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schwinn 5 speed

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by golly heres another 81 5 speed,nice,sold for $400
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here is the pic from the 1981 catalog,if you look close the regular 5 speed is a cc5-5,of you look at my invoice mine is listed as a cc5-6 im thinkin the difference is the chrome fork,the fork and front hub look the same as the king sting,looks like the dealer had a number to order the bike with a chrome fork instead of a springer





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The king sting has a tapered chrome fork, my 82 sidewinder has the same straight fork as these 81 and 82 cruiser 5s

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Spoker, any pics of your new 81....
just the one from my original post,wont be gettin to detail it have another project in the way,i guess some ppl didnt want a springer but still wanted a chrome fork that explaines the model number from my invoice,cc5 for 5 speed-6 for chrome fork mystery solved,chrome tubular models are prolly the least produced
 
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i guess i dont see the difference in the sting for ad hub and mine,mine has the gold hub but not as dark might look different in person
1980_schwinn_sting.jpg
 
Sorry, I don't have one of these bikes, so apparently making too many assumptions based on catalogs. Recently saw a Cruiser 5 for sale on CL locally that had blade forks/caliper brakes. I was interested, but it sold before I could look at it. Maybe I'm thinking of the Spitfire 5 and Klunker 5 for blade forks?
What the catalogs don't show is that Schwinn was having real problems by this time. There was a strike at the factory in Chicago from Oct. 1980 to Feb. 1981, and a third of the workforce was never recalled. They also dropped the rear drum brake on the five speeds sometime in 1981, and the Astabula Forge company closed late in 1982, ending production of forged forks. There was no public mention at the time, but by all accounts Schwinn only just escaped going bankrupt in 1983.
 
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Here's another with blade fork.

00A0A_7yY7OQCMTHI_1200x900.jpg

So, the ones with blade fork match the catalogs from those years, which never show the Cruser 5 with chrome tube fork. Leads me to believe the chrome fork version was a special. Just looked at the '81 price list, and the order number CC5-6 is not listed, only CC5-5: http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1981_32.html

Not trying to start and argument, just interested to learn how these bikes came from the factory.
 
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Here's another with blade fork.
So, the ones with blade fork match the catalogs from those years, which never show the Cruser 5 with chrome tube fork. Leads me to believe the chrome fork version was a special. Just looked at the '81 price list, and the order number CC5-6 is not listed, only CC5-5: http://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1981_1990/1981_32.html
Not trying to start and argument, just interested to learn how these bikes came from the factory.


Without seeing or knowing the badge number on these blade fork 81 cruiser 5s that were posted.. Its hard to nail down an exact date or something close to the last bladed fork Cruiser 5.

From the dates on the badges of the cruiser 5s that I have now and have had.. its looking very possible that the chrome tubular fork started sometime mid to late 1981. These chrome forked cruiser 5s could very well be 82 model year.
 
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