Got my first in '59 or '60. A 24" black schwinn
Do you remember your first bicycle?
- Thread starter walkin jack
- Start date
We still had a Western Auto here up until 20 years ago, they sold Wizard out board motors, I bought my first chain saw from Western Auto.
99savage308
Member
never had one learned how to right with a friends bike
Mine was a Schwinn 1957, I believe the Phantom model, it had the "tank" on the bar with a battery horn, push button operated you could press your knee on the horn button or push by hand to make it sound. We lived on a hill, the road had a big "sleeping policeman" speed bump at the bottom so we could "Fly" our bikes off of it.
Good times!
Steve W
Good times!
Steve W
NEVER get caught.....
NEVER get caught riding a girls bike. I mean really, if you know what's good for you.......
NEVER get caught riding a girls bike. I mean really, if you know what's good for you.......
OMG
Talking about brick and plywood ramps..... One time I was going full blast on my 'boy's bike' and my feet slipped off the pedals. I talked soprano for about a week. I don't think that 'no crossbar 'idea for girl's bikes was a bad idea.
Talking about brick and plywood ramps..... One time I was going full blast on my 'boy's bike' and my feet slipped off the pedals. I talked soprano for about a week. I don't think that 'no crossbar 'idea for girl's bikes was a bad idea.
My first bike was a black 20" Huffy that came from Sears. It had ape-hanger handle bars, a banana seat, a tall sissy bar, a fat "slick" on the back.
Quite the ride...
Quite the ride...
carpriver
US Veteran
My first bike was a two tone blue 20 inch. I got for Christmas. when I was 6 years old. The bike took we on a lot of adventures. It was a horse, it was a car, It was a racer. I could wear out a set of tires in a summer. Sliding the tire side ways when stopping. I found out much later that my dad build that bike and hand painted the strips on the fenders. He did a fantastic job.
the ringo kid
Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2013
- Messages
- 20,895
- Reaction score
- 22,823
We did too, but then they disappeared.
I was given my first bike when I was 9 or 10 years old. It was too large for me and until I "grew into it", I pedaled it by putting one leg between the bars! Riding kind of standing sideways. Everything we were given we had to grow into. When I grew into it, I rode it for many years through high school and university. It just plain wore out in the end. My second bike I bought when I was in in my early 30s.
whitecoyote
Member
Western Flyer X-53
Did one better and discovered they're now making 26" adult BMX bikes. Found this Redline PL 26 (chromoly everything, classic 3-piece Flight crank, sealed bearings throughout, etc.) new for under $400:
It's a blast to ride.
Last edited:
I'm working on my next one:
Got my first one pretty much used (up). No pedal on right side...just the center bolt. finally got a new pedal(at Western Auto) and kept on riding it. Bought another much better condition for 3 dollars I think. The guy that ran the garage in town helped me fix the old one with a 3HP gas engine off of a broken powered reel mower. Remember them?? Drove that bike everywhere... no brakes as I had to drag my keds... for a few weeks till a state cop stopped me...made me walk it home(2 miles) and told my mother not to let me drive it again. Oh heck...I couldn't hardly afford to buy the gas for it anyway. I was snitching the gas my father had for the Lawnboy power mower...Yep 2 stroke. Always wondered why that motor smoked so much
Last edited:
Bought one that a friend had built for $25 when he got a tote goat for Christmas.Damn that thing was fun!
My parents hated it lol
Can't be sure what my first bike was, but I'll never forget the birthday morning I woke up to find this brand new Schwinn Sting Ray sitting in the living room.
I customized it some.
I customized it some.
My first was a mixmaster that my dad built out of various basket cases he had picked up off the curbs on trash day. I think every manufacturer was represented
Whitwabit
US Veteran
First one was about 1955 was a used Murry .. No training wheels .. Learned to ride on my way home with my Dad walking behind me !!
ContinentalOp
Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2009
- Messages
- 6,315
- Reaction score
- 12,813
My first bike was a hand-me-down from my older sister. It was a pink girl's bike with a big white banana seat. I think there were streamers on the ends of the handlebars. My dad got some spray paint and painted it black, put a black banana seat on there, and replaced the white plastic grips with black rubber grips. I really liked that bike.
Second bike was a Huffy BMX bike from Sears, I think. After that I got into BMX freestyle/streetstyle, and had a Schwinn, a Haro, and a RL Bully. After high school I lost interest in riding. I think my parents put up with it because for most of my childhood it was about the only physical activity I had any interest in.
