# Mystery Vintage Retro - Please help me Identify her! please...



## evilchowderboy025 (Jul 28, 2014)

The only clue is "Super Star". Purchased some time in 1970-1980s


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

The paint scheme brought back memories and I'm guessing it's one of those extremely heavy, late-1970s AMF gas pipe "10-speeds" usually sold under the "Roadmaster" moniker. Other than the rear brake cable being misrouted in front of the handlebar and missing a top-tube clip, the bike looks pristine and original.

Don't take this the wrong way, but this bike illustrates one of the worst things ever to happen to U.S. cycling culture: the idea foisted off on the public that everyone must ride a derailleur-equipped bike with "racing" handlebars regardless of how and where a bicycle is used. We're just now getting over that, I think.

This link may help you in your search if only by pointing you into the right direction:
Late 70?s AMF Roadmaster Cherokee | Old Ten Speed Gallery


----------



## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

It is either that or a Murray. Or a "house brand" for a department store. It does look like it came out of the factory that pumped out AMFs or whatever.

While it ain't a great bike, it is kinda cool as a "survivor" - a time capsule. I find low end bikes like that to be interesting when they aren't messed about or "updated."

UPDATE:

Winnebago? 

It seems that they used the SuperStar name on a bike around this time. Just throwin' it out there. You may have a strange, obscure minor collectable. Or not. 

vintage winnebago super star Bicycle - (greenup) for Sale in Huntington, West Virginia Classifieds - AmericanListed.com


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Gregory Taylor said:


> It is either that or a Murray. Or a "house brand" for a department store. It does look like it came out of the factory that pumped out AMFs or whatever.


Good point. There was also a Huffy with almost the same paint scheme. And yes, they are kind of cool now--until the time you have to carry one of them up a flight of stairs into your apartment.


----------



## evilchowderboy025 (Jul 28, 2014)

Thanks all. I was able to find out yesterday that the brand is JC Penny. I wonder who manufacture these bike for JC penny back in the day.


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Gregory nailed it. From an article on bicycle makers:

"Starting in the 1950s and into the early 1980s, Murray manufactured bicycles for several large department stores such as; Sears and Roebuck, J.C. Penney's and also Montgomery Wards."


----------



## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

All Hail Wim and Greg: The Kings of Crappy Bike Identification.

Wim - what article did you pull that from? It sounds interesting.


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Gregory Taylor said:


> All Hail Wim and Greg: The Kings of Crappy Bike Identification.


LOL, that's funny and made my day. I think...

Here's the article, scroll down to "Murray."
Bicycle Bike manufacture History - SoCalBicycles.com* Riverside, CA.

As a footnote: When I came to the U.S. from Europe in 1958, I couldn't believe how primitive almost all U.S.-made bikes were. But soon after that, I realized that those things had to survive a life of lying down on front lawns and driveways in all sorts of weather--and did! My disdain turned to grudging admiration.


----------



## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

Thanks for the article! Kinda sad reading, actually. This thread made me dive down a bit and try to recall some of the brands that I took for granted when I was a kid in the '60s and '70s: Huffy, Murray, Free Spirit, etc. Sure, some of them weren't great bikes. Some were very high quality - I had a couple of Schwinns as a kid, and they were truly a cut or two above. I hate to see that there are no American-made mass produced bikes anymore. 

You are right - American bikes back from that time had to survive a tough life. From around age 10 or so I had an afternoon paper route (I delivered the Alexandria Gazette - complete with a canvas paper boy bag that, today, would be incredibly hip) that I did on a beat up Murray single speed bike. This thing was old when I got it: classic frame, coaster brake, full fenders, balloon tires. Man, that bike took some punishment. Hopping curbs, cutting across lawns, and generally raising hell. My favorite trick was a rolling dismount at the end of my route. I would come up the driveway toward our house and do what would now be considered a "cyclocross" dismount. But, unlike a cyclocross dismount, I would step off right in front of the kitchen door and let the bike continue its trip without me. If my aim was good, the bike would roll up the driveway about 10 yards, gently curve right, and then flop down in the back yard. This meant that my bike was already put away and I saved 30 seconds and about 40 steps coming in the house for supper. 

All that bike ever demanded in return was an occasional squirt of 30 weight oil on the chain, ditto the hubs and crank, and for the tires to be pumped up once in a great while. It was rusty, it rattled, and it was red. And it lasted for YEARS.


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Gregory: Wonderful remembrance, much appreciated!

I clearly remember riding with a new-found American friend shortly after I arrived here and me worrying about his state of being at the end of the ride when he simply and elegantly let go of his bike, allowing it to clatter to the ground. To my Euro mind, there had to be something seriously wrong for someone to do that, like an imminent circulatory system collapse. LOL, the stories stupid immigrants can tell...


----------



## Gregory Taylor (Mar 29, 2002)

If it is any consolation, you and my Dad see eye-to-eye on the subject of just letting a bike drop to the ground when you stop riding. My Dad (who started out as an aircraft mechanic and could fix ANYTHING) didn't appreciate his offspring mistreating a serviceable bike. The bike had a kick stand, and I was expected to use it. That said, my paper route bike always lived in the back yard, most often leaned up against the back of the house when it wasn't flopped in the grass. Rain and snow were okay, dropping it wasn't. The paper route bike never made it into the garden shed with the "nicer" bikes. (like my yellow 500lb Schwinn Varsity road bike).


----------



## Randy99CL (Mar 27, 2013)

wim said:


> There was also a Huffy with almost the same paint scheme.


Yes, I sold a perfectly good no-name bike to buy a new Huffy Santa Fe in the mid '70s. Looked almost exactly like that Super Star.
When the machine welded the rear dropouts, one was still 1/8" out from fully seated in the seatstay. Never could get the rear wheel centered.
At some point I gave it away.


----------



## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

Gregory Taylor said:


> My Dad (who started out as an aircraft mechanic and could fix ANYTHING) didn't appreciate his offspring mistreating a serviceable bike. .


Same here. My Dad was an engineer with the BMW aircraft engine division in the late 1930s and a German air force NCO later on. After he returned in 1949 from an extended stay in a Russian POW camp, he insisted on bicycle front- and rear hub repacking after every long week-end family rain ride. Living in rain-soaked northern Europe, that pretty much meant hub repacking almost every Sunday evening. Enough of this, got to focus more on the future to keep from getting really old.


----------

