New member.. old Mongoose

[z80]

Hello.. I was recently reminiscing about "the old days" and I pulled my old Team Mongoose out of my storage. I was doing some research on it and I'm hitting a wall. I got this bike brand new from a local cycle shop in, if I remember correctly, 1982...

The auto-focus is broken on my iphone camera so the pics are not very clear.. I'll take some better ones later. The S/N is not real legible in the pic, but it is H152312, which seems to mean it was made in 1981, but this is definitely a "Team" Goose, it has the 2 extra holes in the rear brake brace, 2 holes in the dropouts (which made me think it was a 1982) and the Candy Red finish. Also, like I said, was bought brand new as a Team model. It does not have the flat spot for the chain, and this oddball S/N. It has the original tires/wheels, I had some Tuff Wheels and Comp III's on it for a bit back in the day. The only non-original parts are the seat, seat post, seat post clamp, pedals, grips and break levers. The seat is an Avocet Aero and is from 1983 I think. I got that seat post after I bent a fluted aluminum one on a rough landing. Anyway, wanted to reminisce and find a bit more about this bike which was a big part of my youth!

 

[Rat Rod]

Welcome to the forum!

What you have there is an amazing piece of BMX history. What makes it even more incredible is that it was your bike new! Just looking at it from photos you can tell that it's nearly in mint condition which makes it even more rare. Most of the time the Team model's candy paint finish has flaked off of the nickel plating already.

You shouldn't change a single thing to retain the value of that bike. Just a light cleaning and you've got a treasure worth somewhere in the $1500-$2500 range all day long.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[z80]

Thanks! Yeah, I was really excited to get it back then. I got this after I bent the frame on my Huffy.. I think that was when I was in the middle of a jump off a 6 foot dirt ramp and my front wheel came off mid-jump because one of my neighbors thought it would be funny to loosen my front wheel when I wasn't paying attention. Of course in the 80's no one wore pads or a helmet unless you were in a real race. I had no idea it was worth that much... After I got it out of storage I stopped by a local bike shop where I was offered $200 instantly.. I had a feeling it was worth more than that

 

[Rat Rod]

The gold stem hiding under that pad is worth $200 - $250 alone.

What you have is the king daddy of Mongoose 20" BMX bikes in near mint original survivor condition and you almost NEVER see this. There are some collectors out there that would pay serious money for this bike for all of the above reasons....survivor being one of the biggest. The key is keeping it as it is with just minimal gentle cleaning. Don't even change the tires...although worn, original snake belly's are worth a ton as well.

 

[junknutz1975]

Welcome aboard
Sweet bike dude!

 

[Pookie42]

Always cool when you stash something away from your past & dig it out later. Awesome bike. Welcome to the party...


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