Second bike was a Huffy BMX bike from Sears, I think. After that I got into BMX freestyle/streetstyle, and had a Schwinn, a Haro, and a RL Bully. After high school I lost interest in riding. I think my parents put up with it because for most of my childhood it was about the only physical activity I had any interest in.
By the time the Scwinn Sting Rays came along, my friends and I were riding 26-inch English bikes. I liked the Sting Rays, but because they were considered kid bikes, I would not be seen on one. So I passed into adulthood feeling nostalgia for a bike I never had.
One day in the early '90s, I got a call from a buddy who was on vacation down in Missouri (on a pilgrimage to the Calhoun Boat Works, in Tiptonville, TN, but that's another story). He had found a dealer who had a bunch of Czech-made Sting Ray clones, new and partially assembled in crates, seventy bucks, and did I want to buy one?
Did I? You bet I did. I ordered a blue one, as did another buddy. Mark got red and silver ones for his kids. My boy was about to head off to college, so I really had no use for the bike. But the bike had struck that chord of vicarious nostalgia.
Now my grandson has been riding the Rapido for a couple of years. My boy changed the seat and bars to fit him better. On Fathers' Day, the three of us pedaled over to a local motorcycle/bicycle picnic. We ran into a kid there riding an almost identical Rapido. My buddy had still had his bike in a crate until this spring, when he gave it to the son of a friend. They were not the only kids at the picnic, but they were the only ones riding Czech bicycles.
One day in the early '90s, I got a call from a buddy who was on vacation down in Missouri (on a pilgrimage to the Calhoun Boat Works, in Tiptonville, TN, but that's another story). He had found a dealer who had a bunch of Czech-made Sting Ray clones, new and partially assembled in crates, seventy bucks, and did I want to buy one?
Did I? You bet I did. I ordered a blue one, as did another buddy. Mark got red and silver ones for his kids. My boy was about to head off to college, so I really had no use for the bike. But the bike had struck that chord of vicarious nostalgia.
Now my grandson has been riding the Rapido for a couple of years. My boy changed the seat and bars to fit him better. On Fathers' Day, the three of us pedaled over to a local motorcycle/bicycle picnic. We ran into a kid there riding an almost identical Rapido. My buddy had still had his bike in a crate until this spring, when he gave it to the son of a friend. They were not the only kids at the picnic, but they were the only ones riding Czech bicycles.
Attachments
Last edited:
I still have mine. It was a Sears bike that I won for selling the most candy for the YMCA when I was in 6th or 7th grade.
I rode several hand me down bikes which were serviceable. First, and only new bike was a 5 speed,green metal flake Schwinn stingray. I'm ashamed to say how long it took me to connect Dad working almost every Saturday the year I got that bike for Christmas.
The only way I got more than one sped was to move my legs faster
Mine was a Western Flyer Paper Boy Special. 26" heavy duty for going over curbs. I was about 10 when I got it and had a paper route. I did have a series of old junk before that. I only remember one an Elgin 26" that had big balloon tires on it and had been brush painted battle ship grey. I rescued it from trash.
HOUSTON RICK
Member
My brother and I had two old Schwinns. I think they were Typhoons? We kept them on the porch and they were stolen by a local punk nick named "Mousy" who put them on the railroad tracks. The train ran over them and we did not get bikes until years later after we moved to a better place.
Erich
Member
A weird English folder . . . I think this was in Woods Hole, MA:
ParadiseRoad
Member
...my first bike looked a lot like the one below...
...I was so proud when I was able to take the training wheels off...
...then I lent it to a poor kid in the neighborhood for a quick ride...he promptly hit a tree and broke one side of the handlebars off...
...pushed it home with tears in my eyes...my Mom said..."take it over to Bob and see what he thinks"...
...we lived around the corner from "Title's Reliable Garage"...
...I pushed it into the first garage bay and Bob Title saw the tears I was trying to hold back...he took it and said "wait here"...
...fifteen minutes or so later he came back with the handlebars brazed back together...and I lit up with a big smile...
...Bob smiled too and said..."no charge kid"...
...I was so proud when I was able to take the training wheels off...
...then I lent it to a poor kid in the neighborhood for a quick ride...he promptly hit a tree and broke one side of the handlebars off...
...pushed it home with tears in my eyes...my Mom said..."take it over to Bob and see what he thinks"...
...we lived around the corner from "Title's Reliable Garage"...
...I pushed it into the first garage bay and Bob Title saw the tears I was trying to hold back...he took it and said "wait here"...
...fifteen minutes or so later he came back with the handlebars brazed back together...and I lit up with a big smile...
...Bob smiled too and said..."no charge kid"...
