1956 Western Flyer X-53

[uzi_does_it]

Hi everyone. I’m’ cleaning out my garage (more like a small bike shop haha) and I forgot I had this thing. I posted it to my Instagram and a friend told me to share it here. It is a 1956 (from what I’ve gathered) Western Flyer X-53 Super Tank. It has lived its entire life here in Arizona. I was gifted it about 7 years ago when an older lady called the bike shop I was running and asked if we took donations. I ended up driving to her house an hour away to help her out having no idea what she was donating. When I got there this thing was covered in spiderwebs, bugs, and 60 years of dust and rust. It had been sitting on the side of her house for as long as she could remember. It was her brothers who had recently passed away. She told me quite a few of about her brother who was really into bikes and this was his pride and joy when he was younger. After a while of chatting she said his name was the same as mine (Jordan) and said it was meant to be. I spent the next few weeks tearing it apart and rebuilt the hubs, headset, BB and tossed new rubber on it. Everything else is exactly as it was. If I tossed a new chain and seat on it you could ride it away, but I’m having a hard time taking any of the original parts off it (plus skip tooth chains are an arm and a leg). The Mesa license plate was installed on it from the Mesa fire department as a “registration” and all the moving parts have the number etched on them as well. Just thought I’d share it. Cool message board you guys have here! Thanks for your time. Oh and please correct me if any of my info is wrong.

 

[mrg]

Get some OG WF grips and redo the seat but finding the original X53 headlight will be a little harder & $$, the do make repops tops that fit any Rocket ray base but they are not cheap either, good luck with your project, definitely worth saving https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/x53-headlight-western-flyer.130741/post-878330 https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/repo-x53-working-headlight.258628/

 

[uzi_does_it]

Get some OG WF grips and redo the seat but finding the original X53 headlight will be a little harder & $$, the do make repops tops that fit any Rocket ray base but they are not cheap either, good luck with your project, definitely worth saving https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/x53-headlight-western-flyer.130741/post-878330 https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/repo-x53-working-headlight.258628/

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That’s some great advice! Thanks for the link! My plans were getting it back into bar cruising shape, then I quit drinking a few years ago. My neighbor offered me enough to debate selling it. But this patina makes me want to keep it. My collection is mostly 90’s bmx bikes but this one is a nice bookend on it. Thanks again!

 

[mrg]

Great bike and looks mostly all there & original including the other big money part the chain guard, as said do the grips & seat and ride and worry about the headlight down the road. Not sure if these are the exact ones but gives you a idea https://ebay.io/m/vfbfaR

 

[uzi_does_it]

Heck yea! Thanks a ton! Had no idea the chain guard is a "big money part". It seems like these bikes have gotten kind of popular lately. like i said my background is 90's bmx stuff and 80's road bike stuff. Been working in the industry for 25 years so I've had to slim down my interests to keep my head from exploding. You seem to know a good amount. Is this for sure a 1956? That is what I gathered with the skip tooth. Also do you think it would be worth it to toss some batteries in the horn and see if it works? It looks like it has room for 2 D batteries. I flipped it upside down to see the SN and saw the horn. I've had this thing for almost 10 years and had no idea it still had the horn internals.

 

[mrg]

Not sure of the yr. others here will tell you exact by the serial # and features, do some research here, ser. # charts & compair pics, certain features changed like earlier models have painted fenders, as for the horn might as well check it just don’t leave batteries in it if it’s gonna be parked a while that’s what destroys a lot of headlights too. Here’s some more info, https://nostalgic.net/1955-western-flyer-super-x-53

 

[uzi_does_it]

Wow! Thanks so much dude!