Banana Bike Knockoff

[kc27]

This is a 1970s era bicycle that has been parked in a backyard shed for years. I think it is just a mass discounter variation of the Schwinn bikes of that time, because I cannot find any markings on it.

My son had liked its looks, and wanted to hang on to it, but he got too tall for it, and would be able to get any use out of it, especially with those non-standard handlebars. I was just thinking of scrapping or giving it away to free up the space just because it does not fit any of us. The metal on the underside of the seat has rusted away, so it will need a new seat.

Can anyone identify it? A google image search did not turn up anything. Or, if you have some ideas on how to potentially use it, please pass those along.

Thanks

If the photos aren't appearing below, here are the links:

http://ohiowi.com/misc/orange_bicycle/IMG_0243.jpg
http://ohiowi.com/misc/orange_bicycle/IMG_0241.jpg

 

[Fv2]

It has a bit of an Iverson look to it, maybe a dragger. I'm not sure, but it's mid 70's.

 

[kc27]

Thanks for the Iverson suggestion. I did a Google search for Iverson bicycles and it does look similar if not identical to those bikes. One of the search results was from this forum. It looks like the bicycle pictured in the thread below.

http://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/iverson-road-runner.6053/

 

[Fv2]

If you're wanting to give it away, you can put it in the pay it forward section. Also check the muscle bike section, I'm sure a few of those guys would love to have it.

 

[kc27]

Thanks for the suggestions, Falstaff. If my son no longer wants the bike, I may do as you suggested and see if I can find someone on these forums who would appreciate it. I briefly looked for a replacement chain guard and rear fender. I think it would be a challenge finding those parts.

I also found a reference to Iverson bikes in another bicycling forum. It sounds like Iverson was a budget brand targeted toward mass merchandisers. They must have appealed to kids, though. My son, when he was in his early teens, was probably in the age range for which those bikes were designed. He really liked the styling of the bike, and the retro angle. He shot up to 6'7" in height, so riding it would be a trick for him now.

 

[Scribble]

Thanks for the suggestions, Falstaff. If my son no longer wants the bike, I may do as you suggested and see if I can find someone on these forums who would appreciate it. I briefly looked for a replacement chain guard and rear fender. I think it would be a challenge finding those parts.

I also found a reference to Iverson bikes in another bicycling forum. It sounds like Iverson was a budget brand targeted toward mass merchandisers. They must have appealed to kids, though. My son, when he was in his early teens, was probably in the age range for which those bikes were designed. He really liked the styling of the bike, and the retro angle. He shot up to 6'7" in height, so riding it would be a trick for him now.

Its an Iverson RoadRunner most likely from 1967-1969, don't quote me on that. It has been messed with, thats why the handle bars look so weird.
Don't scrap it, they are worth a little bit and there is a good market for the non Schwinn muscle bikes.

Also if your kid whats to keep it they can be set up for bigger people, I'm 6'2 & 180 pounds. And I ride my 20 inchers around all the time.

One of mine, a 1967 Ross Barracuda.

 

[RustyGold]

I believe first year of the BMA/6 sticker was '71 (somewhere in the '71 to '73 zone?).

 

[Fv2]

I believe first year of the BMA/6 sticker was '71 (somewhere in the '71 to '73 zone?).

I thought it was 74 first year, that's what made me say mid 70's

 

[RustyGold]

Its in that ballpark...somewhere .

Schwinn didn't do it at all, so it may even be different for different manufacturers?

Jason

 

[RustyGold]

I can't find anything definitive, but it looks like '72 may have been the first year for the decals.

Did find this on the wiki...

These designs continued in production until 1971 when new safety and manufacturing restrictions from the BMA (Bicycle Manufacturers Association), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other U.S. federal agencies forced the discontinuance of the Wheel, the top-tube mounted "stick-shift", the "sissy bar", and many other stylized features of children's bicycle designs.

...bureaucrats...

 

[Fv2]

I understand getting rid of the stick shift, racking yourself hurts.
But the wheel, and sissy bars....

 

[nosferatu1381]

Iverson

 

[Imaginos]

Sorry to go off topic but thanks for the info on the BMA6 sticker, Rustygold. I just picked up a Hawthorne and was trying to get an idea on the age. Has a BMA6 sticker so now I know the decade.

 

[kc27]

My son does wants to keep it, so I will retrieve it from my parent's home a few states away, and then we can take a look at making it rideable. The seat attachment point on the bottom is rusted away, so it needs a seat, the banana seat bar needs to be moved and reattached to the axle, and a tuneup. As for the missing rear fender and chain guard, I suppose finding those parts is going to be mission impossible.

Thanks again for all the info everyone. I was surprised there was interest in the knock-off Stingray bicycles from that era. I thought people would turn their nose up at them as lesser bicycles not worth keeping until I read the 15th post in this thread.

 

[Imaginos]

I didn’t have a stingray as a kid so they don’t evoke the nostalgia for me that others have. I grew up in the country with no kids around. All the country kids rode “knock offs.”

 

[kc27]

I was born in 1958. I did not have an authentic Stingray, or even a knock-off Stingray, but I remember that style of bike being very popular. There were a lot of families with children in my neighborhood, but not every kid had a Stingray style bike. Many parents considered them a novelty and not a practical bike (that was my father's attitude). However ingenuity will find a way, and a few old bikes in the neighborhood did get sacrificed to make "Stingrays" The donor bikes had their forks cut off and pounded on to the fork of another bike to make a chopper style extended fork. Then, all of sudden around 1970, the 10-speed, "English Racer" bikes with the turned down handlebars became hugely popular.