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Childhood Bike

-

Sportster

On Training Wheels
Hi,
I would like to get my childhood bike back to new or as close to new as I can get.
I am having trouble reading the Serial Number on my Phantom. I have tried to use a Serial Number Look Up Tool and have put in many different variations.
See Photos of number and what it looked like new many years ago.
I think maybe letters and or number were added at some time I am guessing by the bike shop? Maybe not. Some look sharp and others look like they were added by hand at a later date. Also - I can't tell if there are spaces or not between letters/numbers.
When I do get a hit on the Serial Number Tool - It tells me I have a bike from the 50's and 60's.
My guess is that I have a Phantom that is a 81 or 82. But not sure.
I broke the 1st frame and it had the structural brace (Single) @ the cross tube/down tube intersection. They replaced it under I guess a warranty at that time. The new frame came with the double brace in the same location. All items from the 1st frame were transferred to the 2nd frame. So the bike has a newer frame with older parts but only by a year or two difference in age. I added that info because that may/could explain the Serial Number if in fact it has extra number/letters.
Can anyone help out on this?
Thank You

IMG_7282.jpg


IMG_7284.jpg
 
Hi,
I would like to get my childhood bike back to new or as close to new as I can get.
I am having trouble reading the Serial Number on my Phantom. I have tried to use a Serial Number Look Up Tool and have put in many different variations.
See Photos of number and what it looked like new many years ago.
I think maybe letters and or number were added at some time I am guessing by the bike shop? Maybe not. Some look sharp and others look like they were added by hand at a later date. Also - I can't tell if there are spaces or not between letters/numbers.
When I do get a hit on the Serial Number Tool - It tells me I have a bike from the 50's and 60's.
My guess is that I have a Phantom that is a 81 or 82. But not sure.
I broke the 1st frame and it had the structural brace (Single) @ the cross tube/down tube intersection. They replaced it under I guess a warranty at that time. The new frame came with the double brace in the same location. All items from the 1st frame were transferred to the 2nd frame. So the bike has a newer frame with older parts but only by a year or two difference in age. I added that info because that may/could explain the Serial Number if in fact it has extra number/letters.
Can anyone help out on this?
Thank You

View attachment 1625224

View attachment 1625225
Could the number be related to the record surrounding the warranty replacement? Similar to when a store makes a mark thru a return receipt so you cant return it again...
 
Obviously done by hand with an engraving tool, the actual serial is elsewhere look in the usual spots head tube bottom bracket or drop out
 
Yeah, your estimate of when made is right and there should be serial numbers on the front post (Steerer Pipe) at bottom of it, just above the bearing cup. Maybe 1st are two letters, like maybe MR or whatever but those two letters tell the year the frame was made. Plus, the badge should have a set of 4 numbers, the top number is the year and lower 3 are the Julian date made, which is actually the date the whole bike was assembled at the factory. So, if they also swapped the badge then that'll tell you the date you originally bought it new. However it's also possible that the new frame came without a dated badge. In which case then, date of frame and usually add about 4 months to that and you should be close to dating your original assembly.

Far as that' look-up tool' goes? in many cases that's junk. Find the actual serial numbers post em as there's plenty here who know how to date 80's frames.
 
Never use those lookup tools. They are wrong more than they are right. There are serial number charts here in the CABE (a sticky in the "All Things Schwinn" section) that are far more useful, through 1982.

The useful numbers in that era are stamped in the headtube and in the badge, and that really is the best you can do since it is a replacement frame. I do wonder if they re-uesd your original badge. At first I thought the hand-marked number you posted might have been the old serial transferred at the time of frame replacement, but I can't make any kind of Schwinn serial number out of that. It was still a thing in 81-82 for bike shops, older ones anyway, to stamp in a local bike license number, or some unique number, possibly issued by the local police department, in order to combat bike theft. That practice was about dead by the early 80s, and if that it what it is, I am surprised to see it. I wouldn't rule it out though.

Welome!
 
I really doubt Schwinn or a dealer would carve up a replacement frame like that.
 
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