What year is my Schwinn?

[eyeluvaclassic]

I am trying to verify the year this Schwinn was made. I got it from a friend who says her Mother got it in 1945. Seems unlikely from what I've read about Schwinn manufacturing during the war years. It looks like a 1946 BA-37, based on the pics and catalog info I've been able to find. The serial number is under the frame and says B44659. Can anyone help me figure this out?

 

[island schwinn]

How about a pic of the kickstand.46 had a smaller taper at the end.
That bike is super clean.

 

[barneyguey]

I am trying to verify the year this Schwinn was made. I got it from a friend who says her Mother got it in 1945. Seems unlikely from what I've read about Schwinn manufacturing during the war years. It looks like a 1946 BA-37, based on the pics and catalog info I've been able to find. The serial number is under the frame and says B44659. Can anyone help me figure this out?

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It's definitely a post-war bike. Check and see if the kickstand is tapered, if so it's a 1946. The style of the paint job on the fenders was used to 47 or 48 I believe.

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[fordmike65]

What a beauty in amazing condition. Great color and an awesome badge.

 

[GTs58]

Technically it's a 1946 model. When it was actually built is a question that cannot be answered. The war was officially over on Sept. 45 and I'm sure Schwinn was or in the process of gearing up for production. The bike could have been built and sold in late 45. Schwinn's normal new model year production began with bikes wearing a November serial number and in many cases there were new models with earlier serial numbers. I have yet to come across any exact info saying when Schwinn started the post war production. If anyone knows for sure, I'd sure would like to know when.

 

[eyeluvaclassic]

How about a pic of the kickstand.46 had a smaller taper at the end.
That bike is super clean.

 

[eyeluvaclassic]

Here is a pic of the kickstand. I did a lot of work cleaning up the rust and grim on this bike. Paint is original.

 

[eyeluvaclassic]

I'm still confused about how to read a Schwinn serial number. Do the letters and numbers indicate month/year/frame#? or not?

 

[eyeluvaclassic]

Also have this 1952 Murray Mercury. Can't find much info on it either, although it has a 1952 Detroit bike license on it. It was rusty, grimy and had flat tires. Lots of elbow grease put into this clean up. Paint is original. Brakes are not great though.

 

[GTs58]

I'm still confused about how to read a Schwinn serial number. Do the letters and numbers indicate month/year/frame#? or not?

Not really. A serial number was just intended to be a serial number. Schwinn kept records of the date a serial number was stamped but that really doesn't tell you exactly when a bike or frame was built. It gives you a close idea but that's about it since the serial number was stamped on the bikes component prior to any frame building. In 1976 Schwinn started stamping the head badges with the final build date.