# '82 schwinn cruiser from antique shop



## Jennifer Parker (Jan 31, 2014)

I got this at an antique shop for a friend. I paid $80 for it. They originally wanted $120. It has a bmx handlebar and stem. The front tire is the original tire, and the back has been changed over to a mountain bike tire. Any thoughts? Oh, it's for a lady, but she's very tall.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Jan 31, 2014)

Why is it flipping my photos?


----------



## DJ Bill (Jan 31, 2014)

Are there any markings indicating those are Schwinn rims? The bike has possibilities....More $$ that I would have gone in the condition it is in, but that's antique shops for you....


----------



## Iverider (Jan 31, 2014)

If you didn't buy to flip I think you did ok. Looks like a rideable bike to me! Sometimes phone pics will flip upside down for fun!


----------



## GTs58 (Jan 31, 2014)

Better check the SN and headbadge build date again. That's not a 1982 model, I had the 5 speed version. I'm really curious what the headbadge number is.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

What am I looking for on the rims? They match at any rate.


----------



## DJ Bill (Feb 1, 2014)

In 82, I'm not sure how Schwinn marked rims.. Just they looked like cheap painted rims in your pics....Older Schwinns are knurled and have S-2 , S-7 etc stamped in them. Even the tires say Schwinn. I would assume you'd see something on those rims to signify they were made for Schwinn

You still want a project girls bike like your sig says? I've got a cheap newer Chicago Schwinn Girl's cruiser with 26 inch tires... I need the rims for  a Schwinn trike I am putting together, but the rest would be dirt cheap.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

*No paint.*



DJ Bill said:


> In 82, I'm not sure how Schwinn marked rims.. Just they looked like cheap painted rims in your pics....Older Schwinns are knurled and have S-2 , S-7 etc stamped in them. Even the tires say Schwinn. I would assume you'd see something on those rims to signify they were made for Schwinn
> 
> You still want a project girls bike like your sig says? I've got a cheap newer Chicago Schwinn Girl's cruiser with 26 inch tires... I need the rims for  a Schwinn trike I am putting together, but the rest would be dirt cheap.



They're silver. Must be the setting sunlight. I'll look for stamps after work. My light was bad this morning. My front tire is original to the bike. I need to do a rubbing to get the details off the white wall as the outer white coating is cracked up pretty badly. Has the vintage pattern too. I'm not entirely sure just what knurling on a rim looks like.


----------



## Gordon (Feb 1, 2014)

*rims*

Knurling looks like the lines around the edge of a coin.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 1, 2014)

I believe the 82 Cruisers still had the knurling but no stampings. Jennifers bike was not built by Schwinn and the rims are chrome and probably with no knurling depending on when it was actually built. The build date on the headbadge will tell all. By the mid 80's these were produced in Taiwan. 

Right side up.


----------



## DJ Bill (Feb 1, 2014)

Yeah, I wasn't sure if that was a Giant built one or not.... Those were weird times for Schwinn.

Here's the bike I told you about:


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

*I figured it out!*

The bicycle was brought to the shop by a military man being sent overseas. The front fork has two extra threaded holes on either side of the fork drop outs. The handlebars and stem were swapped out for heavy duty bmx hardware. The fenders were removed, and the original wheels were replaced by heavy duty wheels and mountain bike tires. The chain is covered in high viscosity motor oil (took forever to get off my hands...), and the rims are covered in small dings. The paint on the bike has scrapes and gouges along the front and slightly down the sides. 

This bike was made over into a Klunker bike like those that set off the mountain bike craze. 

I have deduced that this was originally an '82, 5-speed Schwinn Cruiser with springer fork. I've been digging around for information, and discovered a few things. I might be wrong, but this will still be a nice vintage ride for my friend.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

Wait. No fenders. Imma tard. Sorry. No fenders. I've got my kid playing with my bike fenders in the back ground. I took them off, because the braces are bent, and I need to straighten them.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 1, 2014)

Looking at the number stamped next to the I in Schwinn on the headbadge will tell you exactly what year that bike was built. It looks bone stock and unmolested. The 1982 model still had the Schwinn feather script on the top tube and the previous years chainguard screening.  

Here is the 1986 catalog. Same bike as yours but different decals. 
http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1986_crsr_03.html


----------



## cyberpaull (Feb 1, 2014)

*Not Chicago*

In 1982 I don't think they were Chicago built. 80/81 were the last. Because of that the bike doesn't have much value to Schwinners, but it does make a good daily rider.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

*Hmmm...*



GTs58 said:


> Looking at the number stamped next to the I in Schwinn on the headbadge will tell you exactly what year that bike was built. It looks bone stock and unmolested. The 1982 model still had the Schwinn feather script on the top tube and the previous years chainguard screening.
> 
> Here is the 1986 catalog. Same bike as yours but different decals.
> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1986_crsr_03.html



You're probably right, and I appreciate all the help. 

