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Every bike has a story behind it!

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Schwinndemonium

Finally riding a big boys bike
I have owned this bike for all but 45 years, now, as I bought it from a kid in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania after placing a wanted ad in the paper looking for an old Mark IV Jaguar. Paid a whopping $65.00 for in in July of 1978. I thought the kids eyes were going to pop out of his head. I don't think he ever saw that much money in his life up to that point. The bike was just dirty and missing only the rear rack and headlight. Other than that, it was all there. Even was still sitting on its original flat Westwinds at the time! That meant a lot to me. The mother of the kid asked me, are you sure you want to pay that much for the bike. I said yes because it was so original and relatively complete. That meant a lot to me as well. I convinced her to let her son keep the money. The bike was given to him by some other family member at some point. I can't remember who or when. I was 20 years old at the time. The kid who had the bike looked to be about 10-12 years old.

Black 1959 Schwinn Mk IV Jaguar 3 speed..JPG
 
That beats my story, I've only owned my '57 Corvette for 43 years in August! I was 9 at the time, and bought it at a neighborhood garage sale for $2.50! It was in sorry shape then, but has been redone multiple times since. Apart for one more repaint, with decals under the clear coat!
 
So true-if only these bikes could tell us where they have been or started out. Well here is one. I bought this bike a few years back off the C.A.B.E. as the story goes the original owner traded it in for a 'new mt bike' in the 70's to a shop in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Normally trade-ins were refurbished and resold. But the owner decided to keep this bike due to its uniqueness. It hung in the shop for many years and was taken down once a year for the owner to ride in the 4th of July parades. When the owner retired/closed his shop- he loaned the bike to the 'kid' who worked for him (he was the worker who took it in on trade!) as he had his own bike shop. In turn-when he retired he asked the owner what should I do with the bike? Owner said to sell it on the C.A.B.E.. As they say-the rest is history and that is how it came to be mine. Here are a couple pictures-one as advertised here on the C.A.B.E. and the next as it is preserved today. Some will note that in the picture as originally advertised it has a springer but in its preserved state it has a truss fork! The springer had been repaired/straightened out using a torch and the paint was burnt off the left side of the fork. Also it had hammer marks/dents. It rode dangerously-so bad a rider could not take his hands off the bars! I popped the truss fork on the bike-it rode perfect-its a permanent match/change! Bike is model BA407 (BA107 equipped with fore brake and deluxe rear reflector) badged as 'The World'.

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I have had my Schwinn Jaguar since new in 1963, I remember going to the Schwinn dealer in Syracuse NY, they had two bikes I was deciding on a Corvette 3 speed and the Jaguar, Back in those days if you had a bike with hand brakes is wasn't cool, kids considered it an English bike, so I choose the Jaguar also because it had the spring fork, I've kept this bike ever since and it is all original.

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I bought my fenderless, tankless 1949 Schwinn B-6 around 1985 or so. it was spray bombed red without taking it apart, over a rusty frame that had rust holes in the cantilever bars from the tank holding water. wobbly front wheel and a bent arm on the springer. half the bearings were missing in the front hub. my first fat tire Schwinn. $75.00. stripped it to bare metal and primed it around 1996 and it hung in my rafters until I found the CABE and got all the missing parts and fixed the wheels and fork. now it is spray bombed black.
 
I wanted to buy one of these back in 2005 when they were introduced, but they were a thousand bucks, so I never did.
We’ll fast forward almost 15 years, and a guy in Las Vegas posts one up on eBay.
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He had bought it new, and hung it up in his office as wall art.
He never rode it!
His asking price was a thousand bucks.
So, I figured that you rarely get second chances in life, and your definitely asking too much for a third, so I bought it!
It came stock with a few cheesy parts, so I stripped it down, and upgraded some of the components, and took it for its first real ride the other day.
It was almost like it let out a sigh of relief, when I got it rolling up to speed.
Kind of like a caged Cheetah let loose for the first time.
 
I wanted to buy one of these back in 2005 when they were introduced, but they were a thousand bucks, so I never did.
We’ll fast forward almost 15 years, and a guy in Las Vegas posts one up on eBay.
View attachment 1784056
He had bought it new, and hung it up in his office as wall art.
He never rode it!
His asking price was a thousand bucks.
So, I figured that you rarely get second chances in life, and your definitely asking too much for a third, so I bought it!
It came stock with a few cheesy parts, so I stripped it down, and upgraded some of the components, and took it for its first real ride the other day.
It was almost like it let out a sigh of relief, when I got it rolling up to speed.
Kind of like a caged Cheetah let loose for the first time.

Great bike! Any idea on how many of these were made?
 
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