Posted 9 years ago
flightliner
(1 item)
Found this bike frame about 10 years ago in a trash pile on the curb across the street from my childhood home in the 60's. I was just driving by looking at the freeway where my house used to be and saw this being thrown away.
It still has the original paint job in red with a white v shaped racing stripe on the tank and the original Sears sticker 3/4 the way up the inside of the frame on the seat column. The headlight even still works. I left the frame with the original paint job and took it to the local bike shop to get all new mechanics replaced like pedals, seat, chain, tires and rims, handlebars, etc...to bring it back to working order. Still trying to find out the exact model year, but I know it is a Sears flightliner possibly manufactured for either J.C. Higgins or Murray somewhere between 1955-1960. It's not an exact match for the 1958-63 or 64-66 Higgins, Murray or Sears flightliner. But so close the only difference is Sears and Higgins engraved their names in the side of the tank those years and Murray embossed their name vertically between the headlights. This has the racing "V" on the tank and horizontal lines between the twin headlights. I've found three or four others identical to this online, but no one else knows exactly what they are either. Possibly a pre 1958. If anyone can narrow this down for me further, I would appreciate the help, thanks.
I think I finally identified this bike by searching through online archives of early 1960's Christmas catalogs. It is a 1962-1964 Sears Speedweight made by Murray for Sears. It is an identical twin of the Murray Missile except for some minor "rebadging" for the Sears version. They were less expensive than the Sears Flightliner or Spaceliner tank style bikes and were popular until the new Stingrays and Ten Speed racers came out in 1967.