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Urgent! What Do Banana Seat Bikes Go For?
I've never bought one of those 1960s banana-seat bikes before, and since it's high time I add one to my collection I'm going to see one this weekend, but I have no idea of their value compared to the pre-1950 CCMs I usually look for. This one is an Eaton's Road King girl's frame with very high-rise handle bars, and is a very cool purple colour with white seat, white hand grips, and wide white-wall tires. Everything's there and it looks to be original paint. Unfortunately, I can't post a photo because he sent it to my cell phone. So what price range are bikes like these in? I know girl's bikes tend to sell for less. $100-$200?, $200s?, $300s? $400s? Is there a listing somewhere for Eaton Road King serial numbers and years?
-Brian R.
Ok, so I bought the bike anyway. I bought it in a package deal with another bike so depending on how one would value that other bike I paid between $0 and $75. It was made in Hungary for Eaton's and still has its original tires made in Austria and original paint. The chrome is not far gone and will shine up nicely I think.
So what's it worth?
Sorry Brian, but I really don't follow hi-riser pricing. However, I do know that girl's' models don't sell for anywhere near the price of boys' models. Name brands also sell for more than private label brands, especially with generic models like this. Finally, it was made in a Communist country and whether it is warranted or not, bikes made during the 1960s and 1970s in former Communist countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary don't have a good reputation with the general bicycle buying public.
About the only positive note is that I can date it from the serial number, provided it is from Eaton's typical Hungarian source.
That would be great if you could date it. I found the number on the left side down by the rear axle. The letters HL are printed sideways and the number 018454 is stamped horizontally. Thanks T-Mar.
Brian, the bicycle was manufactured by Csepel in 1972. There is a possibility that it could be a 1973 model manufactured in late 1972 but given the relatively low serial number, it is most likely a 1972 model.
While I don't have the 1972 catalogue, in 1971 Eaton's offered a very similar bicycle but in a different colour scheme. Worth noting is that it was a convertible model with a removable top bar. It's hard to see in your photo but it looks like there may be a tab behind the top stack of the headset, which could be the foward fastening point for the removal top tube? If so, it would be worthwhile to go back to the seller and see if he stil has the top tube, but had forgotten about it. Being able to sell it as a convertible model, would substantially increase the value.
Thanks T-Mar, that's great info. It's about 8 years newer than I had thought. There is a tab on the head tube so it could have been a convertible model. With the colour being purple it never occurred to me. I emailed the guy I bought it from, and he said his neighbour who had owned it had moved, so no top bar. I believed the tires to be original because they match and also it seems logical that a Hungarian bike would be be sold with Austrian made tires. But I notice the photo in the catalogue shows blackwalls. Given the colour and the tires maybe this was sold as a girls bike but still had the tab on the frame. I will look for a 1972 Eaton's catalogue the next time I'm at the library/archives.
Brian, I found a 1972 catalogue. The colour is listed as 'fuschia" but it looks more purple to me.
Cool. I looked up fuschia in the dictionary- a vivid reddish purple. I would say that fits this paint colour. Tell me, was the fuschia bike listed with white wall tires and was it a girls only bike or a convertible model? Thanks T-Mar, you are a fountain of knowledge!
It was a convertible bicycle. Without having the two pages side by side to compare, I'd say it was identical to the 1971 catalogue, except for some cosmetic differences. I don't recall if it had whitewalls. Next time I'm in town, I'll try to get a picture, if it's still there, as I stumbled across it at a 2nd hand store.
Here's the 1972 catalogue page. As you can see, it's an excellent match, with the exception of the chain guard. Given that the subject bicycle has a generic, chromed, chain guard, it probaly is a replacement. While the tires are whitewalls, they appear to be a different tread pattern, though this could very well have been a sourcing issue.
That's really fun to see, thanks for posting it T-Mar. It's too bad I'm missing the removable top tube, but what can you do.
I love the care-free nature of that ad, with the kid doing a wheelie - he could be saying: "Look Ma, no helmet!" Clearly Eaton's was not concerned with law suits and liability "back in the day". Boys would be boys and scraped knees and elbows were a right of passage. Nowadays we have helicopter parents and bubble-wrapped kids getting obese on the sofa playing video games. Sigh.
In my experience, it's not the kids of helicopter parents who are video game addicts, as these parents are typically heavily involved in their childern's lives and tend to get them involved in diverse activities. However, at the opposite end of the spectrum and far more numerous are the non-parents, fathers and mothers who don't get involved with their children because it affects their own coach potato activities. Their kids are far more likely to become the steroetypical, obese, video game junkie. Per Graham Nash, "teach you children well".