What’s a 1964 Schwinn Jaguar Mark V worth?

Posted on August 3, 2014 by vintagecrank

Photo taken from SchwinnCruisers.com

This weekend someone asked if I wanted to purchase a 1964 Schwinn Jaguar Mark V that had been discovered in an attic; it had been stored there for 34 years.

I certainly gave it some thought, but decided against it for two reasons. 1. I have a rule; if it’s not my size or I can’t ride it, I can’t buy it and 2. They are selling it for an old lady, thus, I’d rather not try and get some super deal, but rather help them maximize their sales price.

So, I researched documented sales history (in real-estate you’d call this comps) and here’s what I found between 2011 and 2014. I could only find 6 sales that I could back-up. The highest sales price being $729.95, and the lowest being $300. The highest sales price is deceiving as it was an auction with free shipping. So, the next highest, without free shipping was $680. Add in actual shipping and packing and the $680 can easily exceed the $729 sale. By the way, none of the other sales offered free shipping. I’m not going to dig into what accessories or options each bike had, however, they all appeared to be in very good shape, none were rust-buckets that I could see. I also did not see an increase or decrease in prices, there was high and low sales in each year.

In summary between 2011 and 2014
Average selling price: $500.96
Median selling price: $452.50
High: $680 ($729.95*)
Low: $300
*Sale with free shipping

A surviving Fuji Dandy!

Posted on March 4, 2014 by vintagecrank

If only there wasn’t an entire ocean between us, I would have been on this like fly on… This is one of my grails, one that I will break my rule; it must be my size to own. This is a Nichibei Fuji Dandy. I first saw this in an early 1960’s Japan’s Bicycle Guide book and fell in love. Yes, this one is rusty and crusty, but I love the lines all over this. Dual top-tube, down-tube, and seat-tube! And, check out that chain guard for goodness sake… I guess this would be considered a vintage Fuji balloon tire, light-weight, cruiser bicycle. It is just Dandy. Enjoy the photos.

Final Challenges on the 83 Fuji Cruiser

Posted on April 15, 2012 by vintagecrank

Spent a couple hours this morning on the 83 Fuji Cruiser. First challenge was the seat tube and chain guard decals. These were both removed from the bicycle at some point. I am trying to get the color as close as possible to the current decals, and this has proven to be a real pain and ink waister but, I’m very close now. I used Photoshop and Microsoft Word to create the decals and then manually cut them out with scissors.

I got the sticker paper from Onlinelabels.com; quality stuff. I am finding the OL177WI weatherproof gloss white paper to work the best. The OL177CK (or clear back) seems ok too. Either way, do not touch the printed part with your fingers regardless how long you let it dry; otherwise you will leave finger prints.

The decals I got from Velocals, while a quality print job, were way off in regards to color and the spread between the two vertical “Fuji” texts on the seat-tube decal is too narrow. So, when you wrap them on the seat-tube you can never line them up on each side. Keep in mind I’m trying not strip the current surviving decals even though the frame has many chips and scratches. A survivor is only a survivor once, right? If I did strip them, then I would repaint the frame and likely use the Velocals after requesting a re-size for the seat-tube decal. Then all the decals would match, but not be their original color.

Next, I got to work mounting the chain guard. I forgot I had yet to find a 40t chain wheel and the 44t on there made the chain guard a tad too small. Thankfully I had a 42t and I can make it work with a little tweaking of the mounting hardware. Once I find a 40t gold Sugino chain wheel it should be a perfect fit.

Chain guard for the 83 Fuji Cruiser

Posted on March 26, 2012 by vintagecrank

One of the missing parts on my 1983 Fuji Cruiser was the chain-guard. After a few trial and error purchases, I found a perfect fit it. Pictured below is a chain guard and mounting kit available on ebay for $17 plus shipping.

The chain guard on the 1983 cruiser was painted white on the front face. I taped off the face with some blue painters tape and used an exacto knife to cut around the curve. With a primer base and then a couple coats of gloss white you can create yourself a very nice replica. I also worked on recreating the “Cruiser” decal that would have been on there.

I then discovered that VeloCals had created an 83 Fuji Cruiser decal set. I’m a bit confused however regarding the standard and mixte option, as there was no mixte version of the cruiser. I have ordered but not yet received a set, so I’m yet to see how accurate the recreation is.

1983 Fuji Cruiser

Posted on March 22, 2012 by vintagecrank

1983 Fuji Cruiser Catalog Page

The 1983 Fuji Cruiser was offered only in the 1983 and only in a 19″ frame. You had a choice of white or black. It was equipped with largely BMX related components, except for the seat and handles bars. In the BMX world this would be referred to as a 26″ cruiser however, in the BMX world cruisers typically had straight-back drop-outs and not the road style as seen on the Fuji Cruiser.

1983 Fuji Cruiser as-found

The Fuji Cruiser pictured above was acquired a couple years and so far is the only one I have ever seen come up for sale. I’m guessing in relative terms, few of these were sold and even fewer remain. The bike had most of the original parts minus the cranks, pedals, chain wheel, front tire and chain-guard (you gotta have the chain-guard right!?). Also the seat-tube decal is missing.

*UPDATE* You can now see photos of the completed 83 Fuji Cruiser in the bicycle gallery here

Vintage Crank

Vintage and classic bicycle collecting and more.. Questions, comments, appraisals; email creator@vintagecrank.com

Category Archives: Cruiser

What’s a 1964 Schwinn Jaguar Mark V worth?

A surviving Fuji Dandy!

Final Challenges on the 83 Fuji Cruiser

Chain guard for the 83 Fuji Cruiser

1983 Fuji Cruiser