Is this really true

[Dorian]

Is this true or not, I can't beleive it, that the Schwinn Stingray was not the first muscle bike? http://bikerodnkustom5.homestead.com/br ... uscle.html

I've always thought the Stingray was the very first, is this true :?:

Dorian :?:

 

[necessaryevil]

So Huffy was first, how about that. Quick, someone post this over at the Schwinn site! :lol: :lol:

 

[user 135]

Pretty cool article. I like seeing all the advertisements that he provide too.

 

[drabe]

Is this true or not, I can't beleive it, that the Schwinn Stingray was not the first muscle bike? http://bikerodnkustom5.homestead.com/br ... uscle.html

I've always thought the Stingray was the very first, is this true :?:

Dorian :?:

Beats me if it's true, but if it's not it's a really convincing story (with pics and ads and all).
Sounds believable!

 

[KOTA]

Is this true or not, I can't beleive it, that the Schwinn Stingray was not the first muscle bike? http://bikerodnkustom5.homestead.com/br ... uscle.html

I've always thought the Stingray was the very first, is this true :?:

Dorian :?:

It must be TRUE.......It's on the INTERNET!

 

[Dorian]

Is this true or not, I can't beleive it, that the Schwinn Stingray was not the first muscle bike? http://bikerodnkustom5.homestead.com/br ... uscle.html

I've always thought the Stingray was the very first, is this true :?:

Dorian :?:

Beats me if it's true, but if it's not it's a really convincing story (with pics and ads and all).
Sounds believable!

Oh my god it is true, this blows my mind :shock: !!!!!!!!

 

[spinman]

I'd really like someone to track down the first kid (or man) in Cali who threw some apes and a solo polo seat on a a kid's frame and started the whole muscle bike craze. They called them "pig" bikes back then I think.

Probably some surfer dude hooking up his kid, or maybe a heck's Angel for his kid's birthday. At least that's what I'd like to think.

After all, that's where the execs at the big bike companies got the idea to mass produce the muscle bikes.

Spin

 

[Hammond Eggz]

Yup, boys and girls, it's true! Schwinn's StingRay obviously became MUCH more popular and way outsold them, especially with all their variants in the next few years, but Huffy did beat Schwinn to the market by a couple of months. I believe their bike was called a "Penguin"? Dumb name, but it still has the claim to fame of being first!
And yes, they were mimicking the "customs" (they called them "pig bikes", too) that kids in California were throwing together in the early '60s, trying to cash in on the trend.
Ain't it fun to learn stuff?! :mrgreen:

 

[Chainsaw]

John Brain is very meticulous in what he writes and says. He choses his words carefully and with great thought even when you're talking with him in person. I know for a fact that this project /article has been in the making for more than most people could even imagine. Over the last couple of years John has given some of us tidbits of information about this whole MuscleBike history, but has never let the cat completely out of the bag. For any of you who have an opportunity to sit in on a chit chat session with John, I urge you to take advantage of it! I have never regretted a moment of my time spent with John, whether it is riding next to him or sitting and drinking a few beers. The man is a fountain of knowledge.
Here's a little secret ....
Mr. Brain usually shows up at Detroit's Autorama and sometimes at the FreakBike Militia- Golden Horseshoe' Hamilton Beach ride in Hamilton Ontario during the month of July. He also has been known to show up in Amsterdam and at some of the other Choppadero rides.

 

[NLCTVWguy]

That's real cool stuff. Always great to go to the source.

Kind of a sad story really, how the manufacturer (Huffy) stuck it to the little guy (their distributor, Pete Mole et al). But the facts and figures and ads in the story make sense. You can see how it went down. And Huffy got their production geared up fast, I'm sure, when Schwinn announced around May 5th, 1963 that they'd be introducing a new 20 inch bike.

All they had to do was start making thousands of the bike that was already designed. By '65 anyway, they were producing models for department stores as well as their own brand. These 2 are from that line of bikes.

The green one is a Grants and the purple is a girls' Huffy. The big chainguard is the same stamping as the ones on the Penguin bikes in John Brain's story. They're a little ratty but they're rideable and better than they look. The tall sissy bar is now back on the Grants. Interestingly the girls came with a high-loop sissy and a Polo seat. I'd swear it's a Persons seat but there's no tag and no stamping in the metal.

Interestingly enough, there's a picture of Huffy's headquarters in that article- It advertises Bikes and Lawnmowers. My first Huffy- yeah, I was playing with internal combustion at 10 yrs old- was a Huffman 4HP riding mower. It had forward and reverse, one speed, and a belt -type deadman clutch. I beat the heck out of that poor vertical shaft Briggs-n-Stratton. Yes it could do wheelies. :shock:
I drove it stripped down with no fenders, engine cover, mower deck or blade, as an offroad buggy long before quad ATV's came out in force. I'm sure I looked stupid but it was a lot of fun!

Now, to find one of those '63 Stingrays...
--Rob