Is everyone going to just ignore the lime elephant in the room

[spoker]

ya i have an idea

 

[That bike guy]

That's a freakin 1964 model with that late 63 stamped date coded serial number. So what, 80,0000-100,000 of those built?

Just curious why is it such a big deal to call M3 a 64 to you? And what month letter would you say the year starts or ends? And how do you know that schwinn didn’t include M letters in their claim of 40000 stingray made in 63?

 

[GTs58]

Just curious why is it such a big deal to call M3 a 64 to you? And what month letter would you say the year starts or ends? And how do you know that schwinn didn’t include M letters in their claim of 40000 stingray made in 63?

The seller says it's a 1963 Sting Ray but it's not, it's a 1964 Sting Ray.

Pat' serial number lookup says:
Congrats! Your bike is an original Chicago Schwinn.
Built: 12/09 of 1963. Go to 1963 Schwinn catalog -->

And it wasn't. The serial date code has nothing to do with what day a bike was built. That was the SN stamping date and the frame and or bike was built days, weeks, and in many cases months later. The Schwinn Reporter showing the making of and the serial number stamping on the head tubes.

 

[That bike guy]

The seller says it's a 1963 Sting Ray but it's not, it's a 1964 Sting Ray.

Pat' serial number lookup says:
Congrats! Your bike is an original Chicago Schwinn.
Built: 12/09 of 1963. Go to 1963 Schwinn catalog -->

And it wasn't. The serial date code has nothing to do with what day a bike was built. That was the SN stamping date and the frame and or bike was built days, weeks, and in many cases months later. The Schwinn Reporter showing the making of and the serial number stamping on the head tubes.

View attachment 803792

Thanks for your knowledge. So I read in the photo article you posted where “Jamie Marquet performed the final operation—stamping the serial number and drilling holes for the name plate”. So I’m guessing it’s after this point in the build process it becomes a year and model bicycle. Is it safe to assume that the frame was built on December 9th 1963? Because Jamie’s final operation.

 

[GTs58]

Thanks for your knowledge. So I read in the photo article you posted where “Jamie Marquet performed the final operation—stamping the serial number and drilling holes for the name plate”. So I’m guessing it’s after this point in the build process it becomes a year and model bicycle. Is it safe to assume that the frame was built on December 9th 1963? Because Jamie’s final operation.

From my research Schwinn's model year change over started with serial numbers stamped in November. This was the norm but there were exceptions like the beginning production of the new 1955 Middleweight line, the new 1950 Black Phantom and the new 1957 middleweight Jaguars that were made available early and for Christmas sales. I believe the new 1954 Balloon Jaguar 3 speed began with retrofitted frames wearing Sept 53 serial numbers.

If you collect Schwinns and have had or seen 1976 or later models with the actual build date stamped in the head badge and then compared the serial number date to the head badge date you'll get a better idea of how long the bike was built after the serial number was stamped.
Lets say that the person (s) stamping the serial numbers on the drop outs happened to be waaay behind in production and the frame builders bins of pre stamped drop outs were empty and the frame builders were waiting for drop outs to build their next frames, then yes it would be safe to say that frame was built on the day the serial number was stamped on the drop out. Did Schwinn have people constantly running back and forth to the frame builders with parts that were just freshly completed and ready to be used or were they stocked piled and then distributed when they were actually needed? What about all the stamped pieces that were stamped close to the end of the day? If they built all the frames the day the serial numbers were stamped that would mean the frame builders were working overtime after the serial number stampers went home for the day. To be honest, I don't believe many, if any bike frames were built on the day the serial number was stamped. Back in the day when Schwinn hired the local winos to hand stamp numbers on the bottom bracket shells after a frame was built, then maybe.
I recently picked up a 1981 Cruiser 5 and the head badge date was in the second month after the month of the frame serial date. June serial and late August build date. At what point was all he lag time? When Murray started building Schwinns with actual Schwinn made and serial stamped head tubes, how long were those head tubes sitting before Murray used it to build a frame.
A serial number is just a serial number and I doubt Schwinn had a company policy or made a habit of having a frame built the same day it's component had the serial stamped on it.

 

[That bike guy]

So Jamie’s final operation was just serial number stamping on a head tube not attached to a frame? Because in the photo it looks like frame is attached to the head tube that Jamie’s is stamping. Is the schwinn news letter fake news? GTs58 it’s obvious your passionate About the process of Bicycle concept Manufacturing and sells. Thank you for all your research and being generous with your knowledge.

 

[That bike guy]

first sale ive seen with all private bidders

You know why it's private right? lmao

ya i have an idea

Ok it’s a private bidder auction. But why?

 

[Saving Tempest]

I was too fat for that in 1977.

 

[bikewhorder]

I think I was born without the part of the brain that enables one to appreciate these bikes.

 

[Jay81]

I think I was born without the part of the brain that enables one to appreciate these bikes.

Yeah, I can't understand spending $2k + on something like this. I mean I get that it's an early stingray and people pay big $$$ for them. But I'd much rather get another nice, decked out ballooner with a horn tank if I'm spending that kind of dough. To each their own.
On the other hand, I would love to find a few of these for cheap. Then flip em for more ballooner money.