3, 2016)

Looks like a metal headbadge, so I'd say the "M5" is '65. They did have some mid - grade bikes without a headlight.


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## partsguy (Aug 11, 2016)

OLDTIMER said:


> Surpisingly, there is nothing on the bike to visually signify/distinguish it as a Sears bicycle.  I own/have owned a few Sears bike both with Huffy frames (mid 60s Sears Spyder series musclebike) and another late 60s Murray-built Sears bike.
> In both of the above cases, these bikes were clearly badged with the typical Sears head badges and had specific "Sears" decals on the chain guard(s).
> In what I could determine on this bike we speak of, I considered a breakdown of the serial # (at least the beginning.....) as:
> M = Murray
> ...






rhenning said:


> 502 is the Sears number for a Murray bike.  917 is the Roper later AYP number for a garden tractor.  There are lists of who made what for Sears on the net.  All are 3 digit numbers.  You can believe it or not that is up to you.  Roger




There is some misinformation here. "502" only indicates that a Murray-built bike was sold to Sears IF the "502" designation is at the very beginning of the VIN number. Murray's serial numbers and their meaning change depending on the model year.

In your case, here is the proper breakdown of this bike's serial number:

M = Murray

5020 = Indicates model and options. This indicates a Murray Jetfire. Bikes of this style were really unpopular by 1971 and were poor sellers. This may be a hard to find bike for this reason but it isn't valuable at all.

X70 = For the years 1969-71, this indicates the year. This your case, this is a 1970.

Your bike was built in late 1970 for the 1971 model year. This explains why this 1971 model year bike has a 1970 serial number and does not have the BMA/6 label on it.

Your bike has the factory mounting bracket for the tank. This bike had a tank, but it was not equipped with headlights on it. Tanks came as standard, with lights, with horn, and sometimes both!

I hope this answers all of your questions. This bike can be made into a fun and ridable bike without spending a lot of money. Have fun!

See these links for catalogs:

1971:

http://murrayeliminatormusclebikes.yuku.com/topic/20/1971-Murray-Bicycles-Catalog#.V6yXa_krKUk

1970:

http://murrayeliminatormusclebikes.yuku.com/topic/126/1970-Murray-specials-catalog#.V6yZrPkrKUk


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