i forgot to tell the story of this bike so here it goes
i am the original owner i bought it in 1998 when i was full swing into vintage bikes but wanted one to ride everyday. after buying it this bike became my rolling accesory collection rare bells, a siren, old script grips, NOS delta horn, mudflaps with two AAA car emblems, as well as a ton of vintage glass reflectors. it was a sight and yea maybe a bit over done. anyways over the years i have put about 2800 miles on her then when i moved from sac to elk grove with in a month someone decided to kick in my garage door and stoll her. i was crushed and nervious because they left behind all my other bikes. i searched high and low contacted all shops, watched CL and ebay like a crack addict hoping just a peice of her would show up.
then one day my father told me he saw a guy on a bike that looked a lot like mine but it was missing a bunch of the stuff. he stoped the guy and told him he thought the bike was stollen and the guy took off in a way that my dad could not give chase. after that i figured all hope was lost because now the guy knew something was up and would probably sell it or turn it into some sort of low rider.
about a month after that i was driving to work and saw the guy on my bike as well. i turned around sped up and slowed next to him. the thought ran through my head just to run him off the road and take the bike back but 1. i was in my tiny saturn and i knew it would not fit, and 2. this was not the sort of part of town where it would be a good idea for a skiny white boy to try and punk a big mexican dude for his schwinn. he was actually a kinda nice guy i tried to explain that it was my bike and oh yes it was i put every damn scratch that was on it as well as knowing the serial on the frame. he wanted no part in that so i asked him where he got it and he said a place called bike builders which i figured as they buy stollen bikes all the time even if they know it is hot. he did not want to go back and try to get his money back and i get my bike back so i got his cell number and took off. he was all over his cell phone calling his buddies and things were starting to turn nasty.
WHEW still with me guys? time goes by i think now all hope has to be lost as to getting the bike back and one day going home i see the damn thing sitting out in front of a store. i flip around a side street, park and walk around seeing if anyone is close. there she was sitting literally in the middle of the sidewalk UNLOCKED!!!!! i walk slowly up to it take one look to make sure he is nowhere near and jump on stealing it back lol. trouble was he broke the shifter and it was stuck in 6th so getting going sucked. the whole irony is that he parked it two blocks from my dad's house so i just took it back over there walked back got in my car and went along my way. i called the police later telling them i found the bike and took it back. he said good for you!!!! it has been almost a year since then and it really took a lot to turn her into a custom but i just could not let her stay like that she was ..... lol. the fenders got trashed and it had a crapy set of whitewalls on as well as the rare one year only shifter being broken beyond repair. so now she is reborn and seems much happier. heres to another 3000 or so miles
