Scored a Higgins!!!

Allen_Wrench · Jul 15, 2010

Pictures to come soon. Don't get your hopes up though, it looks like it spent a few years in a shed (because it did). Here's the story:
On my way to work today I passed a yard sale. I caught only the barest glimpse of an old bike in amongst the other junk. I was sorry that I had not time to browse while they were setting up. And I had no money with me to buy it anyway.
On my way home they had put a bunch of crap on the curb by the cans, and guess what?!?! Of course you know what; the bike was there. I couldn't believe they would just pitch it so I went up and asked. They said they couldn't sell it, nobody wanted it because it looked *ahem* less than its best. But I checked it over, it needs paint to be sure, but no cracks in the welds or anywhere else. It's ROCK solid. It even has the strut forks. I asked if I could take it. They said sure thing.
I will post some pics soon. She will be my upcoming winter project. I'm thinking of transferring/transforming my Tempus onto her new frame

Allen_Wrench · Jul 15, 2010

We'll see if I can get that picture down there. I don't think I want to replicate a "board tracker" though. But I will be going for a vintage look. I thought about trying my hand at a custom tank. (But anyone who wants to make a few bucks, and can weld, is more than welcome to offer to make a tank for me. Takers?) And I think I may get some ape hanger handlebars, cut the ends off, and swing them down horizontally to get those long, swept back, handlebars of old. Maybe the glass-bowl fuel filter and some copper line too. And a vintage headlight. It'll take time, but oh the look of it when I'm done! Below will be the "before" picture: dance1

silverbear · Jul 17, 2010

Nice... you have the makings there of a great vintage cruiser, just asking for a motor and yes, an in frame tank. What size are the rims? Is that technically a middleweight? You can probably still use heavy duty balloon tire rims on it anyway. I did on my 60's middleweight Schwinns.
SB

bairdco · Jul 17, 2010

nice! free is always the best price to pay for a bike. where i live, that woulda been one of the first things sold at a yard sale. i wonder how much they were asking before they gave up and threw it away?

i could probably make you a copper tank for it, but i'm kinda worried about making one long distance. without being able to check it against the bike while i'm building it is kinda sketchy. PM me if you're interested, and i'll think about how to do it.

or, you could make one yourself.

BarelyAWake · Jul 17, 2010

Nice rescue man - 'nother one saved from the crusher!

Lookin' forward to the build fosho (^)

CoastalCruiser · Jul 17, 2010

Great Score! Looks like skinny tires and a modern chain, so late 50's or early 60's is my guess. That's exactly the type of thing I'd love to find in the trash! Merely cleaned up you could get upwards of $400 on eBay!

curtisfox · Jul 17, 2010

CoastalCruiser said:
Great Score! Looks like skinny tires and a modern chain, so late 50's or early 60's is my guess. That's exactly the type of thing I'd love to find in the trash! Merely cleaned up you could get upwards of $400 on eBay!

WOW that much? I bought a schwinn that looks just like that at a garage sale this summer for $ 30.00. Same headlight. Maybe I should resell it and fund the rest of my projects.

The free ones are always the best. It will be a great project. Awesome find

bairdco · Jul 17, 2010

400's a little much. you'd be lucky to get 2 for it. the old bike market is in a pretty big slump, and only the rarest bikes go for a lot of money. a Higgins like that is a common bike. i mean, it's still cool, and waaay better than a cranbrook, but it's not worth much.

Allen_Wrench · Jul 17, 2010

silverbear said:
Nice... you have the makings there of a great vintage cruiser, just asking for a motor and yes, an in frame tank. What size are the rims? Is that technically a middleweight? You can probably still use heavy duty balloon tire rims on it anyway. I did on my 60's middleweight Schwinns.
SB

I'm very sure it had balloon tires on it originally, designed for them I would say. The comparitively skinney tires it's wearing now look very out-of-place under the wide, roomy fenders. By the way: do you or anybody else on the forum know a lot about "Sachs" hubs. It has one.
The motor on my current bike is nearly broken in. I'm thinking of doing a swap there. I just don't have room for more than one motorized bike. (And I did promise my wife - just one.)
And the frame, for being all steel, is lighter than I would have expected. But so STRONG. I am amazed by it. I am glad I saved it.

Allen_Wrench · Jul 17, 2010

CoastalCruiser said:
Great Score! Looks like skinny tires and a modern chain, so late 50's or early 60's is my guess. That's exactly the type of thing I'd love to find in the trash! Merely cleaned up you could get upwards of $400 on eBay!

I know! I know! (I checked!) - But a mere $400 wouldn't come close to releasing the death-grip I have on it now. This bike will live again. And it shall be cooler than it ever was.

Allen_Wrench · Jul 17, 2010

bairdco said:
400's a little much. you'd be lucky to get 2 for it. the old bike market is in a pretty big slump, and only the rarest bikes go for a lot of money. a Higgins like that is a common bike. i mean, it's still cool, and waaay better than a cranbrook, but it's not worth much.

Maybe they were sniping it then, but I did look. One just like mine on Ebay, with even the fork struts, similar condition, started bidding at $350.00. I really could get 4. (Might not actually be WORTH 4, but I think I could get it. Not gonna try tho'.)

curtisfox · Jul 17, 2010

bairdco said:
400's a little much. you'd be lucky to get 2 for it. the old bike market is in a pretty big slump, and only the rarest bikes go for a lot of money. a Higgins like that is a common bike. i mean, it's still cool, and waaay better than a cranbrook, but it's not worth much.