I finally have have all the codes written down. I had to pull out the big guns to get the motor oil off the bottom bracket where the code is stamped. Then I got the mag light flashlight for the best light possible, and one of the brightest pieces of my daughter's sidewalk chalk. The last two digits of the bb serial number are barely stamped on there, and the metal head badge is a bit gouged up. I checked the back forks, bottom bracket, and sides of the head tube to make sure I didn't miss anything. 

Bottom bracket serial number: LT 902810
Head badge number: 1879 (the first number has a gouge mark running over it)

i hope hope this helps. I know Dawn will be happy no matter what age it is. These are the threaded holes in the front fork arms. Still not sure what they're for.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

cyberpaull said:


> In 1982 I don't think they were Chicago built. 80/81 were the last.



That's good to know for future bikes. Thank you! 
I also Love your avatar! My mom and Patty own two old bugs. A '73, and '71 their names are Essie and Baby.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 1, 2014)

Thanks for posting the badge number Jennifer. The number 1879 on the headbadge indicates the build date on that Schwinn was July 6 1989. 

No catalog pic for that year but the 90 catalog shows the identical bike and it's decal style. 
http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1990_MTB_Road_Cat_34.html

BTW, there were Schwinns still coming out of Chicago in 1982.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 1, 2014)

GTs58 said:


> Thanks for posting the badge number Jennifer. The number 1879 on the headbadge indicates the build date on that Schwinn was July 6 1989.
> 
> No catalog pic for that year but the 90 catalog shows the identical bike and it's decal style.
> http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1990_MTB_Road_Cat_34.html
> ...



Excellent! Thank you so much for helping me pin that down. 

I have a '67 Chicago Schwinn Typhoon in my backyard at the moment. I'm fixing it up when I can. They were talking about hanging it on the back fence as an art piece... I don't think so. 

Last summer I put it on it's handlebars and seat to see if it would even crank over. I was told it had frozen up completely, and since the rims have rusted through I can see why they think that. I jiggled the crank arm, and gave it a firm push. 

.. It does crank over. It's stiff, and old, and slow, but it cranks over by all that's holy! The brake still works too. There's a bendix red band two speed coaster hub attached to what's left of the back wheel. If I can get it serviced, and working right I think I'lll put it on my Murray. 

Anyone know now what the extra holes on the front fork are for?


----------



## rideahiggins (Feb 2, 2014)

*fork holes*

The extra holes in the fork are for the rod type fender braces, the type seen on a lot new bikes today.


----------



## Jennifer Parker (Feb 2, 2014)

*Ah, nuts!*



rideahiggins said:


> The extra holes in the fork are for the rod type fender braces, the type seen on a lot new bikes today.




Thank you for clearing that up. The front fender for my '83 Murray slot onto the front axle. I was hoping it was for a springer fork. Those are so cool looking. I'm not keeping this bike, but that would be pimp to have on the front end.

One last question! Are the older fender braces better than the modern ones, or is it the other way around?


----------



## Skatelab (Feb 2, 2014)

Pretty sure this was about the first year they were made in Taiwan and not Chicago.


----------



## GTs58 (Feb 2, 2014)

Skatelab said:


> Pretty sure this was about the first year they were made in Taiwan and not Chicago.




I believe the cantilever bikes were made by Murray for the first few years after Schwinn stopped producing them in Chicago. I saw a mid 80's Cruiser, an 86 I believe, with the Made in Taiwan sticker still on the lower front of the headtube. 

From Re-Cycle.... 

_Another third of Schwinn's manufacturing went to Murray Ohio at their Nashville, Tennessee factory. Murray couldn't produce chrome-moly frames either and they turned out mountain bikes and antiquated road bikes that nobody wanted (they cost more than the competition also). _


----------



## Metacortex (Feb 3, 2014)

cyberpaull said:


> In 1982 I don't think they were Chicago built. 80/81 were the last.




Schwinn built frames and bikes in Chicago well into '83. More information here: http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...w-when-in-83-the-Chicago-Schwinn-plant-closed


----------



## cyberpaull (Feb 4, 2014)

*True But.........*



Metacortex said:


> Schwinn built frames and bikes in Chicago well into '83. More information here: http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...w-when-in-83-the-Chicago-Schwinn-plant-closed




That may be true with the road bikes. But I think most of us here are referring to the Cruisers-balloon-cantilever frame bicycles to 1981. Just my two cents. No disrespect to the other Schwinn models built in Chicago through 1983.


----------



## Metacortex (Feb 4, 2014)

That would be true for all of the electro-forged frame models including lightweight and cruisers. They had the EF equipment in Chicago until mid-'83, after which it was transferred to Murray in Lawrenceburg TN.


----------

