I thought it might be fun to see what people's "rides" were before getting their drivers license. How about it? My first green machine was a FIVE speed! I'll bet quite a few of you guys (based on Marco's age poll) had one of these: :TU:
GT Interceptor - restored by yours truly! It was nothing but a frame when I got it. I was more or less a bike parts dealer when I was unable to drive. I had probably 15 bikes in pieces. My parents loved it. I also had a Predator (the lime green one with the solid pedal sprocket)
I don't know if it was my "first", but I do remember having a real "green machine". I thought I was sooo cool. :gt: Anyone remember what I'm talking about? :Brow:
:jd: Wow,holy schniekees....Dig that five spoke drive sprocket!!! that was the same bike I had, man I wish I still had that thing.I think I rode it off a pier into Lake Michigan.That Schwinn was great for jumping garbage cans too!!! Dana
I knew there had to be others here that had a Stingray, Dana. The odometer on mine has over 1,000 miles on the clock, and I added that odometer several years after I got the bike. Drove the tires off that thing with my friends. Never did jump much with it, though. Adam, was that a BMX bike that you built? You're younger than I am and the whole BMX craze didn't exist when I was a kid. Rick, I don't have a clue what you're referring to. o No: Hopefully, someone here will take a guess...
Yep, a BMX type dirt bike...always wanted to get into racing, but never did. I had a few trick bikes though. The GT was my "go fast" bike though:Brow:
I had lots of bikes. I raced in the NBL and was into freestyling big time. I was only into ramps and jumps. I went to Atlanta, California, and a few contests in the midwest. I had co-sponsorships from Skyway, Dairy Queen, and Schwinn. My bike of choice was a Profile that I paid $1300 for in 1986. I still have it today. I haven't been on it since 1987 until this summer for about 3 minutes. A few neighborhood kids were over talking BMX and looking at pictures and talked me into getting my bike out. The third jump I tried was a one-hand, one-footed table top. I pulled the bike out from under me and landed on my back. I pushed the bike into the garage, hung it back up on the ceiling, and decided not to come out of retirement. It will be another 15 years til it comes back out.....probably with my kid on it, not me. Tom Jenkins
My parents bought me a brand new Mongoose BMX bike in the early 1980s. It was black and beautiful with extra thick spokes. Darn tough bike. Musta had 200K miles on it . Wish I had it back. I got into a street race with some BMX racer who was running his mouth about his GT. I smoked him!!!! My first street race.:grin:
At first, it was a banana bike, then a stunt bike, then a mountain bike, then another mountain bike, and now I'm just finishing my new Hyper BMX which will feature the same paint style as "Tweaked." I have painted countless things the colour of that car.
I've been searching for one like I had for years now - it was called the Drag Stripper. It was green in color and had the ol' chopper style handle bars and the nice big sissy bar in back with a padded rest of course. The main chassis tube came across the top center as you'd expect and continued out the rear of the bike in an exhaust tube type fashion. Man wish I had that thing back or another like it I've been considering stepping up to the plate for an apple crate or orange crate bike and will next year if I don't find what I'm after but dang they're expensive!!!
I'll second that Ken!!:grin: We didn't even HAVE the option of BMX bikes when I started riding!!! I got a single speed banana seat bike similar to your green one when I was ten. Jumped all kinds of stuff...and INTO all kinds of stuff with that one!!:Brow: :Brow: My very first bike was given to me when I was only 4 yrs. old. Had training wheels and plastic tires!!:grin: I only had it half a yr. and got tired of the training wheels....so I went into the garage while nobody was around, found some tools and took off the training wheels myself!! Not too bad for a 4.5 yr. old!!:TU: :grin: The last bike I got "in my youth", was a Schwinn Caliente ten speed w/ 26" wheels. Got that for my 12th birthday ('77). That bike cost more back then, than my current bike cost!! :eek2: My current bike is an alum. 21 spd mountain bike with shocks up front and in the rear!! Nice set up!! Sure wish I started off with something like this 'way back when'!! ou:
The bike I had looked alot like the one pictured. It was also a green Schwinn but was a 3-speed with 24" tires. It had 2 thin bars at the top, with the shifter mounted in between. Of course I had to alter it a little, added a tall Sissy bar and had the front forks extended some 12-16 inches and used a 20" tire on the front. I sure looked bad with that ride. I also built bikes from whatever pieces I could find, some looked pretty wild. Seems to be a trend with me, creating something from a lot of parts. Duane
HEY Ken, You must have an obsession with lime green colored rides! I had a Schwinn similar to that one but it was a little darker green.It also had a longer sissy bar and the rear tire was a slick.The handlebars were half of the size of the one in the pic.I was the envy of the neighborhood when I had it.The bad thing is that we lived near Gary Indiana and you couldn't let things like that out in your back yard.I soon realized this after one night someone ripped it off.I was so bummed.I had to deliver alot of newspapers to get my new yellow Schwinn.It was not nearly as cool looking but it sure beat walking to school. Pat
Seems a lot of us had a green bike. Mine was a 20" single speed with a bannana seat and tall sissy bar. I remember it had a cheater slick on the rear. Sorry I don't remember the manufacturer. Now to 2003. My eight year old son and I are building a custom Chopper bicycle. The bike started out as a Huffy 24" ten speed. We then raked the front end and made a custom down tube. A custom red white and blue fade paint job is already done. Parts to complete the bike should be here this week. We are waiting on a Bananna seat, handle bars, sissy bar and fenders. I will post pictures when we get it finished. This bike looks like nothing I have ever seen, and my son is thrilled to have a special bike. Dave
my first ride was on my mom's old black schwinn one speed, fat tire bike the summer before i turned 6. man, what a tank! ou: my first real bike was a blue hiawatha stringray when i turned 6. my first modified bike was a couple years later at 8 when i added longer forks and a big-assed sissy bar on the biker-black banana seat. had rear view mirrors on the ape hangers, and a perpetual supply of playing cards stuck in the spokes :TU: anybody remember the suicide bike with the round "car" steering wheel?
I had an 84 Mongoose Californian and an 87 GT Pro Freestyle Tour as a kid. Delivered a shload of papers to get the $ for them. When I was old enuff to buy a car my parents refused to let me sell my bikes, saying that I would regret it someday. They were right, about 4 months ago I was killing time on the internet and came across the whole vintage BMX scene. I got all stoked about riding again, went and dragged my bikes out of the rafters of my parents garage where they sat for the last 13 years or so. The Mongoose is almost finished and the GT is in the midst of it's restoration. I ride the goose almost everyday and am now debating buying a "new school" bike and getting back into freestyle. It is really wild the memories that riding these things brings back, almost like a childhood time machine.
I have no idea what kind of bike it was, but my parents bought me a bike with a "mono-shock" on it. It had a hinged seat area to the rest of the bike, with a shock and spring setup in the middle. I remember the seat was about a foot long and pretty wide. It was really thick with foam too. That was great until it got tears in the seat and sat out in the rain for a bit. Then it became the giant weeping sponge... in all the wrong places.