I would be happy with 100 but not yet. I have to figure out whatI will use andwhatto sell. It took a long time to find some good boys frames. all you see at sales are mostly pasthrough.

You sure do have some cool builds. It takes an artistic abilaty to build good bikes. Can't waite to get going on mine

bairdco · Jul 17, 2010

"starting bid.." a lot of time, those don't sell. i see a lot of auctions where people start the bidding too high, and it never sells.

but you never know. cleaned up, all original, might get a good price. it looks like the prices are going up again. maybe people finally have some money to waste.

i'd keep it for sure and build it up.

silverbear · Jul 18, 2010

You're right, those tires do look lost under those fenders and are likely smaller than what it came with. I bought a 51 Schwinn step through a week ago and the same thing had been done. I knew something didn't look right and then realized the tires were 1.175.
I know nothing of the Sachs hub, but you can be pretty sure it is better than most of the new coaster brake hubs. Maybe Bairdco knows something about them. He's pretty sharp with this stuff. It's going to be a nice old cruiser and something different. I like different.
SB

curtisfox · Jul 18, 2010

silverbear said:
You're right, those tires do look lost under those fenders and are likely smaller than what it came with. I bought a 51 Schwinn step through a week ago and the same thing had been done. I knew something didn't look right and then realized the tires were 1.175.
I know nothing of the Sachs hub, but you can be pretty sure it is better than most of the new coaster brake hubs. Maybe Bairdco knows something about them. He's pretty sharp with this stuff. It's going to be a nice old cruiser and something different. I like different.
SB

I have been going to ask this for a long time how do tell what year a bike is? I haveseveral old bikes and don't know what year they are......Thanks Curt

My gues is that the 2:25 tires are not that avable unless you go to a bike shop so they bought what the could find at conveniant stores

bairdco · Jul 18, 2010

sach's hubs are awesome. they had a really simple coaster brake mechanism that worked really good. in fact, there's a company in the czech republic that makes a copy of it today, called "velosteel." i've been thinking of getting one for awhile now.

sach's was "fichtel and sachs." german company that made all sorts of stuff, including bicycle motors.

Curtisfox, depending on the bike, you can find the serial number and look it up on the net. just type in "schwinn serial number" or "whatever kind of bike i have serial number" and see what pops up. there's a few different databases.

there's no official records for some bikes, so you have to judge by the parts on it. sprocket design are unique to a lot of bikes, as well as frame design and styling accents.

sometimes hubs have dates, some cranks have a date stamp on the inside, and other parts have date stamps, but remember, those are parts. who's to say that the factory had a bunch of '38 hubs that they still used in 1940? but at least you're in the neighborhood.

if you don't want to do the research yourself, find an old bike forum and ask.

curtisfox · Jul 18, 2010

bairdco said:
sach's hubs are awesome. they had a really simple coaster brake mechanism that worked really good. in fact, there's a company in the czech republic that makes a copy of it today, called "velosteel." i've been thinking of getting one for awhile now.

sach's was "fichtel and sachs." german company that made all sorts of stuff, including bicycle motors.

Curtisfox, depending on the bike, you can find the serial number and look it up on the net. just type in "schwinn serial number" or "whatever kind of bike i have serial number" and see what pops up. there's a few different databases.

there's no official records for some bikes, so you have to judge by the parts on it. sprocket design are unique to a lot of bikes, as well as frame design and styling accents.

sometimes hubs have dates, some cranks have a date stamp on the inside, and other parts have date stamps, but remember, those are parts. who's to say that the factory had a bunch of '38 hubs that they still used in 1940? but at least you're in the neighborhood.

if you don't want to do the research yourself, find an old bike forum and ask.

Thanks I will check it out

weekend-fun · Jul 31, 2010

Allen_Wrench said:
We'll see if I can get that picture down there. I don't think I want to replicate a "board tracker" though. But I will be going for a vintage look. I thought about trying my hand at a custom tank. (But anyone who wants to make a few bucks, and can weld, is more than welcome to offer to make a tank for me. Takers?) And I think I may get some ape hanger handlebars, cut the ends off, and swing them down horizontally to get those long, swept back, handlebars of old. Maybe the glass-bowl fuel filter and some copper line too. And a vintage headlight. It'll take time, but oh the look of it when I'm done! Below will be the "before" picture:

that is a steal. Id pay 150 for that bike if i saw it at a yard sale. thats just...wow..

Sam

DOMIT · Aug 3, 2010

bairdco said:
nice! free is always the best price to pay for a bike. where i live, that woulda been one of the first things sold at a yard sale. i wonder how much they were asking before they gave up and threw it away?

i could probably make you a copper tank for it, but i'm kinda worried about making one long distance. without being able to check it against the bike while i'm building it is kinda sketchy. PM me if you're interested, and i'll think about how to do it.

or, you could make one yourself.

A thought on "how to do it:"

Lay the frame on a piece of paper. Trace the inside of the top tube outline area. (blah... dunno what to call that.) Fold it up and mail it. You then have an exact pattern to work from. (As long as the tracing is done with reasonable care at least...)

BarelyAWake · Aug 3, 2010

mebbe... *shrug*

...but I did do a lot of test fitting while the panels were being made, a comfortable width is also a consideration...

Scored a Higgins!!!

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