What's your story?

[chagovatoloco]

When I was a kid we got in to trouble if we got caught riding bikes. That was not allowed, so being rebellious I used to take the bikes from the garbage pick up pile and fix them. Eventually my mom found the pile and saw that we could fix and ride them as well finally she let me ride.

 

[American Vintage Bicycle Supply]

It all started at a car show swap meet when I was about 11 years old, 4 wheeled Rat Rods where my inspiration.

Then I started into BMX after seeing all the awesome bikes that started entering all the local bike shows. Built a Schwinn, then a Hutch, then a Yamaha....and so on.

Now at almost 17 I race BMX. Build mostly 1970-89 model vintage BMX bikes, and use Rat Rods as an outlet for releasing stress once a year when its time for the " Annual Build Off". The summer is to Hot to deal with BMX stress. Summer is Rat Rod Time!

Also the bike building has landed me a part time job at the local bike shop and I sell enough used and vintage bike parts to keep bike building a self supporting hobby!


Tyler 8)

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I ran into a friend of mine I haven't seen in a long time. My mother's ex-landlord from when I was like 6 or 7 years old. He reminded me of the day we met, it was a few days after we got the keys to move in. He was riding his Harley and stopped by the house for something (I don't remember what). I was in the garage next to the driveway (working on one of many bikes)and I said "Nice Harley, I'm a Huffy man myself" and pointed to my collection I had already crammed in the garage (about 50-75 bikes). He just laughed and went along with it looking at my collection. Although he did ask how many more bikes I was going to put in the garage. I simply replied "However many fit" :mrgreen: The next day he dropped off an old Stingray and a Huffy with plastic moon disk covered wheels he said a tenant had left in one of his places. The sickness has only gotten worse. Wish I knew what happened to that old Stingray now.

 

[dragnusa]

Just getting back into building bikes myself, me and my family just moved back to a small town i grew up in from a big city and my oldest child never learned to ride a bike do to not having any real area to ride in the city. so i was thinking of a way to get him interested in bikes and thought well maybe if i can interest him in fixing them he would want to learn how to ride them. Ive been out of work for about a month now so i cant afford to buy bikes so i went on our local FB swap shops and asked for any bikes people just had laying around and getting alot of responses they all might be newer bikes but its a start, and if things work out i can clean up some of them and resell them for a small price that people can afford. and who knows it might turn into a small business which right now any money would be good.

 

[61JCHiggins]

Hey everyone! Im new to the forum and a first time Rat Bike owner. I wanted to buy a bicycle to ride for exercise but didn't want to spend a lot of money doing so. So, I turned to used bikes and came across this 1960 or 61 JC Higgins Flightliner cruiser (I gotta soft spot for classics). Gave the guy $125.00 for it, sprayed it down with some liquid wrench and away I went. It rides great for being as old as it is! Here are some pics of my find. Any info on the bike would help a bunch. enjoy

 

[Rustinkerer]

Hey everyone! Im new to the forum and a first time Rat Bike owner. I wanted to buy a bicycle to ride for exercise but didn't want to spend a lot of money doing so. So, I turned to used bikes and came across this 1960 or 61 JC Higgins Flightliner cruiser (I gotta soft spot for classics). Gave the guy $125.00 for it, sprayed it down with some liquid wrench and away I went. It rides great for being as old as it is! Here are some pics of my find. Any info on the bike would help a bunch. enjoy

Welcome to the forum! Your Flightliner was made in that style from 1960-64ish, sold at Sears. Those tanks are hard to find, so you've lucked out there! These bikes were made by Murray for Sears, and they built this style frame from 1958-80ish! At some point, likely in the early 70s, they switched from a twin top tube to a single one. Cool ride! -Adam

 

[oddified]

...nice find...AWESOME tag! a space-age bike from Roswell? Toooo cool!

 

[MORTUNDEAD]

My dad was the bikie builder at toys r us, and he taught me how to work on my bike. I then spotted a ladies' 1939 24" western flyer at a garage sale for 15 bucks in about 4th grade. Ever since i got that old western flyer, I have loved old bikes, payed to much for them, wrecked them, and rebuilt them. After the Western Flyer, i got a 24" schwinn spitfire frame (which has some "custom welding") and a '70s bmx bike for free. I then got a green 3-speed Montomery ward for 8 bucks, and a ladies'free spirit for 15. After that i got a 1954 Monark Americana.(hated that one.) THen was my favorite, the '41 hawthorne. Once i sold the hawthorne, i knew i couldnt stop the old bike thing. By the way, i have the 24" spitfire frame if anyone wants it. Its free, except for shipping. The headtube is welded funky and the rear dropout thing is cracking.

 

[61JCHiggins]

Hey everyone! Im new to the forum and a first time Rat Bike owner. I wanted to buy a bicycle to ride for exercise but didn't want to spend a lot of money doing so. So, I turned to used bikes and came across this 1960 or 61 JC Higgins Flightliner cruiser (I gotta soft spot for classics). Gave the guy $125.00 for it, sprayed it down with some liquid wrench and away I went. It rides great for being as old as it is! Here are some pics of my find. Any info on the bike would help a bunch. enjoy

Welcome to the forum! Your Flightliner was made in that style from 1960-64ish, sold at Sears. Those tanks are hard to find, so you've lucked out there! These bikes were made by Murray for Sears, and they built this style frame from 1958-80ish! At some point, likely in the early 70s, they switched from a twin top tube to a single one. Cool ride! -Adam

Thank you for the info!

 

[61JCHiggins]

...nice find...AWESOME tag! a space-age bike from Roswell? Toooo cool!

Thanks. My friends keep telling me to restore the bike back to original. But hey, If it ain't broke, dont fix it. I like the old school look and as long as you keep it clean and indoors after rides the little bit of surface rust it has shouldn't be a problem

 

[heyslugger]

I had a murray x-20 as a kid. Two actually, the first got stolen. Bikes stayed with me through the 80s-90s then fell off for me when a girl I was with and for whom I re-built a lemon peeler cheated on me. I destroyed the bike to a level on par with the destruction I was feelin. Shame on both fronts there. Kinda killed the bike bug for me. Fast forward to last year. I had gained almost 250 pounds and got diagnosed with a tumor in my eye. It was a rush to do a bunch of things incase I lost my sight. Mostly I wanted to see the world by bike again and maybe a few 3D movies (I hand't seen one and wanted to know what the hype was about) before I couldn't anymore. Good news as of last week is the tumor is 20% smaller and I still have my sight. *Thank you OHSU and OHP for saving a brotha*. Over the last year I have lost weight, became straight up addicted to finding that next old new bike and found a great community on RRB. Lot's of information and good folks.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

...nice find...AWESOME tag! a space-age bike from Roswell? Toooo cool!

Thanks. My friends keep telling me to restore the bike back to original. But hey, If it ain't broke, dont fix it. I like the old school look and as long as you keep it clean and indoors after rides the little bit of surface rust it has shouldn't be a problem

Exactly, Surface rust only adds character to it. This is one of my current projects, a patina 1954 Schwinn Wasp 24"