Vista.....the Banana

[SprocketRocket]

Drove 4hours round trip yesterday to get my first multi geared muscle bike. I'm absolutely glowing like a kid on Christmas morning. The bike is in much better shape than I thought it was. What looked liked rust was actually some grease splatters that's wiping right off. It's missing the original seat...bummer,but I'm going to make one that looks very close to the original. Besides,this will be a rider. And from what I read those seats get really fragile over time to the point collectors wont ride them in fear of the seat falling apart.The cool thing is it has a near perfect original yellow Stingray seat in its place. I'm going to mechanically restore it. I will need some help from forum members though,not real familiar with the inner workings of the hub or drum brake.

 

[Euphman06]

Isn't it missing the hand brake for the front hub?

 

[SprocketRocket]

Yes it is. I'm assuming it is something I can find and repair. It's not ride-able at the moment.I will need to put tires on it and repair the shifter linkage also.

 

[Spokeshave]

Love that fork. Good luck ,it's sweet.

 

[Jaxon]

The original seat would only be fragile if it was left in the sun over many years. They are a rubber type cover so you can't recover them. If you find a nice one you will be able to ride it no problem. As for your front hub. I bought a Grimeca Hub off ebay and used it for the brake shoes and bearings, axle to replace mine in a Columbia SS 5 bike. They are only 24 spoke so you used the original hub. The other parts fit fine.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-vintage-mop ... 2a2db9caf5


Here are the handlebars for this bike. You can find them on ebay for around 60 dollars. I will keep a eye out for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Krate-stingray- ... 51a0e37d8e

 

[Green Dragon]

Great find - definately one you don't see very often . CONGRATS ( I'd be glowing like that kid, too

Parts that are missing should not be too hard to find, you have he tough stuff. not sure what seat that took, Mesinger ? keep en eye on the bay, they turn up.

that would rank on my top finds list, so you're justified in being stoked.

 

[RailRider]

Very cool find! That is an upper end find right there!

 

[RadOne]

Love those crazy forks!

Your best bet for that rear hub, if its having issues, is to find a NOS one and lace it up. Those 333 hubs are readily available and not many people would care to rebuild an old one.

 

[SprocketRocket]

The front brake drum works fine by manually operating the lever. I just want to find the correct brand brake lever that came on it. I think the rear hub may be okay,its just that the small chain coming out of it appears to have some weak links in it. It looks like a tiny bicycle chain. I dont want to mess with it much for fear of breaking it. Not sure how common that is. And,I think the handle bars that is on it is stock. But I have seen the picture of the one with those wald handlebars. Maybe they came with both. Mine looks like the ones in that ad.

 

[kngtmat]

It looks a lot better than what you said in the ID section. Great score.

 

[RailRider]

I agree, looks like it could be riden in about 15 minutes.

 

[RailRider]

If you sell this let me know. [email protected]

 

[SprocketRocket]

I'm gonna hold on to it for now.I'm pretty much in love with it ...might paint it metal flake pink and put on a twisted springer fork :lol: JK
Here's some fun facts about this bike so far.
The guy that sold it to me didn't know much about it but knew the seat was worth some money. Its a near flawless original Stingray seat.
I can sell the seat for near what I paid for the bike ,so, he was right.
He was luckier than I in that he found this bike at a yard sale.
Yesterday while bringing it home a strap gave way on my bike rack and the bike came off at 60mph but was saved by a optional strap that I put on just in case this very thing happened. It feel off and dangled about 3 inches from the road. I almost had a heart attack.

 

[rfeagleye]

Nice bike! That is a keeper!

Good luck with it! As you already know, you need a seat and sissy bar for it, but the rest looks good! Sent you a PM to get in contact with you, I might be able to help with parts and if I can't a friend Mark W will for sure be able to help.

Good thinking keeping that one, that was a nice find!

 

[rfeagleye]

One more thing...

I *think* that the fender on those gets mounted with the brace on top of the wheel. Backwards looking really, but I think they mounted them that way when built. Google some pictures and you'll see what I mean.

 

[Outlaw90]

Thats such a wicked score man! nice find..

 

[pkh1974]

Sweet bike. If you sell the seat let me know.

 

[RailRider]

I'm gonna hold on to it for now.I'm pretty much in love with it ...might paint it metal flake pink and put on a twisted springer fork :lol: JK
Here's some fun facts about this bike so far.
The guy that sold it to me didn't know much about it but knew the seat was worth some money. Its a near flawless original Stingray seat.
I can sell the seat for near what I paid for the bike ,so, he was right.
He was luckier than I in that he found this bike at a yard sale.
Yesterday while bringing it home a strap gave way on my bike rack and the bike came off at 60mph but was saved by a optional strap that I put on just in case this very thing happened. It feel off and dangled about 3 inches from the road. I almost had a heart attack.

Hard to find that model so it is a smart move to hang on to it. once you sell it you may not see another for a while. Last one I saw listed on ebay was around $1500 but was super nice! Here is another picture of one for you.

 

[RailRider]

We have a Museum full of these kinds of bikes for reference.

Here is one I built a few years ago. The green was pretty cool too!

 

[SprocketRocket]

The original seat would only be fragile if it was left in the sun over many years. They are a rubber type cover so you can't recover them. If you find a nice one you will be able to ride it no problem. As for your front hub. I bought a Grimeca Hub off ebay and used it for the brake shoes and bearings, axle to replace mine in a Columbia SS 5 bike. They are only 24 spoke so you used the original hub. The other parts fit fine.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-vintage-mop ... 2a2db9caf5


Here are the handlebars for this bike. You can find them on ebay for around 60 dollars. I will keep a eye out for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Krate-stingray- ... 51a0e37d8e

This is great information for the future. Thank you!