1971 Schwinn Super Sport

This is my 1971 Restored Super Sport
I have been interested in Schwinn’s since 1971. My dad would not let me get a car and told me to “ride a bike.” At that time I was living outside of Philadelphia. My friend at the time was really into Chevy muscle cars. As dad suggested, I started looking for bikes and came across an ad for the Schwinn Super Sport! The name sold me! If I could not have a Chevy SS how about one from Schwinn! The ad talked about Yellow, Green, Brown or BURGUNDY!!!! I knew it had to be Burgundy. As it turned out these machines came in different sizes. This would be my first bike that I got to pick out the color and got one that actually fit me! I called all over Philly and finally found one in my size. The bike was located downtown Philadelphia. I hitchhiked and took a bus to get to the shop. When I arrived the salesmen blew me off thinking I was another kid there to drool. I found the bike up on the second tier of shiny new machines. A young kid who was sweeping the shop asked if he could help me. When I told him I wanted to buy that SS, pointing to the Burgundy Schwinn, the original salesmen tried to swoop back in for the sale. He told me that the Kid was there to clean up and that he was the salesmen. I asked to see the owner of the shop. When he arrived I told him my story and went on to inform that if the kid did not get the commission I would leave. He stated that he promised that the young man would get the commission. He also told me that I taught both of his employees a lesson. That is a story I share with all of my employees to this day!
I managed to get this bike home from down town even though I knew nothing about shifting, rat traps, hand brakes, etc! I rode the SS everywhere until I went to college and actually got a car. (It was not a SS)
I went without a bike till my son was 2ish. I rode very little for the next 10 years. My Doctor came to me and told me I had Diabetes. It is a disease that really scares me. He suggested I loose weight. I ended up loosing 50 pounds in the last 3 years and last year I rode 5,000 miles.
The first bike, the story I always tell my employees, kept creeping back into my mind.
I could not find a decent Burgundy Super Sport in my size in 2 years of looking. I decided to make my own. I bought a Burgundy Sports Tourer just to get the right color for my buddy at the paint shop to scan.
I took (almost) every nut bolt a washer off the bike and cleaned and polished everything. My friend Todd helped a lot with the crank R&R, lacing the wheels and the final tune up to bring this bike to life! My friend Ken applied the paint and helped with some of the tedious jobs like reworking the Head badge holes, repainting the NOS (but rusty underside) Brooks saddle. Thanks, also to Rick R&R’ed the kick stand. He has that slick tool to do this! Bob , You have no idea how much help you were. I was having a horrible time coming up with decals.
I ended up selling my Sports Tourer to Jeff. A couple of weeks after the sale I went to wrap the bars with the tape I bought on E-Bay. The color was wrong. I bought 2 more rolls. The color was still wrong. I called Jeff and told him of my problem and he let me “borrow” the Burgundy tape from the Sports Tourer! Jeff You are amazing! This is my first try at restoring anything. I just wanted to thank the people that made this all happen!