Bike Forums - Women's White Firestone Vagabond Berkshire

It looks like a 1972 - 1973 era HUFFY TOURISTER. I believe it is the "rebadged" TOURISTER that Huffy produced for FIRESTONE so that Firestone would sell these at their tire stores back in the day.

Here is a bike forums thread on ROAD TEST of the new 1969 Huffy Tourister which featured a SHIMANO LARK rear derailleur
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...tourister.html
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE BMA-6 Sticker on YOUR BICYCLE places it at least 1971. There are also visual differences between that 1969 Tourister and the 1972 Tourister in this 1972 print ad (see ebay link below)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-Print-...d:g:4eUAAOSw4C
You'll notice that your Front Crank has the same exact appearance as the 1972 Tourister

These bicycles were direct competitors: SCHWINN COLLEGIATE, HUFFY TOURISTER, Columbia Tourist V, ROSS EUROTOUR, and AMF had a 5 speed that looked very similar to the Huffy Tourister, but I can't recall the AMF's name at the moment, and Murray also had a 5 speed,.........
All of these had 26 inch wheels.................590mm for non-Schwinns and 597mm for SCHWINN COLLEGIATE
All of these have American STYLE One Piece Cranks and are incredibly simple to service the Bottom Bracket......Schwinn takes #64 (number sixty-four BEARINGS) and I seem to recall that the other American makes take the #66 (number sixty-six BEARINGS)

Here is page 681 of a 1972 paper catalog advert THAT SHOWS THE Huffy tourister at Bottom right, it was available in Astro Blue in both Men and Womens style and its price is listed as $69.95 in that 1972 catalog.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1972-PAPER-...ash=item2390c2

Here is a 1973 Huffy print ad
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Huffy-...SwAAMXQcVNQ5-a

These 5 SPEEDS of that era that were equipped with JAPANESE rear derailleurs (Shimano Lark, Shimano SKYLARK, Shimano EAGLE, or Schwinn's made by Shimano GT-100 and GT-120 rear derailleurs.....
They were good bicycles that were Super-Simple and FOOLPROOF!! Raleigh and Peugeot and other European brands also had 5 Speeds but they featured trashy European made rear derailleurs from the likes of Huret, Simplex, and Campagnolo. The bottom brackets and 3 piece cranks are less robust and are more difficult to deal with than the simple durable 1 piece American style ashtabula crank. Swap out the junky European Huret, Simplex or Campagnolo rear derailleurs that were on European bikes and some American bicycles of that era----------------swap them for SUNTOUR or SHIMANO and you're golden. The Schwinn Varsity & Continental etc had the junky Huret Alvit and the top of the line Schwinn Paramount had Campagnolo garbage onboard when $75 Kmart bikes in 1972 had a more durable Shimano Eagle.
Anything from the 1970's that featured either a rear derailleur from SHIMANO or SUNTOUR was a durable, fool-proof bicycle........I didn't say great or superb because frame design and wheels and gear ratios matter a great deal, but at least assuming you didn't leave whatever bike you had at that time that came with SHIMANO or SUNTOUR outside in the rain, you were assured that it would likely be problem free as far as the derailleur operation and shifting. Most everybody went Japanese for Rear Derailleur by 1977 for a very good reason, because everything else was junk in comparison no matter how expensive your European rear derailleur was.

Your Firestone (Huffy Tourister) bicycle is a beautiful bicycle. There is no real market value for any bicycle of that type-----------SCHWINN COLLEGIATE doesn't have any real market value either. It does not mean that these aren't really good bicycles because they are excellent bikes because of their simplicity and the durability and comfortable riding position. The five speed configuration having NO FRONT DERAILLEUR offers much of the gear range of a 10 speed of the era with less hassles.
There is nominal value as any basic rideable bicycle will have, but there is zero collector value at this time and probably will remain that way.
These are fabulous college campus bikes because of their overall simplicity and ability to ride most any hill.
For $100 or less (Perfect Riding Shape, with New Tires/Tubes, Brake Pads, etc with Nice Paint and almost zero rust would be around $100 ) these still have a few fans that recognize them and get nice examples for use as Campus bikes or to use for daily exercise around the Subdivision and on bike paths and as beach cruisers.
These fans recognize that these bikes are less likely to be stolen and the acquisition cost is low and the quality of any in decent condition is about the same as a new Walmart or Target bicycle. Some folks enjoy riding something "vintage". The balloon tire heavyweight vintage single speed cruiser folks like so much that they have prices that might make your head spin for something that looks as if the bike had been an outdoor garden ornament for the past decade. Prices have retreated significantly for the balloon tire bikes such that every one of the faithful that collects, restores, sells, parts out these bicycles is claiming that the sky is falling and the times are awful, if you read some of their postings on another site fourm devoted to classic antique bicycles.
Enjoy the bicycle for what it is--------new tires and tubes are inexpensive, and the bell pitcrew 600 replacement cables set is $9.99. New brake pads are less than $10 for a set of four from many sellers on the web and ebay. Your LBS will have them too for not too much more. RJ the Bike Guy's YOUTUBE videos and a $4 copy from ebay of GLENN'S COMPLETE BICYCLE MANUAL (c) 1973 approx 340 pages , 8 1/2 x 11 softbound is the best ever how to do it bicycle book related to these bikes, or for any bicycle made during the era of 1935 to 1980.
It will be a nice rider that you'll enjoy. If you don't have a use for it, then find it a new home. Sadly, too many of these end up at the dump, or parted-out simply because one can often sell the bikes parts or some parts for more than the total market value of the whole intact functional bicycle. There are always more bicycles, than there are folks that want to ride them. Just as most people want to buy and own new cars, and the few that seek out collector cars are selective based on their passion for whatever type of car, sportscar, truck, jeep, 4wd or professional vehicle(hearse/ambulance etc). Just as the collectors of hearses/ambulances might be as small as collectors of Pintos/Vegas/Corvairs and they exist, but for example a near perfect Corvair convertible might be worth several thousand dollars less than a rust-bucket Mustang, Camaro-Firebird, or even a rusty Falcon. It doesn't mean that the Corvair isn't fun or a bargain for someone who enjoys the weirdness and is willing to learn to do their own "wrenching" when the vehicle needs tuning or major work. You gotta look at it that way, except that everything is available and inexpensive as far as replacement parts for bicycles versus automobiles such as the Corvair. ......more useless trivia...Huffy made a bicycle called the CORVAIR in the sixties, and it was not unsafe at any speed. Bike makers using popular car names was done frequently back in the day......Schwinn had CORVETTE in the 1950's and 1960's, and Huffy had CAMARO in the late sixties, and there were other examples.