1965 Murray Strato Flite work in progress

[parkrndl]

Picked this up in February, just finally getting around to tearing it apart now.

As found:

Just tore it all apart and dunked everything chrome (except the wheels) in an OA bath. We'll see how well it all cleans up...

 

[parkrndl]

Moved up to crusty rider status. Changed out the bars for some slightly wild ones, updated the guard graphic. Looking for a Troxel seat that's closer to what would have been on there and maybe some pedals that look old enough.

 

[HEMI426]

I have a few questions, was Murry and Western Flyer the same bikes. I have a Cosmic Flyer that looks very similar to yours. Yours has more options, lite on rack, rat trap on rack. How did you get the Strato Flite words on your guard. It cleaned up very nice, looks great. I spent alot of time cleaning this one up.

 

[parkrndl]

I have a few questions, was Murry and Western Flyer the same bikes. I have a Cosmic Flyer that looks very similar to yours. Yours has more options, lite on rack, rat trap on rack. How did you get the Strato Flite words on your guard. It cleaned up very nice, looks great. I spent alot of time cleaning this one up.

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That bike is GREAT! Wish my original seat and sprocket cap looked that good! And that speedometer is amazing too. Very cool!

I'm just starting to learn about the Spaceliner-styled bikes as I fix up this one. As far as I know, Murray produced bikes with this frame style for Sears, Western Auto/Western Flyer, Firestone, and others, in addition to putting their own name on them. The information in this thread starts with the Sears bikes, but there are lots of examples of the other brands in the responses on the thread.

I kinda cheated on the Strato Flite script. I used my wife's Cricut die cutting machine to make a stencil, then I sponge-painted the lettering on the guard to make it look old and weathered. It is NOT the correct font/script for that bike and year, but I thought it looked cool and was similar to the Spaceliner font on Sears bikes.

 

[HEMI426]

Looks OG to me, nice job.

 

[soddruntlestuntle]

Nice bike! I just picked up a mid-sixties Iverson spacy-bike in similar condition, what did you use to clean/polish the painted surfaces?