OT-Schwinn StingRays

I had a lemon peeler...it got ripped off...I had to settle for Huffy Version with the huge sissy bar...it was cool but definitely not the same

 

I've got a green one for my son and a black one for me. Never could find a blue one

 

I bought mine from Hot-Rod Roadster. He's got a killer collection and a super cool dude to boot. For some reason, I can just stare at a Stingray for hours. They just look so damn cool.

 

Had an Orange Krate back in the day..Anyone who has any StingRays for sale or knows where to get one, Please let me know...

Thanks, Bruno...

kingtut400@yahoo.com

 

I have a pea picker reissue and then got a purple stingray reissue for my wife. We ride these all the time in the summer and have a great time with them. Every once in a while my parents come up and my dad has a 5 speed grey ghost reissue and my mom has a blue cheap stingray copy. Definately gets a lot of attention in our small town!!!!!!!!!

 

There was a blue on here a couple of weeks ago.

 

I still have an original my parents bought me new in 1971.....Apple Krate. Took it apart last year to redo, and it got put on the back burner

 

In 1971 I received the best birthday gift a 10 year old could ask for, a Schwinn Apple Krate. Fast forward to 2007 and I learn Wal-Mart offered a Krate tribute bike with a springer fork, 20 inch rear slick and 16 inch front. The best part: the bikes went on sale for $69 just before Christmas.

Although a great bike for the price, it needed some vintage pieces to look and perform like the Apple Krate I owned as a kid. Thus I converted the coaster to a five speed including the Stik-Shift from a '68 Krate, added an Atom drum brake front wheel and the Krate’s shock absorbing sissy bar. A vintage Schwinn speedometer, bat holder and rear rack complete the “Retro-Krate” look I was after. A blast to ride, it never fails to bring a smile to friends that remember riding the original Krates or to our kids that never experienced the first generation Stingrays and the fun of rowing the Stik-Shift through all five gears as you raced the wind.

 

one of you experience welders have to be able to recreate this !!!!!

 

Does anyone know how to date them by the serial #? I used to know but now I can't remember.

 

To date them. Look at the letters in the vin number located on the neck of the frame or on the rear fork of the frame. The first letter is the month, the second letter is the year.

For example:
my 68 1/2 orange krate is MD

M is the 13 month( Yeah I know) (its a 69 model made is december 68)
D is 1968

1st letter
A-Jan.
B-Feb
C-Mar.
etc.

2nd letter
A-65
B-66
C-67
D-68
E-69
etc.

 

If anybody is interested, I have a 71 stingray that I showed a LOT of lovin. I have literally been through every nut and bolt twice.

Restored with correct date coded parts, but painted a candy red flake and pinstriped.

Also have a Ross Banshee with a 3 speed suicide shifter I wouldn't mind unloading.

 

I had the Western Auto version,We found one just like it sitting in a yard around the corner from my house . I went crazy when I saw it. My son went over and bought it for me and gave it to me as a gift. I restored it to exactly what I had and still ride it!!!

 

Still have mine. Got it for Christmas back in the late 60's.

 

Here is me on my Stingray decked out in MX bars, wheel,and tires circa 1974
We called this the"ski jump". It was a jumd we built at the top of a slope

 

thats a great shot!

 

I still have my Schwinn Phantom I got in 1954 and I still have the life time warranty that came with it actually like a title with my name, bike serial no. and date on it. Seems I saved everthing even my toys from the forties, Hank

 

LOVE that picture! I hope you have a poster of this in your garage--if not, you should! In '74 I got a new Schwinn Scrambler and promplty rode down to Cycle Gear in Richmond CA and bought some MX handlebars with the cross-bar just like the ones above. My friend's dad disassembled the bike one day after school and resprayed it in bright red and had it all back together after dinner and I rode it home. I used that bike on my two paper routes and after about two years it was stolen from in front of my buddy's house. I went inside to take a piss before going on my route and some kids from another 'hood came by, removed my newspaper bag, and took the bike. I was inside the house for less than three minutes but they got away. Man, I was pissed. I got a tip--the names of the kids who stole it--and my dad called the Richmond Police. The main kid denied it and the cops told me it was a lost cause. I used locks after that!

 

cactus1, that is the exact twin of mine! mines a 66, got it new, with a 2spd rear end, still have the bill of sale, $70.00 i think, tucked away in mom & dads garage!

 

Was there ever a bike called made by Panda? Or were there PANDA parts for bikes.

I rememebr around 1978 or 1980 my frind had a PANDA bike.

Am I crazy?

 

I have 10 Stingray's in original, unrestored condition, but, found this Huffy at a yard sale last summer :
1967 Huffy Rail...check out the graphics on the chain guard
Red-Band dual redline cheater slick w/ matching dual redline front tire
Persons "Solo-Polo" white banana seat w/ silver metalflake
40 mph Ward's Hawthorne speedo
3-speed Shimano rear hub with a "Control Console" shifter

 

I found one in the garbage last year.

 

Also on the early bikes there could be a 3 or 4 in the second space. This would indicate a (3) 1963 first year or (4) 1964. The early bikes are my favorite. Gary

 

Very Nice, violet is a hard to find color. Looks like it is all pretty original and must be a 2 speed kick-back (front hand-brake) Like the wide whites. Gary

 

My best friend had an Apple Krate but I was forced to suffer with my 2-speed Typhoon. Still took it of some sweet jumps, though.

 

A guy at work bought a new one at walmart not to long ago and I went to that same store later in the day and they were gone, Ive not see any new sting rays for sale since. I guess they only made a few new ones? This was only a few months ago.

 

I have this reissue in the copper/orange color. I bought it from the local internet classifieds for $20...hoping like hell it was an old one. This is the bike I wanted so badly when I was a kid, until the BMX bike showed up in Gibson's and TG&Y.

I ride mine all the time....although I'm sure I look like a dork

 

I've still got this Apple Krate that's ready for a second restoration. I put it together from 2 original Krate's which had been in a friends shed on the West Coast for almost 30 years! When he delivered them to me, the one had a nest of bull ant's living inside the back slick! Free bonus! Holy shit! They were everywhere! It's got the front drum and rear stainless disc brakes, and the 5-speed shift.

I sold a nice Fastback with rams horn handlebars last year at Daytona. I had twelve or so bikes at one time, but they take up a lot of room, and the upkeep was too much since I live near the ocean. I still have a few krate frames and a girls Stingray frame, plus a complete Jr. Stingray that needs some mild resto work. I missed those Krates at Wally World last year, which I could just kick myself over. My wife decided Christmas Eve, since she hadn't bought shit else for me, that she'd get me one, and guess what? Duh...... I saw the quality wasn't as good, but for 69 bucks, they were great and something you could have fun on! I will say, you better have some deep pockets these days if you want to collect original Schwinns, because these things are bringin' some hefty prices!
I'll post some shots of my sons customized krate later on.

 

I had to break out the old pictures after seeing Crazydaddyo's. The newspaper pullout is from February of 1980.

I wish I had the whole bike; I still have the front wheel. Anybody happen to have a matching rear wheel for sale? It's an Araya heavy-duty motorcycle/motocross-style bike wheel. I wanna use it for the hack wheel on a cruiser bike sidehack, someyear. My brother still has his old junior(?) Stingray. I'd like to find an original Huffy Rail or similar at a garage sale.

Thanks,
Kurt

 

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