what bike did you have?

[monkey tennis]

Do you remember ?

BMX Bandits

I've tried to forget.
Even as a child I thought it was a desperate attempt to cash in on
E.T.

[toystalker]

do i remember it...

i actually had a t-shirt

and i have it on dvd... a bit like a et type dvdif you get me

they had some sweet bmx's on there though

the ET was available here in the uk, some bike stores would import 1 if you paid well, thats how i got a laserlite, i bought it myself at age 14, i could have got a ET but thought it would be "childish" at the time to be seen on that, you could get your head kicked in for going round on a duff bike lol

now i would give my back teeth to own one

[Flynne]

My first bike was a black Huffy BMX Bandit:


but my favorite vehicle from childhood was the Green Machine:

I charged up and down the street for hours on this thing doing hard 180's. Good times!

[megowgsh]

My first bike was a black Huffy BMX Bandit:

http://www.carlospomares.com/Pics/misc/bandit%201.jpg

but my favorite vehicle from childhood was the Green Machine:

http://www.toyadz.com/toyadz/marx/greenmachine2d.jpg

I charged up and down the street for hours on this thing doing hard 180's. Good times!

I had a Huffy Bandit, too!!! HAHAHA What memories!!!

[Jmass]

I had a bicycle made by the Yamaha motorcycle folks. It was yellow & black w/ front & rear shocks. For a supposed off-road bike, the darned thing weighed a ton making jumping anything (or pedaling uphill) darned near impossible. One of the neatest presents I ever received, wish I still had it now...

[English Paul]

i had a red grifter too, weighed a ton,

My red Grifter was the first bike I really mastered pulling wheelies on. Once you got the front end up it wheelied great. I smashed my glasses coming off the back of it though - I wasn't aware that covering the back brake helped prevent tipping too far back.

Because it had a regular curved blade fork rather than the straight BMX style forks they used to bend when jumping it. My dad used to bend them back with a scaffold pole. Thinking now about metal fatigue it makes me wonder how they never snapped.

[kinostadt]

I had a Redline 600c, a lot like this one, but mine was all chrome in color.
BMXmuseum.com Bikes / Redline / 1985 Redline 600c / Redline / 1985 Redline 600c
It's still sitting in my family's lake home garage. In a few years my nephews will be old enough to ride, so I'll probably get it tuned up for them.

[Joe90]

I had one of the most unusual bike as a kid. It was called the swing bike. It had a place to pull a pin and the frame was hinged. It was a blast to ride and you could turn on a dime.

Cool thread. I worked for years in bicycle shops while going to High School and University, beginning in 1975, and wound up staying in the business, part, time up until the 1990's. I sold and serviced most of the brands mentioned. I saw the industry evolve from Raleigh Choppers and 10 Speeds into BMX with heat-treated Chrome-Moly frames and gyro headsets, and titanium framed mountain bikes with disc brakes.

But the wackiest, most unusual bike I ever saw was the Swing Bike. I think the Osmond family was involved in it, because Jimmy Osmond was the spokesman for the company. They were very expensive back then, and so they weren't very successful. I'm pretty sure Swing Bikes are highly sought after by collectors, and fetch a good dollar.

[toystalker]

2 of my vintage bmx's are on ebay this week im funding a minty mint show bike that im building so needs must, but it gave a chance to show 2 of them

falcon pro vintage bmx retro good survivor tidy cond on eBay, also, Bikes, Cycling, Sporting Goods (end time 18-May-08 1410 BST)

raleigh burner super burner mk1 survivor nice and clean on eBay, also, Bikes, Cycling, Sporting Goods (end time 18-May-08 14:58:29 BST)

im builing a show bike using new old stock parts, its proving very very expensive... it will be nice though if i can afford to complete the build

[supes]

The first real bike I had was a HUffy, itwas made to look like a motorcycle, yellow gastank and fenders, and a throttle hand shifter for the 3 speed. I loved that bike!

When I stared racing BMX I started with a SE racing bike, then my brother and I won a Diamondback from one of the BMX mags. It was blue and yellow with the yellow plastic rims. It was cool.

[livnxxxl]

Just as an update I actually found some pictures of my first bike in some of the older Sears catalogs. One day I was thinking about this bike thread again and it made me think more. I looked in the catalogs and walah there was my first bike that I owned. I had forgotten about having the older store catalogs as they have been stored for so long. It is really neat looking back at all of the stuff one had as a kid and the stuff that one wished they would still have now. I would post a picture although I have so scan it in still, my scanner isn't currently hooked up and I doubt that anyone was really that interested in seeing my first bike anyway keybause it really wasn't one of the coolest bikes to have as a kid. Let me put it another way I like the bike because my Father bought it for me and I still have it although slightly modified. I am proud of the bike as it was the thought that counts to me. However, Some times I wished my father would have bought me the bike that I really wanted at the time which was more like the dirt bike, ramp jumping bike that I really liked. Instead he surprised me by buying me a nice bike by his standards. Which is ok. I would imagine that the bike is now a collectors item and I have never seen any around for sale not to say that there has not been. I just have not seem them on eBay or other places when I do look. Perhaps my Father was right all along in buying me something rather unique. Of course when one is a kid we do not see things that way.

[beartex2000]

a orange schwinn chooper when I was in 4th grade!! Too bad it was stolen, it was one cool ride...

[spiderrogue]

mine was a huffy..got it when i was 10 or so...here is a pic..and no laughing...i remember that christmas..i was at my dad's house and only had one gift to open and everyone said that i had to been naughty....and that i should go into the dining room and voila..there it was..what a beaut.....
i knew that i was getting it, i got the info from my brother...but i was still worried about it, cuz i didnt see it by the tree...

[Adam West]

An original green Schwinn Stingray with banana seat. Still have it.

I believe it belonged to a cousin of mine who is 10+ years older than me so it must have been made in the early-mid 60's.

I have been meaning to restore for years. It's in really good shape but does have some rust on the chrome and needs a good cleaning. I really didn't think much about it until my mom moved and told me to take anything I wanted before it was pitched. Sure enough the bike was sitting in our garage after years and years of non-use.

[Mongoose1983]

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the Lahsen BMX I had years ago, but here's my Japanese 1984 KUWAHARA Survivor 2.5 (still have the original Elina seat, but I'm using this softer one for longer rides). Also one pic from back in the day