Orange krate replica

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vividlyvintage

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Anyone build one?

I plan on doing one for my dad. He had one in 68 until it got stolen. So here will be his childhood dream arrising from the ashes. Pretty much all I have is a stingray frame, bananna seat that will need to be recovered w/ kit on ebay, and ape hanger handle bars that I can use. Everything krate specific I will need to buy. I am not new to restoration, (restored mustangs/shelbys/cobras for a living for the past 10 years) but I am new to bike restorations

Any vendor suggestions?
Any money saving tips?

Any and all info is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
 
vividlyvintage said:
Any money saving tips?
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Buy one of the BFK repops and use the parts... some people want stupid money for them, or you could just find one in a ditch like I did. I still couldn't sell mine locally for even $100, so there are deals out there.
 
Whats a bfk? Oh and I seen the hyper performance guy on ebay. I think his name is pete. He sells a seat rebuild kit just for the orange krate
 
mikesbikes36 said:
BLACK FRIDAY KRATE ... they were sold at wally world back in the day ....
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Thanks, I will check that out. I am such a newbie when it comes to bikes. Im 27 now and havent ridden on for about 18 years lol. I never customized my bikes either. I wish I would have. I am in the sf bay area if anyone has one for sale at a reasonable price.
 
BFK arent the ones you want if you want an OG krate dont use a BFK they use garbage parts, a china springer made for a 20" wheel, cheap chrome etc. The one you want is a real repop from 98-99 they made others up to 2004 but there not as "correct" as the earlier 98-99's I got a 99 apple krate and a grey ghost repop there alot of fun but the earlier 98-99 can be pricy but sometimes just as much as the junk bfk's! are you wanting to build a 5spd stick shift bike? what frame do you have?

Ty
 
i have a question ....how do u know if its a BFK or a 98 or 99 ....mayb i have a good one and dont know it ...LOL
its stripped down so pics will b a pain but is there one single part u can tell from ??? MIKE
 
well bfk only came in black green and blue real repops were actually called orange, appple krate etc and the early 98-99 the headtubes are welded just like the originals all smooth no visible welds but later repops were welded. I believe the bfk rear brake bridge is very different also. real repops have the springer sissy bar also bfk did not, cheapo sproket vs the schwinn single speed mag.

Ty
 
Tychevelle said:
well bfk only came in black green and blue real repops were actually called orange, appple krate etc and the early 98-99 the headtubes are welded just like the originals all smooth no visible welds but later repops were welded. I believe the bfk rear brake bridge is very different also. real repops have the springer sissy bar also bfk did not, cheapo sproket vs the schwinn single speed mag.

Ty
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Mine was green, said "Sting Ray" on the chainguard, smoothed out welds at the head tube, and the mag sprocket.

I agree, if you use one of these it won't be an OG restore/rebuild, but it won't be piece of crap, that comes in assembly, but I don't know that he's going for factory fresh high dollar OG, just something for his dad to have to bring back memories, I imagine it'll do a couple spins around the block. If there was a deal out there on a BFK, I'd get one and trust its parts for a rider. I don't think this one is intended to be a show bike.
 
I will take a picture of the frame I have later tonight, so you can see if its suitable for a replica. Its a stingray frame, thats as far as I know.
 
yoothgeye said:
Tychevelle said:
well bfk only came in black green and blue real repops were actually called orange, appple krate etc and the early 98-99 the headtubes are welded just like the originals all smooth no visible welds but later repops were welded. I believe the bfk rear brake bridge is very different also. real repops have the springer sissy bar also bfk did not, cheapo sproket vs the schwinn single speed mag.

Ty
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Mine was green, said "Sting Ray" on the chainguard, smoothed out welds at the head tube, and the mag sprocket.

I agree, if you use one of these it won't be an OG restore/rebuild, but it won't be piece of crap, that comes in assembly, but I don't know that he's going for factory fresh high dollar OG, just something for his dad to have to bring back memories, I imagine it'll do a couple spins around the block. If there was a deal out there on a BFK, I'd get one and trust its parts for a rider. I don't think this one is intended to be a show bike.
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Yep, it wont be a show bike. Just a very nice rider.
 
It really just depends how much of a replica you want it to be, more or less how "correct" to an original orange krate your looking to go. the BFK's arent garbage I shouldnt have said that before but they deff have cheaper taiwan parts and yoothgeye is right quality has alot to do with assembly but cheap parts are cheap parts is what I meant in my 1st post. by all means if all you want is a rider find a bfk paint it orange and throw a decal kit on it. BFK are all single speed also if you want it to look like the 5 speed bike in the picture you posted up top then all your really going to able to use off a bfk is the rear fender and bars everything else is different. this is all my opinion and experience Hope this helps :)

Ty


PS there is someone on here in the forsale section selling a pea picker project
 
In 1971 I received the best birthday gift a 10 year old could wish for, a Schwinn Apple Krate. Fast forward to 2007 and I learned Wal-Mart offered a Krate tribute bike with a springer fork, 20 inch rear slick and 16 inch front. The best part: the bikes went on sale for $69 just before Christmas.

Although a great bike for the price, it needed some vintage pieces to look and perform like the Apple Krate I owned as a kid. Thus, shortly after I purchased it, I converted the coaster to a five speed including the Stik-Shift from a '68 Krate, added an Atom drum brake front wheel and the Krate’s shock absorbing sissy bar. A vintage Schwinn speedometer, bat holder and rear rack completed the “Retro-Krate” look I was after. A blast to ride, it never fails to bring a smile to friends that remember riding the original Krates or to our kids and grandkids that never experienced the first generation Stingrays and the fun of rowing the Stik-Shift through all five gears as you raced the wind.

Five years later the BFK's chrome fenders, springer fork, handle bars and seat post shine like new and the paint is still the brilliant blue pictured. Thankfully this isn't an expensive museum piece that never gets ridden yet recaptures fond memories of my mispent youth riding my original Krate over 40 years ago.

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Tychevelle is right BFK bike were not as nice as some of the other reproduced bikes but it depends on what you want to spend on his bike as you can see retrospeed has made a nice one out of one. If you just wanted a single speed, a BFK bike would be the way to go for the parts you need for your frame but you could get a 98-99 or I think that they just came out with 2012 repops that are nice that are 5 speeds for dad. And just build a custom sting Ray out of your frame for you because like the rest of us you can't just have one.
 
Beautiful bike retro speed,well done. This is exactly the point of building bikes,to make what u like snobery be darned. I'd be proud to own that bike. Hey wait I got a green one.
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