# Need help identifying Sears bike



## HellOnWheels

I can't believe someone was actually throwing this out! For once I was not a day late or a dollar short. Seat has no tears and the grips are perfect! Can anyone tell me what year and/or model this Sears bicycle is? My son and I would like to restore this over the winter. Any info on replacement parts (pedals, decals, etc.) would also be great. Thank you in advance!


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## drabe

Can't help you with restoration parts. Decals especially will be near impossible to find. The paint looks like it'll buff out though. I'd leave it as original as possible. 
I just recently picked up an All Pro (Stingray copy, sold by Kmart), it too was in really good condition (last registered in '75), so I just cleaned and polished, new tires, etc...before this one I'd never seen one. I'll post pictures as soon as I can pry the camera away from the wife.


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## HellOnWheels

Thanks! I have found out that it is a 1967 Sears Spyder. The frame has a bit of rust coming through so now I am researching original paint and decals. I think most of the chrome will clean up, and the rims are (surprisingly) in really good shape. It needs a front tire, rear tire is so/so. Should be a good project.


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## partsguy

If you looks on eBay or musclebikeforums.com, you should find some decals there. Good luck!


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## pedal alley

nice find. will be a fun project.
time spent doing a father/son prject.
can't go wrong there. keep updates.
seeing progress on projects is allways
inspiring. have fun.


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## balloontirecruiser

classicfan1 said:


> If you looks on eBay or musclebikeforums.com, you should find some decals there. Good luck!




Sweet find! ...And free is real tough to beat. That is very good advice ^, I would be willing to bet that most every part needed could be found there or on eBay. Those Murray Ohio made spyders are really fun bikes- I had a '69 myself. Would really like to replace it someday... it was a blast to ride. The chrome on mine was also very good surprisingly. Mine was a '69 as it had the white seat- I was told that '70 models used a purple seat again. 





I would also suggest cleaning it up first and riding it "as-is" for a while before restoration- you might really get to like it, and the cleaning process is always enough to keep you busy.  If you want to restore it later, it's always an option, but they are only original once.

This should also help to verify the year of the bike (which was made by Murray Ohio, contracted and re-branded through/by Sears)- it was posted on another forum by someone who i believe is a member here as well. 



			
				30thtbird said:
			
		

> Awesome bike Ron.
> Yes, there is a way to date the Murray badged bikes. Railrider(Ron), Eddie Hill, and myself have studied this for a while. The 3 of us together have probably owned almost 200 Murrays in the last 5 years. We feel that ,for the most part, that they are rather simple.
> 
> Using the green Westernflyers serial number above as an example:
> MO6 = Murray of Ohio 1966
> .28 = the model number. In this case, 28 is the model number for a fenderless Wildcat(cantilever) framed 20" boys bike. (In 67 or 68 they changed to a 3 digit model number and in 69 changed to a 4 digit model number.)
> X10 = Western Auto.  We refer to this as the "X" number. It was like an order number. We still don't know all of the "X" numbers, but we do know for sure that every Westerflyer from at least 66 and up that we have owned and that was built by Murray has X10 in this position.
> The last 6 digits is the sequential production number.
> 
> I do know for a fact that some Murray lightweights from the mid 60's had a different style serial number, similar to the schwinns. We also know that Sears badged Murray built bikes all started with the numbers "502" and then the next 4 or 5 digits was the actual part number listed in the Sears catalogs. We also know that Gambles Hiawatha badged Murray built bikes had yet a different style serial number. They started with a WG or a WG3 and then the next 3 digits was the part number listed in the Gambles catalogs. I have personally owned a few Murray built bikes that had numerous digits actually missing completely from the serial number.
> 
> In my opinion, Murray was the best documented bike in the business. You can't fake a Murray and get away with it if you know the model numbers. It's not like a schwinn where you can take a standard 3 or 5 speed and turn into that special model and triple its price. When you buy a Murray, just check out the model number in the appropriate catalog to authenticate it and you know if someone is trying to put the screws to you. It's almost as easy on the older Murrays too. I am still working on the serial number breakdown for them. So far I know that they used a single letter to represent the year and a 2 digit model number. Also, the older Murray built bikes sold by Sears had the 502 number on them too. I have posted a number of Murray catalog pages in the Ads section in the bike gallery on this forum. Check them out. Kenny.


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## oldjoes

*Sears Spyder*

I just got in the 24 in version of that bike, same color and everything, 5 speed stick shift, will post pics as soon as I get it back togther


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## jooneyel

I do know for a fact that some Murray lightweights from the mid 60's had a different style serial number, similar to the schwinns. We also know that Sears badged Murray built bikes all started with the numbers "502" and then the next 4 or 5 digits was the actual part number listed in the Sears catalogs


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## drabe

*All Pro pics*



drabe said:


> Can't help you with restoration parts. Decals especially will be near impossible to find. The paint looks like it'll buff out though. I'd leave it as original as possible.
> I just recently picked up an All Pro (Stingray copy, sold by Kmart), it too was in really good condition (last registered in '75), so I just cleaned and polished, new tires, etc...before this one I'd never seen one. I'll post pictures as soon as I can pry the camera away from the wife.




Finally remember to post pics of this project.

The day I brought it home.




After 'restoration'.




The only real change I made was adding the 3" tire in back, which required some slight modifcations to the drop outs and flipping the rear sprocket (to keep the chain from rubbing).
Built this for my nine year old nephew. He just about flipped when he saw it for the first time!


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