Ask the Experts......... [bicycle history]

[KilroyCD]

I just purchased this bike from a friend I work with. I have not seen the bike yet, but the price was too good to pass on. I have spent the same on a second hand bike for my daughter and hers is a 2 yearold huffy. I have been assured that it was well cared for and stored in a garage for the past few (30+ years) I will get it monday, but I was wondering what anyone knew about it. Here is a pic that I have. It is billed as a 50 yearold J C Higgins.

The photo is a little too small and fuzzy to tell for sure, but it appears to be a Murray of Ohio-built JC Higgins Flightliner from the early 1960s.

 

[Stan4d]

Thanks. Sorry about the quality of the pic...I am picking it up tomorrow and will take a better picture as well as post more details. I have a feeling it is going to be well worth its price. I wish to clarify the price so no one thinks I am getting it for $10.My daughters $10 bike turned into $50 after new seat chain and the purchase of another bike that hadmany problems but had good wheels that I needed and a personalized paint job (still in progress on painting it). Which is what this one cost me.

 

[bricycle]

Ask the Experts......... [bicycle history] Firestone

Dave,
I agree, it looks to be late fifties vintage. If you end up with the blue schwinn, let me know if you would part with the old streamers.
bri.

 

[Stan4d]

Pictures of my J C Higgins can be found here: http://www.motoredbikes.com/album.php?albumid=1011 ,
Any help in identification would be appreciated. I know the handle bars ain't right...and I don't like ain't right so they will be replaced with cruiser bars....original if they can be found.
The numbers stamped into the crank are MOD 502 47921Y with 8 025 58 in a different type stamped underneath.
Thank you!!!

 

[KilroyCD]

I believe it to be one of the Flightliner series depite the lack of a tank. By the numbering, it shows it was built in 1958 by Murray of Ohio. The handlebars are easy to find, and there's an original set on eBay right now: http://cgi.ebay.com/50S-JC-HIGGINS-...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f27a159b
If you don't get an original set, Wald still makes the same bars and you can find them online as well as at bike shops.

 

[Stan4d]

I believe it to be one of the Flightliner series depite the lack of a tank. By the numbering, it shows it was built in 1958 by Murray of Ohio. The handlebars are easy to find, and there's an original set on eBay right now: http://cgi.ebay.com/50S-JC-HIGGINS-...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f27a159b
If you don't get an original set, Wald still makes the same bars and you can find them online as well as at bike shops.

I just bid on the bars. I sent a question to the seller about additional parts. I need a headset for it also. Do you think it originally came with a tank? I will try to contact the original owner to see what came of it, if it was there. I see no markings to suggest that anything was mounted there. What should I look for?
Thanks for your time and trouble.
Do you think I made a good deal? or is this bike worth less than $50 US?

 

[KilroyCD]

I just bid on the bars. I sent a question to the seller about additional parts. I need a headset for it also. Do you think it originally came with a tank? I will try to contact the original owner to see what came of it, if it was there. I see no markings to suggest that anything was mounted there. What should I look for?
Thanks for your time and trouble.
Do you think I made a good deal? or is this bike worth less than $50 US?

It may or may not have had a tank. Though I gaven't found a Sears catalog from 1958 yet to verify, I think there were different levels in the Flightliner series. As to the value, good original middleweights like yours are climbing in value as the Baby Boomers start to get nostalgic about the bikes from their youth. I've seen a marked increase in prices for these bikes in recent years, whereas ten years ago you could have bought a similar bike for as little as $10 to $15. These former "yard sale specials" (in similar condition) are now commanding more than what you paid for yours, and are likely to keep climbing.

 

[Stan4d]

Thanks Kilroy!!!
I found the 1958 sears catalog on the web. It is a Sportsflight. Originally came with a light. Here is a pic of the page. The catalog can be found at http://www.wishbookweb.com/
I think that link will prove usefull to many.

 

[Mr.B.]

Pre war Elgin?

Any Elgin experts here?

I'd like to date this bike.

I've had it for 20 years, but just last week I rode it for perhaps the first time in several decades.

It came with 28" metal clad wooden rims that I've temporarily replaced with these modified 26'ers ( I laced a skip tooth into the rear ).

Even though the green paint/silver is quite old it was originally red & cream.

The tank also came with this bike but is obviously from a another. It does fit pretty well though.

Numbers on the crank tube are: C21448

Thanks,

-Kirk

 

[KilroyCD]

Any Elgin experts here?

I'd like to date this bike.

I've had it for 20 years, but just last week I rode it for perhaps the first time in several decades.

It came with 28" metal clad wooden rims that I've temporarily replaced with these modified 26'ers ( I laced a skip tooth into the rear ).

Even though the green paint/silver is quite old it was originally red & cream.

The tank also came with this bike but is obviously from a another. It does fit pretty well though.

Numbers on the crank tube are: C21448

Thanks,

-Kirk

Kirk,
That bike is a Westfield-built (Columbia) Elgin "Motorbike". The "Motorbike" was made from the mid 1920s to the early 1930s with the 28" wooden rims. The same model was made as a balloon-tire bike at least until 1936 (as I have a '36). I don't have any serial number listing for Columbia / Westfield bikes built prior to 1936, so the year of manufacture is something I can't pinpoint. Below is a photo of my '36 (sans tank).